Over the years I have read some articles floating around the internet and watched a few different YouTube videos regarding weapons training and weapons safety. While there is a lot of great information out there. There are also some things that need to be clarified, but first let me remind everyone of the 7Ps: Proper Prior Planning/Training Prevents Piss Poor Performance. To kick things off I had to search to find to an old, but still relevant video on YouTube of a guy on the range having a bad day. My first thought of this video reminded me of Jeff Dunham and his puppet Walter... “Dumbass” Muscle Memory: Muscle memory is one of those things that applies to both ends of the spectrum. Yes, muscle memory is a great thing when building up through proper prior planning/training, movements and exercises/drills. No, muscle memory is not a good thing, it is a bad thing, when piss poor performance/training methods are utilized. You should train the way you carry and carry what you are trained with. But, to be fair to Tex here is a video blaming the SERPA. Again, the 7Ps can apply to Muscle Memory. Complacency: This is the one that reaches up a grabs a hold of the well trained and bites them in the ass at the worst possible moments as this ATF Agent shoots himself while teaching a class video shows. Again, the 7Ps can apply to ‘highly trained’ individuals who get complacent with their knowledge or abilities. Accidental Discharge: This is the term that irritates me the most. I see things all the time, posted by professionals and have heard it said (by instructors) in courses I have taken who throw the term accident around to apply to almost everything that didn’t go as planned. Yes, these people are, mostly, technically correct in the use of the word. When you are talking about weapons, an accident is a mechanical failure that either causes a weapon to discharge or prevents the weapon from functioning. Most often the term ‘Accidental Discharge’ or AD is used when you get too many know-it-all discussing the latest range event when someone had their finger on the trigger and “accidentally” fired off a round.. Even YouTube is loaded with videos of ‘Accidental Discharge’ or Accidental Discharge gun’. Again, the 7Ps apply to those mislabeled ADs. Negligent Discharge: This is the category that most people just lump into the mix with ADs. No, accidental discharges are not negligent discharges. A Negligent Discharge is when a weapon is fired, unintentionally, due to negligence of weapon handling, training and safety procedures. This is mostly the case of the untrained, unprepared and as already mentioned those who are trained, but become complacent. I will also refer here to Tex Grebner and the Art of the Negligent Discharge. And again, the 7Ps also apply to Negligent Discharges. So, what am I getting at? I’m getting back to the 7Ps and how they apply to so many things. If Tex had proper, prior, planning/training with the holster in question, it would have prevented piss poor performance. Then this event (and the subsequent drama) would have never taken place. Just another reminder that the 7Ps really do make a difference in this world.
Had a gunny shoot a marine in the neck with a at4 practice trainer right after going through the safety breif 9 mm tracer right in the neck.
Had a sargent of the guard shoot a Marine guard dead in the guard shack.. He was playing around.. Then there was a security guard at a construction site I was working at that stuffed his revolver into the wast band of his pants.. Accidental discharge left him with a new nickname..
