JGalban via AviationKB.com wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
An accidental discharge is very, very much like a gear up landing. There
are those that have had them and those that will.


I think it's a more a question of attitude. Where I grew up, most of my
friends had firearms for hunting and target shooting. The ones that had
accidental discharges were the same ones that eventually ended up shooting
someone or something by accident.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)


John, how many of the folks you grew up with accidentally shot someone?


Other than the casual shooting I did growing up I fired (intentionally)
~50K rounds of ammo/year for about 5 years in the late 80's & early
90's. Two ADs one was a complete brain fade and I hit the ground 10 feet
in front of me aiming down range. The other was while clearing a jam
finger was off the trigger and the round was fired by hitting the
extractor and not the firing pin. The gun was again pointed in a safe
direction.

I saw about 50 ADs as a range officer and they all were, luckily, fired
in a safe direction. **** does happen. To say it can't happen to you
either means you don't handle guns or are just like people who say they
can't have a gear up landing. People, no matter how well trained, do
make errors. It is the attitude that it CAN'T happen to you is what get
people hurt because if it CAN'T happen to you then you will start making
the other mistakes that end up with it happening while the gun is
pointed at someone.