Accidental discharge at recruiting station, was this bound to happen? Price of protection at recruiting stations?

This is the same thing that I fear will happen when arming recruiters. Military service does not equal weapons proficiency and I heard about enough NDs in Afghanistan to know better. On one of my pre-deployment rotations through CRC at Fort Benning, we had an active duty LTC who could not qualify with the M9 pistol. I think recruiting stations will continue to be soft targets because it will be very difficult to have armed recruiters do their jobs at high schools and other events and even with trained civilians, that is not a long term sustainable force protection measure.

Two things here. The weapon should have had the safety on. Second keep your darn finger off the trigger unless you mean to discharge the weapon... Common sense people. Sadly this is what happens when unqualified people, whatever their intention, handle firearms

I said this before in another topic, but the law of averages says there will be a ND. It will likely be one reason the military disallows volunteer guards.

CW3 (Join to see) This is what happens when you have civilians trying to help that don't understand all the precautions that we in the military take to make sure we don't accidently discharge weapons. I think with the clearing barrels downrange the emphasis we put on safety in combat as well as the ranges while in garrison makes us more aware of the problems and issues with accidental discharges. Yea is still happens and we issue Article 15s, but civilian don't have that level of training. I think this worked against us in arming professional soldiers at recruiting stations. Just my opinion on the matter!

If the military is going to allow servicemembers to carry weapons on post then three things have to happened. First there must be a carefully thought out policy on who carries under what circumstances. Second, those authorized to carry a firearm must have extra training. Simply qualifying with the weapon is insufficient. Third they should be authorized to carry only the service issued side arm, not their personal weapons. This last provision is intended to prevent many different kinds of weapons with different calibers of ammunition--inter-operability.

No such thing as accidental discharges. Negligent Discharges are prevented by the five safety rules. If only there was an organization that taught this to people from the moment they joined and provided most with extensive training in both weapons safety and employment. Maybe this organization could even have members experienced in this regular shooting, maybe even in combat.... we could call them the Armed Forces.
Maybe we could arm them.
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/arm-the-armed-forces

Hello, sir.

A bunch of armed civilians gathering together for an otherwise noble cause. Yes, it was absolutely bound to happen.

Reed handed off his AR-15 when “someone asked if he could take a look at it.” Really? Someone he didn’t know just walks up to him and asks to see his weapon, and he let them?

Racking the bolt to the rear and letting it slam forward will not discharge a round. It’s designed to do that. It will eject the round in the chamber and seat another one (assuming the magazine is still in place), but it really shouldn’t discharge. Someone, Reed or the stranger he handed his weapon to, pulled the trigger.

Getting hit by a meteor is an accident. That was just negligent weapon handling.

CW3 (Join to see)
Am I the only one who noticed that this was not the first time this "civilian guard" has had an ND? I'm extremely pro Second Amendment but take this man's guns away PRONTO!

“Reed told police that he was holding his rifle outside the recruitment center when someone asked if he could take a look at it. Reed agreed, and while he was trying to clear the ammunition from the weapon, he accidentally fired one shot into the asphalt pavement.”

Reed. Reed. Reed. So, someone you didn’t know just walked up to you and asked if he could take a look at it, and you let him? Are you kidding me?

Also, I’ve had more than my share of experience with the M-4, M-16, and the AR-15. They don’t accidentally discharge when you’re clearing them. Regardless, it wasn’t an accident. Getting hit by a meteor is an accident. Negligent discharges are made because someone can’t handle the weapon.

Yes, negligent discharges happen.... we need to work thru this. Most Soldiers are not used to dealing with weapons 24/7.