Had a ND today.

[JustinR]

Good job hitting the X mark, solid 10 ring! (look at your keyboard)

[RenoV8]

Appreciate the candor in telling us...Not sure how many here would do the same...but nonetheless, glad no one was hurt.

[scruff]

This is the most important part of that write up I think.
It also gets compounded by the fact that multiple people are involved in the layers of safety, and each believes that the other will catch any error they themselves miss.
I think it can ultimately lead to everyone involved slacking off a bit while feeling a false sense of security.
The perfect example of a firearm always being handled as loaded even when known to be unloaded.
A very good teaching lesson.
Thanks for posting it.
Bern-

I'm not surprised by this at all. I've thought many times about the possibility of simultaneous brain farts. Let's say you have a brain fart once every three years of daily gun handling - thats one in a thousand. The chance of having a simultaneous brain fart with two other people is one in a million. Heck, people win lotteries with one in a million odds every day. What's surprising here is that this one in a million event happened to a famous person, and he wrote about it.

By the same math, there is a one-in-a-million chance that I could clear a gun three times in a row myself, and it still be loaded. That's why all guns are always loaded, because muscle memory, and because brain farts.

[ray h]

I know people think I'm losing my mind when I'm doing "show and tell" with a firearm because I drop the mag, rack the slide, look inside, then I'll rack the slide and look inside, then I'll rack the slide and look inside. If it's a revolver I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it, then I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it, then I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it. The gun isn't clear until it's been cleared three times by me.
Maybe I do that because I'm losing my mind.....Anyway, it's a routine.

[scruff]

I know people think I'm losing my mind when I'm doing "show and tell" with a firearm because I drop the mag, rack the slide, look inside, then I'll rack the slide and look inside, then I'll rack the slide and look inside. If it's a revolver I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it, then I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it, then I'll pop the cylinder out and look at it. The gun isn't clear until it's been cleared three times by me.
Maybe I do that because I'm losing my mind.....Anyway, it's a routine.

Gun safety rule #4 - No show-and-tell!

[Justin///M]

Thanks for your willingness to man up and tell your story OP.

The most offensive thing in this thread is someone poo pooing the keyboard.

It's a corsair mechanical with Cherry MX red key switches and it's a fine machine.

[Justin///M]

Brain farts. This is why Jeff Cooper's rules should be followed obsessively. Why you should clear the gun that someone else just cleared and then handed to you. Why you should dryfire in a room with no ammo at all, and against a safe backdrop. Why you should clear a gun by racking the slide, then looking into the mag well and chamber, and then checking by feeling with your finger. Why you should never play show-and-tell with the gun you're carrying. I doubt many people do every one of these things 100% of the time, but we should, because brain farts are universal, and anyone who thinks they're immune to brain farts is full of it.

I also hate show and tells. Do you remember that one west PA meet n greet, I think you were there, where one guy pulled a gun out for show and tell and managed to sweep the entire group before clearing? He tried down playing it and the rest of the meet was a little awkward after that. Someone physically stopped him from doing it more.

[scruff]

I also hate show and tells. Do you remember that one west PA meet n greet, I think you were there, where one guy pulled a gun out for show and tell and managed to sweep the entire group before clearing? He tried down playing it and the rest of the meet was a little awkward after that. Someone physically stopped him from doing it more.

No, I think that happened at the one before the first one I went to. I do remember people arguing in that next event thread about whether show-and-tell should be banned. Somebody was pretty butthurt.

[Carnes]

I rarely post in this kind of thread (there have been several here over the years). To do anything other than trash the OP would be to encourage complacency. At the same time, I appreciate the courage of the OP to share the story. Every time I read a story like this, I take a step back and review my safety practices. The reality is that it can happen to anyone, but it doesn't have to. People sharing their stories does help make some other people safer.

Fortunately keeping your weapon pointed in a 'safe' direction seems to have prevented tragedy, but really that was probably by accident. I find it unlikely that if you thought there was any chance of the gun going off, you would not have pointed it at the fancy keyboard.

Regardless, thanks for sharing. I hope I never find myself the source of an ND. If I do, I hope I have the courage to share it, and the humility to accept that there is absolutely no way that I can share the experience and come out looking clean. Even Ayoob looks like a fuck-wit trying to make his NDs look like meaningful, teachable experiences.

That said... what do folks think is good etiquette for sharing a story like this?

Thread Title: ND, I did something awful.

Body: I'm a complete dumbass... I did X, Y, and Z. The gun went off negligently. I have no excuse, nor do I want to make things 'better' by posting here.

Follow-Up: Accept the incoming hostility, make no excuses, and hope it blows over.

I dunno... just throwing out a format that might work better for folks? I like people sharing stories like this, but I've seen a lot of them go south really hard. I'd rather hear what happens to folks than bully the reality into silence.

[messeduprex]

Thanks for your willingness to man up and tell your story OP.

The most offensive thing in this thread is someone poo pooing the keyboard.

It's a corsair mechanical with Cherry MX red key switches and it's a fine machine.

yup, and a new one just arrived today.

I rarely post in this kind of thread (there have been several here over the years). To do anything other than trash the OP would be to encourage complacency. At the same time, I appreciate the courage of the OP to share the story. Every time I read a story like this, I take a step back and review my safety practices. The reality is that it can happen to anyone, but it doesn't have to. People sharing their stories does help make some other people safer.

Fortunately keeping your weapon pointed in a 'safe' direction seems to have prevented tragedy, but really that was probably by accident. I find it unlikely that if you thought there was any chance of the gun going off, you would not have pointed it at the fancy keyboard.

Regardless, thanks for sharing. I hope I never find myself the source of an ND. If I do, I hope I have the courage to share it, and the humility to accept that there is absolutely no way that I can share the experience and come out looking clean. Even Ayoob looks like a fuck-wit trying to make his NDs look like meaningful, teachable experiences.

That said... what do folks think is good etiquette for sharing a story like this?

Thread Title: ND, I did something awful.

Body: I'm a complete dumbass... I did X, Y, and Z. The gun went off negligently. I have no excuse, nor do I want to make things 'better' by posting here.

Follow-Up: Accept the incoming hostility, make no excuses, and hope it blows over.

I dunno... just throwing out a format that might work better for folks? I like people sharing stories like this, but I've seen a lot of them go south really hard. I'd rather hear what happens to folks than bully the reality into silence.

you are partially correct, i had no intention of it going off but it did. and the only thing that saved me is having the lesson of never pointing any weapon at anybody regardless of what it is.(water guns included) however whenever i dryfire any of my firearms its always towards a safe backstop. there is a concrete wall behind my work bench, but i usually actually pick the concrete wall about 50ft to the right of my workbench.

as far as making posts like these. its important to keep reminding yourself and others of the dangers of falling into complacency and bad habits. as pointed out by another poster, even people teaching others have fallen into complacency at times.