29 Sept 00

>From a friend on the East Coast:

"The suspect was proned out on the ground during the arrest process. The officer had a SIG P229 .40 pistol in one hand (pistol in double-action mode, not cocked), with his finger on the trigger, a radio in his other hand, and his foot on the suspect's back. At some point, the suspect moved, and the officer discharged his pistol, according to the officer, unintentionally.

Apparently, it takes a long time for the teaching on (1) involuntary muscular contraction ("IMC") causing accidental discharge, (2) the proper way to cover a suspect at gunpoint, and (3) better arrest procedures, to reach the officers on the street in some parts of the country.

Clearly, IMC causing unintentional shots is not limited to single-action weapons. There are other cases of it occurring with uncocked SIG pistols (one in Arizona comes to mind), double-action Berettas (Las Vegas Metro PD), double-action revolvers (instances too numerous to mention), Glocks of all trigger pull weights, H&K P7M8 pistols, Remington and S&W (and probably all other) pump shotguns, Ruger Minil-14's, submachine guns, etc., etc.

The rigors and realities of covering suspects demand that the finger be kept outside the trigger guard unless and until you have actually decided to fire. (Universal Cover Mode: High Ready position with finger outside the trigger guard.)

This is the same as Rule 3 of the Four Cardinal Rules of Firearms Safety:

3. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you are on target and have decided to fire.

Some modify the above rule to read "have actually decided to fire," but it amounts to the same thing. Phoenix PD and some others state and use the rule as "Keep your finger outside the trigger guard and straight along the frame ...," thus not only telling the shooter what he should not do, but telling him what he should do as well.

In case anyone mistakenly believes that keeping the trigger warm with their finger gives them some kind of tactical advantage in the event the suspect decides to resist, they need to see an "action beats reaction" demonstration to disabuse them of their fantasy. Cover, distance, positioning (both of suspect and officer), lighting, movement, backup, body armor, control tactics, alertness, and mindset can all provide very significant advantages to the officer covering a suspect at gunpoint. But keeping one's finger on the trigger does virtually nothing to improve officer safety, and is simply a disaster primed to occur.

Anyone wanting a detailed discussion of involuntary muscular contraction should get the IALEFI publication, Standards & Practices Guide for Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI, Gilford, NH. 1995), and start by looking on pages 269-272 under the heading, "involuntary muscular contraction" and related entries cited therein. This entry provides numerous other reference sources for anyone interested. IALEFI's phone number is 603-524-8787. Every instructor of defensive firearms skills should be a member of IALEFI.

Maybe this message will help even one reader avoid a tragedy in which someone else's life and his own are both destroyed with a single twitch of the finger. In case some readers don't know it, otherwise sterling police officers and homeowners can get convicted of manslaughter (or murder) for this stuff, or can lose their homes, businesses and life savings in civil suits. Let's keep getting the word out! Keep your finger the hell off the trigger until you have actually decided to fire - then put your finger there, and don't miss!"

/John

29 Sept 00

>From a friend in the Federal System:

"On the inside door of our FBI van, we have a decal (produced and issued by LAPD) admonishing the troops to LUBRICATE OR DIE!"

Words to live by!

I've been recently using Militec. It a dry lubrication that stays where you put it. Great stuff!

/John