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I have been a firearms safety instructor for 5 years now, Army and Civilian. It can happen to ANYONE if they let a rule slip. Last weekend, after returning from Nat'l Guard duty I met up with my family in Florida for vacation. It had been a long day of M9 and M-4 range qual, and I had just gotten off a jetliner to meet my family who had driven to florida while I was on duty. My wife had transported my Hi-Power in her luggage, and after having a beer and a glass of wine with my dad, I decided to hit the sack. Rule #1-Alcohol and firearms=stupid mistakes. I Un zipped the Browning from the case, made sure the magazines were fully loaded, did a quick functions check before I put it on the nightstand. Instead of easing the hammer down as usual (even though I was SURE there was not a hot one in the chamber..) I pointed it at the bed and squeezed it off. BOOM!!! My first-ever ND. Right in front of my dad, wife ,son, sister, damn it! I was so humiliated. The 125 grain HP ripped through the mattress, box spring, bounced off the concrete floor and went back up through the box spring before lodging in the mattress. Wow. Lesson learned, it was a stupid mistake, but at least I had the sense to point it at the bed before squeezing it off. It can happen to anybody, especially after a weekend of training when you think you "know it all"..
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