Only police can be trusted to safely handle firearms. Right? (soldier, regular)

[Little-Acorn]

I keep hearing from our brethern of the southpaw persuasion, that regular people should not be allowed to own guns. Only police, with their specialized training, can be trusted to safely handle firearms, they say.

As for me, I never feel completely safe when relying only on police for protection.

And this doesn't help.

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Police Chief Accidentally Shoots Himself -- Again - Careers Articles&

Police Chief Accidentally Shoots Himself -- Again
Nurses thought the police chief was kidding

By Erik Sherman
Posted Jan 21st 2014 @ 7:30PM

Connersville, Indiana police chief David Counceller has learned. For the second time in 15 years.
According to the Indy Star, the 34-year veteran of the Connersville Police Department accidentally shot himself in the leg with a 40-caliber Glock handgun. This was the second time in 15 years that Counceller had accidentally shot himself.

The first time, he was acting as a third-shift captain and was unloading a gun before taking it to the gunsmith. Counceller failed to check if there was a bullet in the chamber. There was and it went through his hand. "That one really hurt," he told the Indy Star.

This time, he was at a local gun shop. Counceller, off-duty at the time, had taken his Glock out to compare the firearm to a newer model. All was fine until he returned the gun to its holster. "It got tangled in my clothing," Counceller said of his weapon. "I was wearing a sweatshirt and a fleece jacket. I felt (the gun) go in the holster and I pushed it, but it was tangled in the material which caused it to discharge. The bullet went into my leg and then into the floor."

[no1brownsfan]

A buddy of mine that is a former marine is a better shot than most cops.

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by Little-Acorn

Connersville, Indiana police chief David Counceller has learned. For the second time in 15 years.
According to the Indy Star, the 34-year veteran of the Connersville Police Department accidentally shot himself in the leg with a 40-caliber Glock handgun. This was the second time in 15 years that Counceller had accidentally shot himself.

Neither incident was an accident. Both incidents were negligence in following the 4 simple gun safety rules.

[aedubber]

Lmao yeah sure trust them. I have friends that are cops and they only go to the range to re qualify otherwise they dont.

I would trust an avid gun owner or military soldier over a cop anytime.

[Dane_in_LA]

Ehm - no? Most police aren't that great with firearms either.

I for one like the UK model with a response team that is very, very well armed, well trained and competent, and having the rest of the force be trained to rely as little as possible on firearms.

Of course the difficult bit isn't the marksmanship, it's deciding when to use lethal force and, if possible, managing the situation towards a scenario that doesn't require firearms at all.

[greywar]

Have you seen the incident reports where they fire massive amounts of ammo....and miss....at close range?

Seriously, its bad. How can you be a cop and miss so many times?

[wutitiz]

One thing about the Glock is that you have to pull the trigger before you take it apart for cleaning. Of course you have to check the chamber first to make sure its empty. And then even if you just checked that chamber, point the gun in a safe direction before pulling the trigger.

Some have criticized the Glock for this characteristic, but my view is that if you can't reliably do those two steps, you should not have a gun. I've been shooting Glocks since around 1985, with zero unwanted discharges. It does not have a manual safety, so it's pretty simple: if there's a round in the chamber, and you pull the trigger, it's going to fire. There's no sense of false security w/ a Glock. And don't carry it with no holster, just shoved down into your waistband, Plaxico Burress-style.

Some people just have issues with being able to focus on what they're doing. I bet this guy has a long history of accidents with things other than guns, too.

[Don Draper]

Originally Posted by greywar

Have you seen the incident reports where they fire massive amounts of ammo....and miss....at close range?

Seriously, its bad. How can you be a cop and miss so many times?

Many police issued pistols have a 12 pound trigger pull.

Ever try to shoot with a 12 pound trigger pull, it's a big handicap, most of your shots go left and low.

[wutitiz]

People need to be cognizant of their limitations. I cannot draw worth a crap, and thus I did not become an artist nor engineer. If you can't remember to do a chamber check before pulling the trigger on your Glock, you should not become a cop. And the politcos in charge of hiring cops need to take that into account, but of course they won't.

[RogersParkGuy]

I'm sorry, but no control group has called for a total ban on privately owned firearms.