(courtesy nbcsandiego.com)

“Man Dies After Gun Accidentally Fires in Clairemont,” nbcsandiego.com‘s headline proclaims, in that Steven King Christine kinda way. “San Diego police confiscated several firearms from a Clairemont home after a man’s gun accidentally fired and killed his best friend, officials said. Officers were investigating the shooting that took place around 1 a.m. Sunday at the home in the 4900-block of Gallatin Way in Northwest Clairemont. The gun owner was showing his friend a gun when the gun dropped to the ground and fired, shooting the friend in the chest according to San Diego police.” Did someone attempt to catch a falling gun, perchance? Or are we to believe that this particular gun missed out on decades of drop-safe firearms manufacture? Anyway, cops confiscated FIVE GUNS from the residence, where daycare was done. I wonder if they were similarly possessed.

48 COMMENTS

  1. Maybe it was a Caracal C…..

    In any event, is there a logical reason for the popo to confiscate ALL his guns?

  2. I wish there was a way to determine exactly what happened but there isn’t. Circumstances seem to indicate a conclusion that isn’t palatable to responsible gun owners…

  3. There was no apparent valid legal purpose in seizing all of the guns–but since when did that stop the cops from taking them anyway? And this being California, how long do you think it will take him to get them back?

    That reminds me of that guy on the east coast somewhere whose house was burgled while he was away. The cops came in and took his entire gun collection–over 300 firearms if memory serves–and all of his ammo for “safe keeping.” “Safekeeping”? I didn’t know that the cops were in that business. Gee, maybe I’ll take all of may valuables down to the police station for “safekeeping” while I’m away….I wonder if he ever got his “arsenal” returned?

    P.S. there are still plenty of Series 70 Colt.45s floating around that will fire if dropped on the hammer. Bunch of single action revolvers too that are exempt from the safety improvements over the years.

    • It’s too bad the police don’t hold criminals for safekeeper longer. Catch and release isn’t just for fishing. The local paper here profiled a few people that were released on own recognizance until they finally offed someone. Then they had to actually come up with bail money, which one did. And then he killed a witness on the murder charge.

  4. The pistol in question was either a Glock with a bubba trigger job or a Nambu Type 94 – both are known to fire if looked in the wrong way or dropped.

    also, Oh look, it is 5:12 on the wall clock.

  5. Maybe it was a long gun?

    It boggles my mind that handguns are relatively very small and they’re able to fit technology into them so you can drop them from a helicopter and they won’t go off; yet my thousand dollar, much larger AR-15 has a warning in the manual telling me to make sure I don’t bump the muzzle end hard, because thanks to the free floating firing pin design it could result in an accidental discharge.

    • We received this same warning in the Army. Following that warning the instructor said “but i’v never seen it happen”. He then demonstrated by slamming a ready to go rifle into the ground, muzzle first just to show us. To be clear he slammed the muzzle against a 1×4 sitting on the ground.

      I spent quite a number of years serving and I also have yet to see it. Heard claims of it but the only account that I was close to I think it was the guy trying to avoid an ND/AD charge.

      Anyway, take that for what you will.

  6. To be fair, a good portion of the hundreds of millions of guns out there are oldies. For instance, I don’t trust my 1960 Model 36 Chief’s Special not to discharge if dropped any farther than I can throw it. So I don’t throw it 🙂

    • Colt introduced the “Positive Lock” safety in 1906. I’m pretty sure your 1960 S&W Chief’s Special, or any other 1960 American revolver, is drop safe.

  7. If Obama’s team had designed the gun, not being drop safe would be considered a feature, enabling the owner to defend himself by throwing the gun at the bad guy’s feet.

  8. When will pro-gun orgs start creating PSAs that a) mention the 4 rules, and b) counter the disinformation about guns going off on their own? Its over-due.

    • I’m on a phone, typing with my thumbs (I really need a new laptop) so linking is out of the question….

