Gun from passenger's bag in Atlanta airport accidentally fired

[MikeG]

Gun from passenger's bag in Atlanta airport accidentally fired - Yahoo! News

I hate passive voice titles. Should be "Officer unintentionally fires passenger's gun in Atlanta airport, injured".

I'm also wondering if was TSA officer that did it but I suspect they are not allowed to touch a firearm. Luckily it appears the injuries are minor.

The only questions that we really need to know is: "was it a revolver?" and "how long will Norm357 be away?"

[Norm357]

There is a better report about this on the ajc.com.

Reading between the lines it appears to have been a NAA mini revolver loaded with .22 magnum snake shot. Since the shot is about the size of a grain of sand, I really doubt the officer was injured by the AD, unless he was holding it up to his face when he was trying to unload it.

[kels]

ATTENTION NORM, no more loaded guns in the luggage at the airport.
What would RP do without its resident revolver nut?

[Burnout1985]

?! what person actually keeps a gun loaded in their luggage when going through the airport. That just strikes me as a lack of safety with the firearm to keep it loaded in a situation like this regardless of the caliber. Someone shouldn't be around firearms...As for the officer i am not too surprised, we can't expect them to have a full working knowledge of every firearm and how to safely unload it, and so accidents happen.

[Norm357]

?! what person actually keeps a gun loaded in their luggage when going through the airport. That just strikes me as a lack of safety with the firearm to keep it loaded in a situation like this regardless of the caliber. Someone shouldn't be around firearms...As for the officer i am not too surprised, we can't expect them to have a full working knowledge of every firearm and how to safely unload it, and so accidents happen.

I'm not a police officer and I carry a gun in the airport 5 days a week. Also, I will continue to believe that the cop that tried to unload that gun an idiot because the only way he could get the injury he described is by pointing it at his face. Accidents with firearms can get someone killed, so if the officer did not know how to unload that particular gun, he should have called someone who could.

[Burnout1985]

well the fact that you carry is not an issue, although i have to question why you need to be armed there 5 days a week if you are not an officer or security personnel. it's placing it in a duffel or similar luggage, LOADED when it's a damn revolver. No safety mechanism to prevent a discharge and the guy apparently did not have a trigger lock on it. That's just stupid, there is no reason to have it loaded when it is not within easy reach or access.

[Norm357]

well the fact that you carry is not an issue, although i have to question why you need to be armed there 5 days a week if you are not an officer or security personnel.

It's far easier to carry a gun than a cop. The Atlanta airport is the busiest in the world, and one ofthe worlds biggest. Crime happens there just like everywhere else.

it's placing it in a duffel or similar luggage, LOADED when it's a damn revolver. No safety mechanism to prevent a discharge and the guy apparently did not have a trigger lock on it.

One should not sound so indignant when one aparently knows nothing about guns, how they work, and their respective safeties. The gun in question cannot fire unless the hammer is pulled completelt to the rear. The gun in question is perfectly safe to carry tossed into a pocket, a duffle bag, or a suitcase if you choose to do so. This is the gun in question...


See the hammer? The gun will not fire unless it is all the way to the rear. That means the cop who was trying to unload it had cocked it first.

That's just stupid, there is no reason to have it loaded when it is not within easy reach or access.

RE: the cop who tried to unload this gun by cocking it first defines stupidity.

[Burnout1985]

I am well aware of the functioning and use in guns and have plenty of experience with them, but not the particular one that was found in the luggage. Don't jump so quickly to insulting my knowledge based on one statement, as i did not based on yours. the question remains though, why he felt the need to have a loaded firearm in his luggage where he does not have easy access to it. That is just careless regardless of the firing mechanism. there is no reason or purpose to have it like that.

[greg72982]

I guess it would come in handy if there were snakes on the muthaf*$kin plane!

[Burnout1985]

"i've had it with these motherf******g snakes on this motherf*****g plane!!"

[Wolfman]

I guess it would come in handy if there were snakes on the muthaf*$kin plane!

Bahahah! +1 if I didn't have to spread it around.

[TEXASCOP]

The below was taken directly from the North American Arms website.

"The North American Arms Safety Cylinder feature allows the gun to be carried fully loaded. There are halfway notches located between the chambers. The hammer is lowered into one of these notches after the gun is loaded. When the hammer is pulled back to the firing position the cylinder rotates to the next chamber.
NOTE: The traditional half-**** position is to be used for loading and unloading only. THE HAMMER SHOULD NEVER REST IN THE HALF-**** POSITION OVER A LIVE CARTRIDGE, OR ON THE RIM OF A LIVE CARTRIDGE."

