Tragedy And A Lesson

One of the arguments that gun control advocates often use for why police officers aren't subject to the same restrictions on gun ownership as civilians is how much better trained police are. One of the big problems with this claim is that a lot of civilians actually have received comparable or better training, and there are police officers who must have been adequately trained, but sure don't show it. This article from the August 15, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle gives yet another sad example:

The San Francisco rookie police officer who accidentally shot himself to death fired his weapon while displaying for a female friend how officers are taught to avoid having their guns used against them, law enforcement authorities said Tuesday.

The incident happened at 1:40 a.m. Saturday during a gathering of as many as 15 people at the San Mateo apartment of the 23-year-old officer, James Gustafson Jr.

According to those familiar with the incident, Gustafson was showing his Police Department-issued semiautomatic pistol after removing the clip that stores the rounds. He explained that there are ways an officer can disable a weapon in close proximity to keep it from being fired.

It apparently was part of a demonstration of the department's "weapons retention" procedures. However, there was still a bullet in the chamber.

Gustafson pointed the weapon at his neck and pulled the trigger, shooting himself, according to authorities.

San Francisco Police Department policy is never to point a gun at a target that an officer does not intend to shoot, authorities said.

If this guy had been on the force for 15 years, you might argue that he forgot his training. But Gustafson was pretty fresh out of the academy. You would think that he would know this. Even before I had any formal training with firearms, I knew that you have to check the chamber--removing the magazine isn't enough.