It used to take an unusually set of circumstances to shoot your self with a double action revolver.
and the double action semi pistols were equally hard to shoot your self with, though with effort, it happens. Once found a list of Navy negligent discharges with the Beretta M92FS. Most of the negligent shootings were due to “quick draw” games, and the user pulling the trigger when he thought the pistol was empty. This pistol has a decocker, then the first shot downrange requires a long, and heavy double action pull.
I did ask a retired Vietnam Veteran Colonel, about 1911 accidental discharges, the one he knew of, was between two 2nd lieutenants playing quick draw. Someone had a round in the chamber. Opps! I heard more from one Huey pilot and a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (Lurp). The three 1911 accounts from the LURP were from his law enforcement day and by LEO’s
But the combat competitors are running against time, want to reduce reloads, and they complained loud and fiercely about a long trigger pull for the first shot. The market responded by making mechanisms that are even easier to shoot yourself with.
Perhaps the best known example, a Glock mechanism
and this is the safety
When loaded, these pistols are unsafe outside of their holster as it takes very little effort to pull the trigger and fire the weapon. Holster design and construction is very important. The holster has to be rigid enough not to press on the trigger mechanism. SAFETY WARNING! Worn Leather Holsters Can Cause Accidental Discharges!
https://www.itstactical.com/warcom/...her-holsters-can-cause-accidental-discharges/ Holster design has to have the trigger covered, it is not like the days of Cowboy holsters where the trigger guard was open. Nope, holsters have to be smooth sided or the booger hook will accidentally trip off the trigger. Even holstering a striker fired gun as gotten to be hazardous . Enough Glock owners have shot themselves when a shirt sleeve gets coiled around the trigger that there is a device to make Glocks safe to holster: the Glock Gadget
https://spotterup.com/the-glock-gadget/
The Army is actually weapon phobic. You don’t get a weapon unless your MOS authorizes it, and you are trained on it. You can be in Indian Country, and you won’t get a weapon. One Vietnam Veteran I know, his radar unit was stationed right next to Cambodia. The Unit Commander and his Soldiers begged for weapons, but higher authority told them, “ARVIN (Army Republic of Vietnam) will protect you” Oh no, when Charlie came visiting, ARVIN ran off. Bud still remembers hiding in the dark, and hearing his buds being shot that night. Over half century later, Bud is still upset about the cry’s and gunshots: only a few Americans survived that night.
And it turns out, there were times in the Infinity Wars, that deaths due to negligent discharges exceeded combat deaths.
The first Glock I got to handle, I thought it was real innovative, until I found the trigger. One barrier to ignition, and that did not take much effort to pull. I have never purchased, nor do I want, one of those things. I consider it too easy to shoot oneself with a striker fired pistol.
It does not take much effort to find accounts of self shootings with striker fired pistols. This just makes me trust them less.
SIG P320 accidental discharge if dropped on
Sig Sauer P320 pistol mishaps reported 2-18-2020
The chief executive officer of firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer issued a statement on Aug. 8, 2017 – the date on which the company announced a “voluntary upgrade” of its P320 pistol.
www.southwestledger.news
New England gunmaker faces another lawsuit from police officer, ABC News report
One Massachusetts officer sued Sig Sauer in federal court in Boston last spring and now ABC News reports a Texas officer has filed a federal lawsuit against the New Hampshire-based gunmaker.
www.wcvb.com
Sig Sauer to Settle Lawsuit Over Alleged Safety Glitch in P320 Pistol
Sig Sauer has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over its P320, on which the Army's Modular Handgun System is based.
www.military.com
S
ig Sauer Faces $10 Million Lawsuit over P320 Pistol After Alleged Accidental Discharge Wounds Federal Agent
A Marine vet was issued a P320 as his service weapon to use as an officer for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
www.military.com
Tampa police officer sues Sig Sauer alleging weapon fired by itself, causing serious injuries
The I-Team has learned there have been dozens of other reported incidents in the past five years of that model handgun firing without anyone pulling the trigger.
www.abcactionnews.com
Lawsuit the Tampa Bay officer filed against SIG
2021 08- 16 Cops Keeps Suing Sig Sauer Because Their Service Weapons Randomly Fire
“They’re the most goddamn unsafe thing on the planet,” one gun expert told VICE News.
www.vice.com
These only made the news because LEO's were getting shot. I am unaware of any requirement for any negligent discharge with any firearm to be reported for statistical purposes. Absence of evidence is only absence of evidence, not proof of non existence.
Combat games heavily influence the design of firearms. Post WW2, Colt Cocked and locked altered the 1911 so much, it is not the WW1 issue pistol. The modern 1911 has been prioritized for quick draw games. I see old designs, such as the Browning Highpower, being redesigned with beavertails, and long safeties, so to be much faster to action in quick draw games. Originally, the FN Highpower was holstered, nothing in chamber, or hammer down on a round in the chamber. It was easy to thumb cock both the 1911 and FN Highpower.
I believe the Russians carried this nothing in the chamber, magazine in the gun. Can’t prove this, as the Russians may have carried it round in chamber, hammer down. There is no external safety.
There are inherent problems with combat games. A major one, is that everyone has to go through the course before the day is out. Range considerations make the game area small. And, no one is shooting back, or running up and shooting contestants in the back. Games with real bullets have to be predictable and controllable, or off axis shots will be killing fellow contestants! Combat games start predictably, have predictable patterns. Such as, you face your enemy, you are ready for the start signal, and contestants know what is going to happen. It has to be better than nothing, but, it makes for a firearm design that is optimized for quick draw over all other considerations.
In the real world, I truly think that you will be very lucky if you have the time and space to figure out what is going on, who is the threat, and what is the threat, and then to figure out a plan of action. I am of the opinion, that time and space are more important than the actual firearm you carry, but you only have control over the type of firearm you carry.