I would like to make a couple of points here....

1. Yes, if the officer was unfamiliar with the weapon, he should have asked for help.

2. Not all police officer's know everything about every gun (in my opinion this particular gun could be a little tricky even if you have experience with the common revolver).

3. The guy was carrying snake shot in the gun, just to scare potential muggers.... Really? So you are face to face with a guy packing .45ACP and your going to shoot him with rat shot? You might get lucky and blind the guy but that's chancing a lot when you have 230 grain bullets passing though your body at close range.

4. Due to my experience with firearms from previously being a firearms instructor for the public (The classes I instructed for were " Basic Introduction and familiarization with firearms", and CHL Classes). It was also a gun/rental range/gun retail store. I was around guns and had to fix/unjam almost every type of firearm out there including some that I was not that familiar with (although the weapon was always kept down range while I was attempting to figure out the problem with firearm). I work with a number of good Officers who are very familiar with Glock's and the common revolver. I have told everyone I work with to not hesitate to ask for help with making a weapon safe and they have taken advantage of that in the past.

5. Granted the Officer in this case made a mistake and given the totality of the circumstances If I truly believed the guy forgot the weapon was in there I don't know if I would have arrested him (his criminal history would have played a part). On another note forgetfulness is not an affirmative defense to prosecution and the thought that this guy might have ended up on an airplane with a firearm. I wasn't there so its hard to say what I would have done. I would like to think I would have avoided popping off a round at the airport (The guys on his shift will not let him hear the end of this and if he makes it to retirement it will likely be the the big joke at his retirement party).

6. According to CNN they owner of the gun was trying to tell him how to unload the weapon (forgetting you have a weapon in your carry on bag would be mistake #1 in the events that took place). I assume the guy told him to halfcock the gun and the officer fully cocked it (mistake #2). Then the guy advised the officer that he cocked it all the way. Subsequently the officer attempted to pull the trigger and ride the hammer down (mistake #3)and BOOM! (that's just my opinion of what might have taken place). Its a small gun and I can kinda see how this could happen but the officer did make a mistake.

[TEXASCOP]

I'm not a police officer and I carry a gun in the airport 5 days a week. Also, I will continue to believe that the cop that tried to unload that gun an idiot because the only way he could get the injury he described is by pointing it at his face. Accidents with firearms can get someone killed, so if the officer did not know how to unload that particular gun, he should have called someone who could.

Well you are calling the officer an Idiot and I see why but I think the word you want to use would be ignorant. Saying he is an idiot means he is an utterly foolish or senseless person. Ignorant means lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact for example I am ignorant of how not to be cool LOL. With out knowing the officer personally calling him an Idiot kinda makes you sound ignorant (please don't take offense to that I am ignorant to many things, everyone is). Most people are ignorant to many things they read in the news because your not always getting the whole story IE you were not there. I take a lot of what I hear on the news with a grain of salt. I have read stories in my local news paper regarding an incident where I was the arresting officer and was pissed because the news paper did not articulate what really took place or what was in my report. Also I don't know if he pointed the gun at his face, It could have been a ricochet, again I wasn't there.

[pafindr]

I think Norm is closer to the correct term.

Although the passenger was an idiot for having a loaded weapon in his carry on bag the officer was foolish for not treating the firearm correctly.
Ignorance about the type of firearm is kinda moot because he miss ALL of the four very basic rules of dealing with a firearm, no matter the make or model of firearm, which makes his judgment foolish and senseless.

1. Treat all firearms as if they are loaded - He clearly didn't treat the firearm as it was loaded
2. Point the muzzle away from anything you're not willing to destroy - He aimed the firearm at screening table. These usually aren't good backstops
3. Keep fingers off the trigger - Obviously he put his finger on the trigger
4. Be sure of your target and of what is beyond it - Did he think of ricochet? Obviously not.

[mobrien316]

well the fact that you carry is not an issue, although i have to question why you need to be armed there 5 days a week if you are not an officer or security personnel.

Which days of the week are appropriate, in your opinion, for the relinquishment of one's rights?

Do you exercise your right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures every day of the week, or do you let law enforcement officers search your house and arrest you without probable cause a few days a week?

If someone exercises their right to free speech every day of the week, would you have to question why they needed to do that if they weren't a professional journalist or writer?