KenInColo

This is a GEM.

In the last three years, I've had nearly 96 hours of handgun training & about 1500 rounds of live fire, from two different instructors. Neither one mentioned this.

Next week, I'm going for my NRA Handgun Instructors certification. You can be sure that I will pass this along to the instructor of this class & pass it along to my own students in the future.

__________________
An armed populace are called citizens.
An unarmed populace are called subjects.

Stevew

Instinct is hard to over come. This is tragic. My money is on "it will happen again".

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Glock 22, GP100, S&W mod 60, Colt Delta Elite, Colt Govt 380, Ruger Single Six, Ruger Bearcat, Colt New Police

edr9x23super

Good post, and good information contained within.

I can remember during my IPSC days when teaching new shooters gun handling techniques, always explaining the concept of when to disengage the manual safety (back then the sport was almost exclusively single-action 1911s) and engage targets. We followed a simple rule, regardless of which hand the gun was in: Do not disengage the safety until the weapon is in the shooting hand, the sights are on the intended target and the trigger finger is on the trigger! We used to emphasize this, especially when weak-hand stages came up because of the exact circumstances described by the original poster. I can't tell you how many times I DQ'd competitors for negligent discharges during matches I was ROing when they were transferring the gun from their strong-to-weak hand. In every case, it was their natural instinct to thumb off the safety as they drew, then transfer a hot gun with the safety off to their weak hand, a certain recipe for disaster. I always taught and advocated the following:
1) Manual safeties. This way, the gun stays locked up until you are on target and ready to engage.
2) Keep the safety engaged until your gun is in your shooting hand, AND your sights are on target, especially when transferring from hand-to-hand....
3) I agree, let the gun drop don't try to grab it. If your safeties were properly engaged in the first place or the gun is a safe action type weapon, the internal drop safety will prevent a discharge.....

__________________
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined". - Patrick Henry

Random

And to jump backwards!

ProShooter

Thank you! I'm so very glad that you enjoyed the class. I guess we're doing ok at the Nation's Gun Show since we've been asked back again. :)

Every month, I review our material and make some changes as new information arises. I recently read about more than one instance of "grabbing the falling gun" and they all ended badly, so I added it into the program.

Remember what I taught about gross motor skills vs. fine motor skills? The falling gun is a good example!

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www.ProactiveShooters.com

KenInColo

I think in IDPA, if you drop your gun, you are automatically DQed from the remainder of the match.

__________________
An armed populace are called citizens.
An unarmed populace are called subjects.

billdeserthills

Scary stuff, but I did let it drop, it was my Steyr M357A1 . Damn thing landed pointing up at me too, but it didn't go off. I worked as a cook for 12 years, there were always guy's in the kitchen cutting themselves while trying to catch the knife or glass bowl they had dropped.