USPSA incident

[Hawkmoon]

I have just learned that a USPSA safety officer (SO) was killed by an accidental discharge while officiating at a match last weekend.

https://gatdaily.com/uspsa-range-officer-shot/

Apparently the shooter fumbled when holstering at the load and make ready stage of the course of fire. The gun fell onto a concrete floor and discharged, striking the safety officer.

The gun was reportedly a CZ Shadow, not a 1911. When I read the article, I almost immediately thought about the raging dispute here in the 1911 community over whether or not we should use guns with firing pin blocks. This incident -- to me -- is an illustration of why firing pin blocks are a good idea. Our member, Walt Kuleck, and his colleague, Drake Oldham, have proven that a 1911 WILL fire when dropped. Walt's report was enough to convince me that any non-Series 80 pistols I own should be relegated to range duty, and I now only carry pistols that have the Series 80 firing pin safety.

I think we should always remember Murphy's Law: "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

And then we should remember Callahan's Corollary: "Murphy was an optimist."

[DavidO]

I read about this a few days ago. A very sad story. A reminder that the shooting sports can have some drastic consequences and that we must be vigilant in our safety practices. It reminds me of an old saying from safety classes when I was a young officer “Complacency breads Contempt”. I also am not casting any blame on the cause of this as I do not know enough about it to make any determinations.

There is a chance that a dropped 1911 without a firing pin safety will fire when dropped but all of my carry guns do not have one.

Again, we must remain very vigilant in our safety practices.

I feel very bad for the family of the SO and also for the person who dropped the CZ.

[Jim Watson]

I have read several boards on the subject. There are three main blames assigned:
1. The gun should have had a firing pin block.
2. USPSA should not require a hammer to be lowered all the way to the firing pin stop in Production, since the decocker guns (which are not widely used) do not.
3. You should not install an extended length firing pin in a gun dependent on an inertia firing pin for safety.

There have been several CZ hammers hit with mallets recently. In general:
Firing pin block, no fire.
Stock inertial firing pin, no fire.
Extended firing pin, fire.

[MuyModesto]

Such a sad incident. It brings to mind a family disturbance call I responded to 33 years ago when one of the other officers present dropped his Smith & Wesson model 59. The discharge resulted in injury to an officer. Being a typical governmental agency our bosses spent 8 months deciding on what to do. Then they changed the specifications for privately owned firearms carried by officers and gave us 5 days to comply. A Firing pin block was required. Quickly there were a lot of new series 80 Colts in use. I still have mine.

[BHP9]

Sad incident.

I have shot at that club many times and I knew the man. RIP.