A few weeks ago, at the start of the fifth stage in a six stage local match, my good friend unintentionally discharged his pistol, sending a round into his right thigh. This was an interesting unintentional discharge that I would consider atypical. It was a perfect storm. A statistical anomaly if you will. Nevertheless, it happened. It’s a story worth sharing because there is a great deal we can learn from it.

Background

My friend is what I consider a highly experienced competitive shooter. He is incredibly skilled and pretty familiar with pistols. He is also well trained and an instructor as well. As long as I’ve known him, he’s always taken firearm safety seriously. He holds himself and others to strict safety standards.

So how did he end up with a bullet hole in his thigh?

While I wasn’t present, I did have the opportunity to interview him and get a detailed account of what took place. The account was a combination of what he remembered combined with what he reconstructed after speaking with fellow squad mates who were present at the incident and reviewing security camera footage from the incident while recovering in the hospital during the days that followed.

The Incident

It was fractions of a second after the start signal of the fifth stage of a local six stage match. With all of his mental faculties in place, he began a retreat from the start position of the stage in 7 to 8 o’clock direction with his left foot while establishing a master grip on this single-action open-division pistol that was holstered in a race holster with his right hand. As part of his standard and intentional draw process, he disengaged the safety on the pistol prior to removing it from the holster when it immediately discharged, unintentionally. This all happened in a fraction of a second.

His first immediate thought as he registered the discharge was, “Well, fuck! I’m disqualified.” A microsecond after that he begins to feel pressure in his right leg. Knowing that pressure wasn’t right. He looked down at his thigh where he saw blood pooling quickly and flowing down his leg which was not hidden from view given the shorty shorts he was wearing.

In the next instant, he looked over his left shoulder and called a squadmate by name followed by the word “hospital”. With the safety reengaged on the pistol, he then handed it to the RO (Range Officer) who cleared it.

Next, he put himself on the ground and let the squadmates who were already moving towards him get to work. Thankfully the responding squadmates were prepared. One, who had emergency medical training, issued commands to another squad mate to retrieve a trauma kit from his range cart. Another squad mate began scribing the treatment steps with time stamps. Within less than two minutes, two CAT-7 tourniquets were applied and the wound had been packed and pressure was directly applied with a knee. 

While the squadmates were applying emergency medicine to stop the bleeding, the squad mate that was called for by name called 911 and requested an emergency medical response. A few minutes later, EMS arrived in an ambulance and took over rendering care until my friend was loaded into a helicopter a few minutes later and was transported to a level one trauma center where he was treated.

The medical response wasn’t without flaws. While the range wasn’t far out of town making EMS response exceptionally quick, the ambulance drove past the entrance to the range because it wasn’t clearly marked. The immediate response from the squad mates was in many ways luck in the form of being made up of some competitors with prior emergency medical training who were equipped with trauma kits. There are several trauma kits available at the range where the match took place but they weren’t utilized. In other words, there were deficiencies in the medical response plan that have now been addressed.

Another lucky thing was that the bullet didn’t strike any significant circulatory or musculoskeletal structures. Unfortunately, the bullet was lodged near the knee which required surgical removal that is now being followed by physical therapy and wound care that will take some time to recover from.

Root Cause

Unintentional discharges come in two forms: negligent or accidental. The former is far more common than the later. This particular incident is difficult to categorize. Valid arguments can be made for both categories so perhaps it’s a little of both.

On one hand, something had to actuate the trigger. That something in this case was the Double Alpha Academy Flex holster which is a common race style holster used by many competitors, myself included. The holster is designed in a modular way so that the user can fit it specifically to their pistol. More specifically the pistols trigger guard which is the only part of the pistol that is holstered. Somehow, some way, something inside of the holster interacted with the trigger which is what the holster is supposed to protect. In his post incident testing, my friend found that when the pistol is pressed into the holster with downward pressure and lateral pressure is applied via his hip flexor when performing a specific retreat movement the hammer drops fairly consistently. It’s hard for me to say whether this is a holster design flaw or a user configuration flaw, but we can conclude that the trigger is being actuated under those specific set of circumstances which leads towards classifying this discharge as accidental due to equipment failure.

