6 Nov 00

A friend with a large PD in the Midwest just related this incident, which happened last week:

"We had a group of new officers on the pistol range, and they were into their second day of training with their issue SIG P228s. At the time, we were asking them to draw the pistol and reholster it using only their strong hand, explaining that both hands are often not simultaneously available.

An officer still wanted to use her left hand to decock, and I explained to her that she was going to have to learn to do it all one handed, not involving her left hand at all. She indicated that she could not concurrently reach the decocking lever with her right thumb and maintain her master grip.

I was standing to the rear of her left shoulder as I explained to her that she may have to tilt the pistol to the left in order to reach the decocking lever with her right thumb. I had not even completed my sentence when she abruptly pointed her pistol (hammer cocked) to the left, which caused her muzzle to point directly at my head!

I lurched to the right as I pushed the gun back so that it again pointed downrange. No harm was done, but it was the worst scare I've had in quite a while! Both the student and I were badly shaken up."

Lessons:

>The act of manual decocking often causes the pistol to abruptly point to the left, particularly when it is in the hands of an inexperienced student who does not yet have an adequate grasp of the concept of muzzle consciousness. People with small hands are particularly likely to succumb to this dangerous error. The same unsafe habit is also seen during reloading. The problem must be explained and demonstrated to all students as they learn how to decock and reload their weapons. Control of the direction of the muzzle can be maintained, but it takes technique and practice.

>When coaching students using manually decocking pistols, it is always best to stand to the right rear of the student.

>This phenomenon is endemic to manually decocking pistols. It is eliminated in self-decocking pistols (DAO).

/John