Les Jones: Local Policeman Shoots Self While Cleaning a Rifle

April 08, 2005

Guns > Local Policeman Shoots Self While Cleaning a Rifle

Yesterday Loudon County policeman Tony Arden accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .223 rifle. He's in stable condition after surgery. Via the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

I'm seeing different accounts of who the weapon belonged to. The Sentinel reports it was a gun the department had recently acquired. WBIR quotes Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider who says it was the officer's personal weapon which he brought in to work.

Arden was cleaning the gun when it "went off," to use the popular euphemism for a negligent discharge. This is as good a time as any to remember that it's best to clean a gun barrel from the breech (rear) end. Breech-first cleaning pushes barrel gunk out of the front of the barrel instead of back into the action, avoids damage to the muzzle crown, and ensures the chamber is empty.

If the gun is designed so that it can't be cleaned from the breech with a cleaning rod, use a flexible system like an Otis kit or a Hoppes BoreSnake. Many people are moving to flexible, pull-through cleaning systems because they're less likely to damage the muzzle crown, rifling, or chamber.

This is also as good a time as any to repeat an old saying. The two scariest things you'll ever hear when pulling a trigger is a bang when you expect a click and a click when you expect a bang.

Posted by lesjones

Comments

I cast no aspersions on the officer, but how do you shoot yourself in the chest when cleaning an AR? The procedure (normally) is to drop the magazine, clear the chamber, drop the hammer, and then push out the back retaining pin so you can tilt up the receiver and pull out the bolt carrier. During NONE of these actions is the muzzle pointed anywhere NEAR your chest. Now if he got the first steps BACKWARDS, I can see how he might accidentally shoot someone ELSE, but not himself.

This smells.

Posted by: Kevin Baker at April 08, 2005