On the other hand, this entire thing could have been avoided if the manual safety was not disengaged while the pistol was in the holster. This means that specific user interaction is also required for the hammer to fall under these conditions which leads towards classifying the discharge as negligent. However, negligence is a result of carelessness and ignorance. The manipulation was intentional. It may not have been correct, but it was intentional. So we can’t really call it careless. Was it ignorant then? Maybe. My friend asked several skilled competitors who compete in the same division with similar single-action pistols whether or not they disengage the manual safety while the pistol is still in the holster as part of their presentation and found that about half of them do and half of them don’t. It’s important to also point out that my friend and the folks that were polled have all received prior instruction in some form. For all intents and purposes, these guys are not ignorant. However, there may be some institutional ignorance happening when it comes to engagement and disengagement of a manual safety that is being passed down from instructors to students. We will touch more on this later on this post, but for now it suffices to say that there was some negligence at play here.

With this information, it seems to me that the root cause of this unintentional discharge is a combination of equipment failure, with an intentional, albeit flawed, presentation technique, and a very specific physical movement. How we classify this unintentional discharge is far less important than what we can learn from it.

Lesson 1: Never Disregard Firearm Safety

Whether you subscribe to the NRA Safety Rules or Col. Cooper’s Safety Rules in their original form or in a modified form, they need to be followed. These go a very long way at minimizing the chance of having an unintentional discharge while also minimizing the chance of life changing consequences of an unintentional discharge. The importance of these rules can not be understated under any circumstances.

However, it’s important to recognize that the chances of an unintentional discharge is never zero.

Lesson 2: Know the Manual of Arms

Read the manual. Seriously. All of it.

I know it’s easier said than done and I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times that after acquiring a new gun I haven’t opened the manual or only skimmed it. This especially true for firearm platforms that I am already familiar with. However, the manuals provide insights into safe operation of the firearm they are written for.

After learning about this incident, I went through each manual of every single-action pistol I have available to me and found the following bits of information:

• CZ 75 TS Checkmate Manual [PDF]: Keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction when disengaging the safety.
• Dan Wesson 1911 Manual [PDF]: Until you have chosen a target and are prepared to fire the handgun, keep the Thumb Safety in the SAFE position.
• Kimber 1911 Manual [PDF]: To disengage the safety, keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction, move the thumb safety forcefully and fully to its downward or off position.
• Sig Sauer 1911 Manual [PDF]: Discharge Procedure: Aim the pistol at a safe target. Disengage the thumb safety. Place your finger on the trigger and pull back the trigger to discharge a round. Keep the pistol aimed at the target and fire further rounds as required.

Yes, there is no doubt that lawyers were heavily involved in the production of the manuals. However, disengaging a manual safety towards the end of the pistol’s presentation, and engaging it as soon as the shooting is done, helps ensure the direction of discharges occur only in the direction of least consequence, whether the discharge is intentional or not.

One more thing, it’s probably a good idea to seek formal instruction from a reputable instructor who is experienced with, or specializes in, the platform that is new to a shooter regardless of how experienced the shooter is with other platforms. The primary reason for seeking this instruction from someone who has expertise specific to the platform is that it minimizes the chance of unintentional ignorance being transferred from teacher to student that can lead to unsafe practices like disengaging the manual safety too early as a result of omission or passing an unknowingly incorrect technique.

Bottom line: It’s not safe to take the safety off on a 1911, 2011, or any other single action pistol while it’s in the holster. Never has been.  Nor has it been taught by any reputable school anywhere.

Lesson 3: Returning a Pistol to the Holster is a Dangerous Activity

Short of being on a two-way range, returning a pistol to a holster is the most dangerous activity a pistolero will participate in. It’s also something they do in high frequency in practice, during training, or while shooting. Why is it so dangerous? Because complacency or carelessness during this activity is the number one reason for unintentional discharges.

