I ran across this on KSL.com yesterday…
SALT LAKE CITY — A man is in critical condition after he accidentally shot himself while checking for burglars.
Salt Lake police say it happened around 3:20 a.m. at a residence near 900 East and 500 South. They say the man thought he heard someone in his apartment, woke up and grabbed his .22-caliber handgun and his flashlight.
He went to turn on his flashlight but pulled the gun’s trigger instead.
The bullet hit him in the chest. He was able to call 911. Officers broke down the apartment door and found him injured. The man was taken to University of Utah Medical Center in critical condition.
Police say there is no evidence of a burglary in the apartment.
While I won’t go into details about why using a .22 caliber firearm for defense isn’t a good idea – since perhaps that was all that he had – I want to take a minute and talk about the importance of obeying the rules of firearm safety.
The various rules of firearm safety work together. When all are obeyed, accidents (or negligence) are avoided.
When one is disregarded, the chances of serious bodily injury or death are still mitigated to a degree.
But when more than one are disregarded, then we have the situation illustrated here…
Let’s look at the rules for a moment…
ALWAYS TREAT EVERY FIREARM AS IF IT IS LOADED
ALWAYS KEEP THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF OF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO FIRE
BE AWARE OF YOUR TARGET, AND WHAT IS BEHIND/AROUND YOUR TARGET
Now, how many of these rules did he violate. Certainly the second – the firearm was pointed at his chest. He also violated the third – he had his finger on the trigger and somehow confused that with the switch on his flashlight. He technically violated the fourth as well.
Since the firearm was ready to use, he didn’t technically violate the first but he failed on the second and third, and now he is in critical condition as a result.
You are RESPONSIBLE for EVERY PROJECTILE that leaves your firearm. You are ACCOUNTABLE for whatever damage it does. You CAN NOT call a projectile back once you pull the trigger.
If you don’t follow the rules, this is what can happen.