      Check youtube for remington’s response to the NBC “documentary” Remington Under Fire. This is the type of video we need more of, in more places. (The rebuttal, not the original garbage)

  9. Watched that vid again–at least four of the firearms were long guns. So maybe it was a Remington after all! (snarc)

  10. It’d be interesting to know whether the gun was on the Cali “not unsafe” gun list, either current or previous.

    • That really wouldn’t tell you anything. First, it is only for handguns, and second it changes with some frequency as new models are added and old ones that are no longer being produced are dropped. The list does not apply to C&R. And then there are all of the “pre-list” guns in circulation as well. And since old models remain on the list until dropped, there are any umber of guns being sold new that do not have the required “features” of any new model. For example, I just bought a Kahr CW9, which does not have a dedicated LCI, no external safety, and no mag disconnect, all of which have become required features at one point in time or another (additively–required features have never been discontinued); in fact, all it does have is a sear disconnect. Which means that it has been produced for a bunch of years and continually listed.

      • *sigh*

        Having lived for more than a decade in California off and on, and more relevantly having purchased my first four firearms while living there … I know that the list is only for handguns and that it changes over time.

        But you’re wrong … It would tell me a few things.

        For one, it would tell me whether to expect a whole spate of bleating about how the “not unsafe” guns list doesn’t protect people. (Insert startled gasp here.)

        For another, it would tell me whether to expect to see this particular incident again in the future when the pols try to tighten the laws up even further, and more importantly, in what context.

  11. Rifles are often not drop safe. The hammer on the FS2000 would drop if it hit a carpeted floor from about 16 inches.

  12. You want tortured construction? I got your tortured construction right here.

    “Woman Gets Pregnant After Husband Unexpectedly Ejaculates in Virginia.”

  13. I’m trying to imagine how one guy gets shot in the chest from a gun that fired when it hit the ground… Maybe if he was actually sitting down that could happen, or if his belly done significantly dunlapped over his belt…

    This sounds fishy.

  14. He said it was dropped. That’s all the media can report.
    But negligence ending in injury can be criminal, therefore you are under investigation.
    If police suspect anything, I think they don’t have to wait for a conviction to confiscate your arsenal pending.

  15. Any number of handguns are not drop safe. Single action revolvers that are based on the Colt. Colt and Smith and Wesson DA revolvers and their many copies that were made prior to ww2 were best carried with an empty chamber under the hammer. The colt 1903pocket models could fire if dropped. The list goes on.

    Drop safe handguns have been around for a shorter span of time than non drop safe handguns.

  16. So, ahh …… what track did the bullet follow through the victim’s body? The more horizontal, the more suspicious I’d be. I had a best friend, once, who almost shot me in the face with his, ’empty Glock’. Why? Stupidity, carelessness, or (perhaps) jealousy, or (maybe even) just plain old fashioned satanic motivation.

    The most obvious discrepancy on this one? ……. Why was the rifle loaded? Not to mention, ‘Why’ wasn’t the weapon cleared before it was picked up and played with?

    While I don’t agree with the police generally confiscating privately owned firearms, I do agree with getting guns out of the hands of careless and irresponsible gun owners – Who, almost invariably, always seem to think that guns are toys. (Which, of course, they are not.)

  17. When faced with the question “are they any other guns in the house” the appropriate response is “I would like to speak to an attorney” not, “sure right over here are a bunch of guns with nothing to do with this issue”
    make them get a warrant and come back. At least you can try to protect your property.

  18. Wow, saw this on the news. I live in Clairemont in San Diego. This was a mile or so from my house. Unfortunate. But why was he showing him a loaded gun? Didn’t follow the 5 rules The gun should have been unloaded and should have been verified unloaded by his friend. And yeah, must have been an old firearm that didn’t pass the required drop test to be sold in CA. Felony stupid and now in big trouble and lost a best friend. Trifecta of bad luck.

  19. UPDATE–other than the gun that discharged, the other firearms were kept in a safe on the second floor….Show about one of our LEO readers pipe up and tell us why the hell the police took them?

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