from: http://www.nypost.com/09162000/news/10746.htm
DISARMING MACHINE: COP LOSES GUN IN MRI
Saturday,September 16,2000
By ANDY GELLER
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Guns and MRIs don't mix.
That's what an off-duty Rochester cop found out this week when he went to a clinic for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test.
The cop told a clinic worker he had his handgun with him.
The worker told him it was OK to keep it.
But as soon as the cop entered the room, the device's heavy-duty magnet yanked the .45-caliber gun right out of his hand.
When the gun hit the magnet, a bullet was fired.
But the bullet lodged in a wall and no one was hurt.
The MRI refused to let go of the gun.
It took three hours to power down the magnet and release the weapon.
An MRI is four times as powerful as magnets used to lift cars in junkyards, said Sgt. William Benwitz, who runs a firearms training unit for the Rochester police force.
Benwitz said it would be too risky to try firing the weapon, because its molecular structure might have been altered.
"Until we send this gun back to the factory, we're not even going to test-fire it," he said. "The metal is more brittle than it should be."
DISARMING MACHINE: COP LOSES GUN IN MRI
Saturday,September 16,2000
By ANDY GELLER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guns and MRIs don't mix.
That's what an off-duty Rochester cop found out this week when he went to a clinic for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test.
The cop told a clinic worker he had his handgun with him.
The worker told him it was OK to keep it.
But as soon as the cop entered the room, the device's heavy-duty magnet yanked the .45-caliber gun right out of his hand.
When the gun hit the magnet, a bullet was fired.
But the bullet lodged in a wall and no one was hurt.
The MRI refused to let go of the gun.
It took three hours to power down the magnet and release the weapon.
An MRI is four times as powerful as magnets used to lift cars in junkyards, said Sgt. William Benwitz, who runs a firearms training unit for the Rochester police force.
Benwitz said it would be too risky to try firing the weapon, because its molecular structure might have been altered.
"Until we send this gun back to the factory, we're not even going to test-fire it," he said. "The metal is more brittle than it should be."