Another AD or ND question

[PT111]

Several years ago a good friend of mine was placing his gun on the nightstand and it slipped. He tried to catch it and evidently caught the trigger because the gun fired. His 14 year old son was killed instantly by that one shot. The police did rule it accidental but how would you rule it? Accidental or negligent? This is one reason why carrying one in the chamber in a gun without a safety scares me. BTW - It was a .22 revolver.

 

[Doyle]

Something doesn't sound right. I've never seen a double action revolver that would fire (uncocked) with just grabbing the trigger as it was falling. Not unless he had done a really serious trigger job on it to lighten the double action pull. Is it possible that it was already cocked? That would seem more logical.

 

[BerettaCougar]

I will have to agree with Doyle.

Unless the gun had an ultra light trigger job, this would be nearly impossible.

 

[PT111]

That is what he told me and he told the police. I had no reason to doubt him but you should know that this was about 40 years ago. The father is also dead now so I can't confirm it with him.

 

[spctim11]

I would say a little bit of both.
Accidental by it going off as he reacted and tried to catch it.

Negligent by placing the gun somewheres where it had the capability of sliping off the night stand.

Horrible incident overall though.

 

[Jseime]

I would say that it was negligent but who would have the heart to throw a father in jail after his son had just been killed in that situation.

 

[BillCA]

I would say that it was negligent but who would have the heart to throw a father in jail after his son had just been killed in that situation.

Answer: A politically motivated anti-gun prosecutor.

I'd be tempted to classify this as accidental, given the skimpy facts here. It does seem odd that a DA wheelgun would go off in that circumstance based on that description.

One thing I learned about 30 years ago during a training session.

If a gun is falling to the ground never attempt to catch it.

Modern firearms are designed to survive a drop without discharging. Sure, it might go off but odds are that it won't. On the other hand, reaching/fumbling for a falling gun risks the possibility of activating the trigger or discharging the weapon somehow. It's safer to let it fall and worry about damage to the gun afterwards.

 

[Sturmgewehre]

This whole "AD vs. ND" thing is kind of silly. Any time you fire off a round and didn't mean to is either accidental or negligent. In other words, they are synonymous. One may sound less legally binding, but in reality they both mean the same thing - you screwed up, you pulled the trigger when you didn't mean to. No gun pulls its own trigger or otherwise fires itself.

 

[gvf]

I'm sure he's been suffering more than any DA could inflict on him.

 

[MisterPX]

Negligent, as he pulled the trigger. If it would have hit teh ground and fired, that'd be accidental.

In other words, they are synonymous. One may sound less legally binding, but in reality they both mean the same thing - you screwed up, you pulled the trigger when you didn't mean to. No gun pulls its own trigger or otherwise fires itself.

NOT synonymous, ever seen a slamfire, cookoff, or dropped an old SA revolver on teh hammer? Those fired without the trigger pull.