Recently a Captain in our department was taking her service pistol off the top shelf of her locker when she lost control of the pistol. As the pistol fell, she tried to catch it before it hit the concrete floor – a very natural human reaction, to be sure. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in such cases, either her thumb or one of her fingers entered the trigger guard as she grabbed the pistol, firing it. The 180-grain, .40 caliber hollow point bullet entered her abdomen and exited her breast, and was recovered, spent and fully expanded, inside her uniform shirt. By the grace of God, the bullet traveled outside her ribcage and never entered her body cavity. A few degrees difference in the angle of the shot, and the result would likely have been tragic, rather than just extremely unfortunate.
Every reader of this article has dropped things in their lifetime. Human error is universal among humans. Personally, I have dropped dishes and glasses, dropped my cell phone many times, dropped a hammer on my bare foot, and dropped – yes – loaded guns, most recently last month. In 40 years as an instructor, I have seen many guns dropped by others. But while most firearms instructors cover extensive safety rules and range procedures, too many of our training programs never address the safety issues arising from dropped guns, an inevitable occurrence.
Most of us have seen the video of the FBI agent whose gun fell onto the nightclub floor in Denver as he did a backflip while dancing. A close review of the video shows that the gun did not discharge when it hit the floor, but when the agent put his hand on it to pick it up. The bullet hit another club patron in the leg, and the agent was criminally charged. The video makes an important general point: most modern guns, whether handguns or shoulder weapons, are designed and tested to be “drop safe.” While there can be no guarantee, of course, that no gun will ever fire when it hits the ground, the chance of this happening appears far less likely than that of the gun firing when grabbed in mid-air, with a thumb or finger entering the trigger guard as happened in my agency. And as in the Denver nightclub video, even if the gun hits the ground without firing, dangers exist when one goes to pick the gun up, and/or tries to fire it on the range.
Consider the following sheet on “Safety With Dropped Guns.” Feel free to use it, with or without your own modifications, as a handout for your agency, or as a lesson outline in your own training programs.
While the Gun is Falling:
All modern police, military, and defensive handguns from reputable manufacturers are designed to be “drop safe.” This means they are designed and tested not to fire when dropped onto hard surfaces from reasonable heights. The drop tests for commercial firearms made in the United States are specified by SAAMI/ANSI (Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute/American National Standards Institute). While there can, or course, be no absolute guarantee that a dropped firearm will never discharge, the chance that a firearm hitting the ground will discharge is far less than the chance that it will discharge if the user tries to “grab” or “catch” the firearm while it is falling, and in the process gets his finger or thumb into the trigger guard and activates the trigger, as happens with some frequency. Accordingly, the best rule is:
If a firearm drops, or if you lose control of it while you are drawing or holstering it or at any other time, JUST LET IT DROP – DO NOT TRY TO CATCH IT!
When a Dropped Gun is On The Ground:
It is dangerous to try to pick up a gun that has fallen on the ground, for many reasons. Some of these reasons are: (1) the gun may not be pointed in a safe direction; (2) the gun may have gotten dirt, mud or snow in the muzzle, and may then burst when the trigger is pulled; (3) due to the impact, the internal parts of the gun may be “perched” or positioned such that the gun will fire when it is picked up, without the trigger being pulled; and (4) the gun may be damaged from the impact with the ground, and may not be safe to fire. Accordingly, if a gun falls on the ground during a training exercise at the range:
- DO NOT TOUCH THE DROPPED GUN!
- If you are carrying a backup gun, draw it and continue the exercise, if permitted to do so.
- If you are not carrying a backup gun, or when you have finished the exercise using your backup gun, raise your hand to get the instructor’s attention, so the instructor can pick up the dropped gun in a safe manner, and can inspect it to see whether it is safe to continue using the gun.
- Among other things, the instructor will: (1) make sure no one is in the direction in which the gun is pointing when the it is picked up, (2) will pick the gun up safely; (3) will unload the gun; and (4) will inspect the gun to be sure the muzzle is unobstructed, and to determine whether it is safe to continue using the gun.
If you drop a gun when there is no firearms instructor present to follow the above steps, follow them yourself, being very careful that no one is in front of the gun when you pick it up, keeping your finger outside the trigger guard, and following all other safety rules. As soon as possible, have the gun inspected by your department’s armorer or firearms instructor, or by a qualified gunsmith or the gun’s manufacturer, to be sure the gun is undamaged and safe to continue using.
Only during a gunfight or other emergency should you simply pick up a dropped gun from the ground and attempt to fire it, if necessary!
About the Author: Emanuel Kapelsohn’s career boasts significant milestones, including serving as a Staff Instructor at the American Pistol Institute (“Gunsite”) and leading NRA’s Semiautomatic Pistol Instructor Seminars at US Marine Base Quantico, among other locations. His expertise has taken him nationwide and internationally, teaching armorer and firearms classes for Glock. Additionally, his role as the Director of Security for an executive protection team and his 39 years as an expert witness in firearms and use-of-force cases in state and federal courts underline his profound impact in the field.
