Inside the minds of those who would see you disarmed

[Michael]

An 'Accidental Discharge' (AD) in the military is akin to a unicorn. There are 'Negligent Discharges' (ND) as a result of poor training or lack of adherence to 4 safety rules. ADs are a result of a fault with the weapon not functioning as designed. In my limited experience, the military is pretty anal about ensure that all weapons are LTI/PFIed prior to leaving the armory to keep the ADs to a minimum. Do they happen? Yeah, but very, very rarely and usually after some hard live fire use and on the live fire range (again, basing on my limited experience).

I concur with Sarge12486 - just because someone is in the military does not mean they are proficient or properly trained in the safe and effective use of firearms. They should be, but they aren't. That is the primary reason why everyone on a base does not walk around armed. This was part of a fairly lengthy discussion when I was in 2d MarDiv after 9/11. To arm or not to arm the masses...decided no.

Re the mental health post...very touchy - especially with vets. There are a lot of vets/active duty out there with PTSD, anger issues, ect. whose only solace are the shooting sports. Should psych's decide? Commanders? Spouses/family members? Should it be a joint discussion between all listed and individual - al-la intervention?

I don't know and I wrestle with it on a daily basis should I ever be put in that situation where I am the commander, or even the individual.