This is a phenomenon that probably “Happens” more than it actually happens. Cleaning a Gun when it goes off.
A grand jury has indicted a New Hampshire man on charges of shooting his wife in the stomach and legs through the wall of their bedroom while cleaning his gun…The Concord Monitor reports Hillson removed a 9 mm handgun from a safe and wiped it down on Nov. 13, 2011. The weapon discharged twice and the bullets hit Gina Hillson, who had a phone in her hands at the time and called 911.
Hillson, who has a military background, said he had never seen a gun discharge the way it had that night.
First up I bet most of the “Cleaning it and it went off” are people attempting to take down a Glock or similar gun (that needs the striker or hammer dropped by pulling the trigger) without properly clearing it, or somebody fiddling with a loaded gun and having a negligent discharge and claiming they were cleaning it because that sounds better than pulling the trigger on a loaded gun, or practicing their quick draw in their house with a loaded gun.
Still reading the very small amount of information Occam’s razor seems to point to his story. He shot his wife through the wall…that’s hard to do intentionally. There was a local news story when I was growing up where a man shot his wife while he was “Cleaning His Gun”. It was a straight shot across the room, and they were having martial problems, so people suspect it was murder, rather than an accident. This isn’t so simple.
Obviously the gun had to be loaded, and he claims he was wiping it down. Not smart to wipe down a loaded gun, but not unreasonable to wipe down say a carry gun before you put it away to discourage rust. Still if you wipe down a loaded gun, you can brush the trigger….if you do it with a rag the rag could bound in the trigger guard and cause the gun to bumpfire.
Crazy story, no matter what! Be careful out there!
I don’t know about you but I barely touch any gun that’s loaded, no more than necessary to holster it. I had also been taught to check the chamber of any gun I pick up, regardless of whether I think it’s loaded. I really don’t see how this can be anything but gross negligence.
Yep I check the chamber of every gun. Check to make sure a gun I suspect is unloaded to verify its unloaded, and brass check any gun I know is loaded to verify it is indeed loaded.
Drop the magazine! Drop the magazine! One round could be a surprise, but two? This guy violated at least two safety rules, earning himself the title of knucklehead.
I missed that detail when I skimmed, but that’s a great point. He didn’t even remove the magazine, so it wasn’t that he *only* forgot the chamber. That really does make it seem intentional, except he was still shooting from behind a wall in another room.
Really kicks the negligence factor up a notch though. I can’t fault them for indicting from what we’re seeing. Just how hard was he wiping the gun to pull the trigger twice?
I agree with Pyrotek85; you expect me to believe that he shot it twice, accidentally, and happened to hit his wife both times? I call bullshit.
Negligence is bliss? Not so much for the people who share the wayward owners’ air.
I’ve had guns bump fire under normal shooting conditions. Very rare, but possible. It doesn’t say the kind of gun so it’s difficult to determine how possible. Striker fired bump fire? Extremely doubtful. Single action with a lighter trigger? Absolutely possible.
Bump-fire or double?
BTW the new deal with striker-guns is short reset. I bet under the right conditions it wouldn’t be too hard to get a Glock to Bumpfire, or an M&P with and apex trigger if you were holding the grip or slide and wiping the trigger with a rag…