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Seconded. This is almost as bad as the officer who shot himself in the leg by accident while teaching a class on gun safety.

Dumb, da-dumb dumb, dumb!

Rochey wrote:Watching the video, I don't think the officer meant to shoot him. His body language after he fires conveys a sense of "oh s**t, what did I just do?". Perhaps he just meant to point his gun at the guy, as a sort of "cooperate or else", but accidently set it off? Though that'd require him to have the safety off, which is also stupid.

Unfortunately for him that makes him even more of a moron than he already is. By drawing his weapon he's now limited his options further than they were before, your firearm is the last resort in the escalation of force that cops are supposed to follow. And your not supposed to draw your weapon to intimidate a suspect but to engage him. This guy fucked up large and I don't buy the "I thought it was the taser" argument either. The weapons are weighted different, handle different and just plain feel different. Any competant individual would be aware of what he drew.

Alright, I wasn't aware of that.

I agree that the "he was reaching for his taser" argument is idiotic. I'm no expert with guns or tasers (the most modern gun I've ever held was a Vietnam-era rifle), but I'm pretty damn sure that you'd be able to tell the difference between a taser and a freaking pistol.

Rochey wrote:Alright, I wasn't aware of that.

I agree that the "he was reaching for his taser" argument is idiotic. I'm no expert with guns or tasers (the most modern gun I've ever held was a Vietnam-era rifle), but I'm pretty damn sure that you'd be able to tell the difference between a taser and a freaking pistol.

Maybe you're overestimating his intelligence, I mean in a non violent situation why pull a gun out at all, let alone one ready to fire.

It was drilled into me over and over again when I used to carry my gun for work;

Don't draw your weapon unless your going to shoot (or very likely need to)
and don't shoot unless your intending to kill somebody.

It's really not all that hard to keep your finger off of the trigger, especially if it's loaded with the safety off (or in the case of my weapon, no selectable safety at all). These guys must have crap training. I'm not surprised, of course; my friend that's worked at a firing range for the last six years says police are the absolute worst shooters that come out there.

Tsukiyumi wrote:It's really not all that hard to keep your finger off of the trigger, especially if it's loaded with the safety off (or in the case of my weapon, no selectable safety at all). These guys must have crap training. I'm not surprised, of course; my friend that's worked at a firing range for the last six years says police are the absolute worst shooters that come out there.

I'm not surprised, I bet cops spend most of their time at either eating donuts and drinking coffee, or sitting in their patrol cars thinking of more ways to seem important. There is no time left in the day to improve firearm handling.

USSEnterprise wrote:

Tsukiyumi wrote:It's really not all that hard to keep your finger off of the trigger, especially if it's loaded with the safety off (or in the case of my weapon, no selectable safety at all). These guys must have crap training. I'm not surprised, of course; my friend that's worked at a firing range for the last six years says police are the absolute worst shooters that come out there.

I'm not surprised, I bet cops spend most of their time at either eating donuts and drinking coffee, or sitting in their patrol cars thinking of more ways to seem important. There is no time left in the day to improve firearm handling.

I think they even get to shoot for free...

Tsukiyumi wrote:

USSEnterprise wrote:

Tsukiyumi wrote:It's really not all that hard to keep your finger off of the trigger, especially if it's loaded with the safety off (or in the case of my weapon, no selectable safety at all). These guys must have crap training. I'm not surprised, of course; my friend that's worked at a firing range for the last six years says police are the absolute worst shooters that come out there.

I'm not surprised, I bet cops spend most of their time at either eating donuts and drinking coffee, or sitting in their patrol cars thinking of more ways to seem important. There is no time left in the day to improve firearm handling.

I think they even get to shoot for free...

Well it was in the US, we American's can make even the most seemingly impossibly stupid idea's become reality.

*Watches video*

Accidental, yes. Stupid and showing massive ignorance, yes.

I certainly didn't think the dumbass did it on purpose. I just wonder how such a dumbass can be considered qualified to ensure my safety.

Look at those CEO's for the financial and automotive companies, how in the world are they qualified? After all they ran multi billion dollar companies into the ground. Its not WHAT you know but WHO you know

Tsukiyumi wrote:I certainly didn't think the dumbass did it on purpose. I just wonder how such a dumbass can be considered qualified to ensure my safety.

What are the requirements to be a cop in the US? Here you need either a background in criminal law, a college (two year) prep course or in the case of the RCMP you can sign up like you do the military and they will teach you everything you need to know. Ironically the RCMP are the best force in Canada.

I think you have to have graduated high school, attend a police academy, be an American citizen and be at least twenty. The requirements vary from state to state but I think those are fairly common one. All in all, not very hard, but at least it may eliminate some of the idiots who think having a gun would be "cool" at least the high school dropouts.