24 Apr 01

>From an LEO friend and student in the Southeast:

"I attended a firearms training session with several members of a local law enforcement agency last week. They were all wearing Royal Robbins trousers, which featured a large loop above the right, rear pocket. One individual had a glob of keys attached to the loop via a clip. The glob of keys was directly to the rear of his holster. His pistol was Glock, and it was in some species of retention holster.

As we were all standing at the firing line, that officer's weapon discharged in the holster! His pants were torn up as a result, but the bullet missed him (not by much!). He was shaken but not hurt. The bullet buried itself in the ground.

When the shot went off, I immediately turned to look at him, as he was right next to me. I saw that his strong hand was on the rear of the pistol with the thumb and forefinger circling the rear of the slide; ie: he was not using his master grip (firing grip) to reholster.

Two possibilities:

1) His keys flipped up as he reholstered, and one got in the trigger guard. It then pushed the trigger back as the gun was thrust into the holster.

2) His nonstandard grip on the gun allowed his little finger to inadvertently slip into the trigger guard as he reholstered.

Whichever the cause, there are two lessons for me from the incident:

1) Keep your holster area clear of loose objects like key rings

2) Handle your pistol only in a correct, master grip. The master grip provides maximum control over the pistol and all fingers automatically go where they are supposed to be."

I'll add a third:

Install NY triggers on your Glocks. I have a NY trigger on all my Glocks, and I've never regretted it

/John