It may seem a little odd that I’m bringing up returning the pistol to the holster when the unintentional discharge this post is focused on occurred while removing the pistol from the holster. However, if one looks closely at the video posted above. The trigger actuation occurred when the pistol was moving inwards. In other words, the specific movement that led to the discharge combined with establishing the master grip on the pistol caused the pistol to start moving outward and then move inward while the master grip was being established and prior to the pistol being pulled from the holster. With the safety disengaged, the trigger “rubbed” against the holster wall and was actuated during the inward movement. So in essence, it discharged when being returned into the holster.

With a few exceptions in military, law enforcement, and executive protection activities, a return to the holster should be a slow, careful and reluctant activity. Looking the gun into the holster while maintaining a full master grip is encouraged as the norm. Looking allows us to confirm that nothing is obstructing the return path of the pistol. The firing grip allows us to quickly stop movement or change directions the instant any sort of resistance is felt.

Lesson 4: Medical Response Plans Are Not Optional

Mitigation is great, but contingencies are also required.

Everyone needs a medical response plan and I do mean every single person. Not having one is a recipe for disaster. It’s also irresponsible. In some cases, the lack of a plan is a huge legal liability.

A medical response plan consists of skills, equipment, role assignments, and information. The level of detail and the size of the response team depends entirely on the type, location, and size of the event. This topic is huge and it won’t be covered in detail within this post, but we can at least highlight a few important things.

The first place to start is with knowledge and skills. For the individual, I will argue until I’m blue in the face that it begins with attending a Stop The Bleed class. This is an inexpensive start that requires a minimal time commitment, but gives an able bodied person the knowledge needed to help keep a person who may have suffered life-threatening injuries alive until emergency services arrive. That person might be you.

I will encourage instructors, range safety officers, match directors, range owners, and anyone who regularly spends time at the range to seek a course like the Range Response class offered by Lone Star Medics. This type of class goes well beyond a Stop The Bleed class covering topics like scene safety, dealing with environmental emergencies, medical equipment selection, response team responsibility assignments, and coordinating with local public safety assets and emergency services.

Lesson 5: Keep Your Tools Accessible At All Times (Including Emergency Medical Equipment)

Armed self defense practitioners will tell you that the first rule of a gun fight is to have a gun. They will also tell you that you will not receive advanced notice of an event that will require you to have your gun. It’s the “all day, everyday” theme. While emergency medical equipment is also often mentioned, it’s often mentioned as an afterthought or at least with much less emphasis.

I’ll offer that if the first rule of a gun fight is having a gun, then the second rule is having a trauma kit.

Almost everyone will agree that anyone who goes into a fist fight not expecting to take a punch is a fool. That line of thinking suggests that anyone who goes into a gun fight not expecting to catch a bullet is also a fool.

Consider how the incident would have played out had it taken place at the range during private practice without anyone else around. How would he have fared if he was unable to render self aid? Would a first aid kit in a range cart two dozen yards away have helped? What about the one in his truck?

Closing Thoughts

I’m thankful that my friend was open to the idea of sharing the story of his unintentional discharge with us so that we may learn from it and improve our safety practices.

I am reminded of the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Prevention here isn’t limited to mitigation of an unintentional discharge. Don’t get me wrong, the very best scenario is avoiding an unintentional discharge all together. The second best scenarios are those where the unintentional discharge doesn’t cause any significant damage. Both of these scenarios result from the mitigation strategies discussed in lessons one and two.

Prevention also comes in the form of being prepared to execute contingency plans as discussed in lessons three and four.

While the medical response wasn’t flawless in this incident, it uncovered deficiencies that have now been addressed. These include:

• Increased visibility of the range entrance from the road
• Improved highly visible trauma kits complete with location details and communication instructions available on every bay at the range

Another old adage I am reminded of is, “You can’t count on luck, but luck counts.”

I strongly believe that the primary reason my friend is expected to make a full recovery rather than having to make life adjustments due to permanent damage (or worse) resulting from the incident was because an emergency response plan was in place. Some elements of luck might have played a part in that, but I don’t know those elements alone would have yielded the same outcome or prognosis.

If nothing else, then I hope this post is the reason that stops somebody in the future from tempting fate by doing something stupid like recording a video of themselves while pointing a loaded gun at their reproductive bits and taking the slack out of the trigger.