I made a mistake...

[Officer Gigglez]

A big one. One that I will likely never forget. I had a Negligent Discharge last night. I have no excuses, and accept all responsibility for it. I was tired, just go back from a night of very heavy lifting, and was not all awake. I was screwing around with one of my .38 snubbies, what I had been carrying at the gym, and I pointed it at the inside of my fridge, and It fired. I don't remember how or why my finger went on the bang switch, or even why I took it out of it's holster. It just happened. It scared the **** out of me and **** near made my ears bleed. I immediately cleared it and put it on the table, and checked for penetration. It went clean through the back of the fridge and into the wall. I went to the other room where the other side of the wall is, and saw no holes. So, luckily, it stopped somewhere in the drywall or wall stud. I was complacent about it, thinking "oh it won't happen to me." Well, it did. If anyone is like me, and thinks what I did, get it out of your head, because if you continue to think that way, it will happen to you. And you may not be as lucky as I was and only have to worry about fixing a hole. All I can I say is I won't forget the incident, and am going to double up on safety refreshers.

[JD Spydo]

Hey OG take heart>> we are afterall>> nothing more than mortal, mistake making humans :o If everyone here knew how many times I've cut myself with my Spyders :o and a couple of bad ones that required stitches no less :rolleyes: :o

I grew up in a sporting, hunting, fishing and outdoor enjoying family and learned to use firearms when I was only 8 years old. I shot my first squirell when I was 9 with a .22 cal single shot and boy was I proud.

However with all that being said and considering I had ridgid training and a dad that used a 2inch leather belt if I did anything wrong>> and mind you if I did anything at all wrong with a firearm or a knife or anything of the sort he would absolutely get livid and I would suffer for it

When I was in my early 20s I got laid off from a job and had to live with my folks until I got another job. I was checking out one of my .22 rifles getting it ready to go hunting with a pal that weekend>> and you guessed it I had the gun go off and to this day I don't know what I did to make that happen. Thank GOD in heaven it went up toward the ceiling at an angle and was in no way posing any danger to anyone THANK the GOOD LORD ABOVE.

My dad noticed the hole in the ceiling and I immediately fessed up to it>> and he gave me the biggest butt chewing I ever had in my life and I thought for sure he was going to beat me like a red headed, step child :eek: > but he wouldn't even talk to me for almost 3 days. And my mother went off on me too :o Can't tell you which one was worse but I was ever so careful with firearms after that.

But I ended up apologizing to both of them and soon got me another pad to live at and life went on as usual and I still thank the Lord Above that no one got hurt and nothing serious happened as a result. And it looks like someone above had your back too my friend :) It is humiliating as anything I've ever had happen to me and with you being a pro it just goes to show it can happen to anyone >> since then SAFETY is always on my mind. Even though I will confess again that I've been bit a couple of bad times with Spyders ( totally my fault too :o ) Don't beat yourself down over it>> just learn the lesson and go on>> you'll probably be a much more safety conscious guy from now on. But I do know how you feel if that's any consolation.

[O,just,O]

Hmmm. Yes. You may well wonder why there is a patch riveted onto the steel roller door on my shed. That was a 36" goose gun in 12g.
O.

[tvenuto]

When I was learning to ride a motorcycle, I read or heard somewhere this quote:

"When you start out, you have an empty bag of experience and a full bag of luck. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before your luck bag runs out."

So, your bag of luck may be a bit lighter, but your bag of experience is a heck of a lot heavier. I'm glad everything turned out OK, and thanks for posting this here so OUR bags of experience can get a little heavier as well. I've never had this happen thankfully, I live in a row home and there's almost no way any bullet would stay in my house. However, one day I was checking out an RMR on one of my pistols without properly unloading it. It was one of those things where a little spot catches your attention and before you know it you're fully engrossed in trying to figure out whether it's a scratch or whatever. Before I knew it I was pointing the gun straight at myself. Now there was no round in the chamber, and the safety was on, but the magazine was inserted and fully loaded. Although clearly the gun cannot fire in this condition, it was a poignant reminder of why it's important to safe the firearm EVERY time, no matter how brief (you think) you'll be handling it.

[JD Spydo]

When I was learning to ride a motorcycle, I read or heard somewhere this quote:

"When you start out, you have an empty bag of experience and a full bag of luck. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before your luck bag runs out."

So, your bag of luck may be a bit lighter, but your bag of experience is a heck of a lot heavier. I'm glad everything turned out OK, and thanks for posting this here so OUR bags of experience can get a little heavier as well.

Hey "tvenuto" that is a great analogy :) and you can add good old common sense and most importantly "wisdom" to the mix as well. Because OG and myself who both of us had similar accidents with firearms >> and the both of us are so fortunate that our accidents didn't result in tradgedy but rather gave both of us and anyone else who heeds this message a huge chance to gain wisdom and hopefully avoid something really horrible.

One Pastor I used to have who I thought was one of the wisest men I ever knew said that most of us don't realize it but we often have the luxury of learning by other people's mistakes rather than having to endure the pain of learning ourselves the very hard way I'm willing to bet that "OG" learns greatly and gains much wisdom from this experience.

What really impresses me is how he humbled himself and admitted he made a bad mistake and had the guts to share it with us. And by that many of us who read this forum can learn from this accident he had and possibly avoid a horrible tradgedy in our own lives. It takes a really good man with some spinal column to come forth and admit his shortcomings in hopes that he can help the rest of us. And for that Officer Gigglez I thank you Sir :)

[Donut]

I feel like I am rambling in this:

I feel like I cannot avoid a catastrophic mistake every single day. I feel terrible when they happen, and always wish I could have been more careful and wish I could have avoided them.

I know each one could have individually been avoided, but it almost seems impossible to know what to do before they happen.

I am glad that it was only a fridge. You can take the time... and hold yourself to fixing the fridge and fixing the wall as best you can. Maybe take the whole piece of drywall down and put a new one up. While you are busy with the small things, you can think of how lucky you were. Think if you weren't so lucky, something could have happened that you would not be able to fix.


Tomorrow will be a better day, because you can be a better person. I have faith in you.

[noseoil]

OG, thanks for posting this one. Also, a big THANK YOU for calling it what it was, a negligent discharge. It happens so quickly & then it's a mistake. Thank GOD you are talking about a wall here an not something else.

As long as the fridge only has a hole in it & the coils are intact, squirt some caulking in the hole & it's good. I wouldn't bother with replacing the sheetrock, it's only a 38 cal hole. A couple of dabs of toothpaste over a day or two & it's good as new (ever try to get that stuff out of a sink once it's dry?) especially if it's the right color from the tube.

Thanks for manning up and reminding us that it could just as well have been us, instead of you. **** happens.

[The Mastiff]

OG, learn from it and move on. Nothing good will come of you beating yourself up over this. It happens more often than you would think. I don't recall ever seeing a clearing barrel outside an arms room that didn't have at least one hole in the screen. Learn from mistakes and don't repeat them.

You aren't alone. :)

joe