A retired Jersey City police officer apparently accidentally shot and killed himself yesterday morning while cleaning his gun at the city's emergency services unit, city officials said.I weighed whether or not I wanted to post this--I'm not insensitive to the fact that real people are suffering a grievous loss right now. That said, the whole purpose of "The Only Ones" is to demonstrate that police and the politically connected do not automatically possess superior qualifications over the rest of us simply by virtue of employment or connections.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
We're the Only Ones Clean Enough
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3 comments:
It's a tragedy that a man had to die like that- I think it's important to post stories like this not only from the perspective you stated but to highlight the care and attention that must be paid to gun safety at all times- he probably spent a career carrying a gun and yet a moment's inattention led to a terrible accident.
(sigh)
I'll bet the gun was a Glock and that he knew he didn't have a round chambered.
One of the reasons I have an XD instead of a Glock is the difference in take down for cleaning (the main other one is that I hate the Glock Grip / grip angle).
On an XD you have to lock the slide all the way back to rotate the take-down pin, after which you pull the trigger to release the slide.
On a Glock you only have to move the slide back a fraction of an inch to rotate the take-down pin.
The Glock design does not force or even encourage you to do an unsafe act, but it does allow you to. With my XD if I fail to verify that the gun is clear before I start cleaning I'll get a shock when I pull the slide all the way back to rotate the pin. With a Glock it allows me to get an even nastier surprise when I pull the trigger to release the slide...
Don't forget folks, the man who inspired 'The Only Ones' did so by this same sort of error.
My condolences to this officer's family.
"...the prosecutor said, the gun's magazine was found outside the gun and it had been holding only one bullet."
Haven't the foggiest as to what this means, but do know that a lot of police suicides are blamed on gun cleaning negligence.
So you drop the mag, then point the gun at your chest and squeeze the trigger, to clean it...
Okay.
Jersey City Police do use some Glocks, all fortified with the NY2 trigger that makes it all but impossible to hit what is aimed at, but who knows if he was using an old service pistol or something else. Still doesn't wash very well, but I've known police to do the most asinine things with firearms so who can be sure.
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