"Officials say the officer was changing his license plates and took his gun off. He then put it on top of his truck and it eventually fell off."
I will tell you the attitude that generate this: It is just another tool they work with every day. I worked with firearms day in and day out for years and you had to constantly remind yourself you were dealing with a tool that was a firearm or you ended up in a bad situation. It's not a cup of coffee that you set on the hood of your car.
Sad to say there is one born every second of the day. Remember the cop in New York that placed his AR on the trunk of his car, and drove away. He reached his destination and the rifle was still in place, small miracle, but what an idiot.
ReplyDeleteI remember that one, Stephen. It is a pretty powerful statement when a passerby can take a picture of your AR sitting on the trunk and post it on the internet. *facepalm*
DeleteYes, complacency with a firearm usually goes bad, but is also very easy to fall into.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Keads. I'm sure you understand. When I worked with people that handled firearms as part of their job, I always told them that they needed to mentally check themselves regularly to make sure they weren't becoming complacent.
DeleteGood on the recovery, bad on the taking the gun off... sigh
ReplyDeleteYou're right on the money, NFO. This could have turned out very badly in a lot of ways.
Deletemmasse, that was my thought as well. I can explain how it happens and it's by no means me making an excuse. When you deal with something day in and day out it becomes just another "thing". The same thing can happen with firearms. He was kneeling at the rear of the vehicle and his gun was uncomfortable, so he took it off and set it on the vehicle instead of walking a few feet and putting it in the vehicle. I saw this phenomena play out with people that weren't really "gunnies" that just saw firearms as part of their job. The gun people were generally diligent with them because they respected them.
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