Firearms instructor shoots self at S&W - injured but not fatal

[MikeG]

Firearms instructor shoots self at S&W | WWLP.com

Normally I see these as tragic mistakes. But I think this article is filled with what Internet types call "win." And yes, it's stereotype and stigma that makes it humorous and I am not intending this to be disparative at the personal level.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A United Nations firearms instructor from France accidentally shot himself during recertification training at Smith & Wesson late Thursday morning.

Springfield Police Sgt. John Delaney said the man, who is not being publicly identified, shot himself in the thigh during the class, which was held at their 299 Page Boulevard Shooting Sports Center at around 11:00 A.M.

The instructor was rushed to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to be okay.

But if you can't laugh at the UN and the French and the giant cluster a French UN firearms instructor represents....

remember the French rifle for sale ad? - "Never fired, dropped twice..."

Maybe S&W needs to check the drop safety or the UN and France might have to change manufacturers ....

[retdetsgt]

As I said before, the vast majority of the guys I know that have accidentally shot themselves were firearm instructors or people otherwise really into guns. Maybe it's because they handle them so much that they get careless, I dunno. But when I was working, we would have one of those about every 3 or 4 years and everything I thought WTF? Everyone was someone you would have thought knew better.

[JoetheGI]

Maybe it's because they handle them so much that they get careless, I dunno.

This guy knows what you're talking about...



Complacency kills.

We had very few ND's, and those that did have them, got the boot. Good extra incentive not to act with negligence.

Back in the late 90's / early 00's, the Army decided they were going to modify the T-10 reserve parachute seen below (it's the little one at the bottom )...



Somebody got the great idea of installing a more powerful ejector spring to aid in the deployment of the pilot chute, which in turn, would aid in the deployment of the main reserve canopy. And it did. However, the new ejector spring also made the rip cord grip a little more.....sensitive.

Enter complacency....

After fielding this new improved reserve parachute, there emerged a new trend in the Jumpmaster community involving Jumpmasters getting violently sucked out of the jump doors of aircraft by said new reserve parachutes. Not good, and it occurred for seemingly no apparent reason, other than spite on the part of the reserve. One minute the Jumpmaster is there in the door, the next second, POOOOOF, no more Jumpmaster. While this never happened in our organization (and I learned WHY later on), it got to the point that we were very hesitant about using the new reserves, and eventually, we started using the old ones again.

Upon further investigation, they realized the impact the new spring had on the sensitivity of the rip cord grip, and they fabricated a device to counter the effect. They ALSO found out that the leading cause of the deployments was largely caused by complacent Jumpmasters.

Here's a pic of a Jarhead () doing a door check in a C-130...



Note that he is keeping his body centered in the door, the way he SHOULD, and the way you are trained. The REASON you keep your body centered in the door is so that you don't get any of your kit tangled up in, on, or around the door, as that would be bad, especially if that particular part of your kit is a certain new improved modified reserve parachute rip cord grip....

Turns out that some lazy complacent Jumpmasters would get "tired" in the door, and would lean on the right side of the door to "rest". These same complacent Jumpmasters inadvertently made contact with the door and their rip cord grip, which would then deploy out the door taking their complacent bodies along for the ride. Sadly, this complacency actually caused some fatalities. But that's what complacency does...

Stay alert out there folks.