I Once Wrote an Article about Why You Shouldn’t Catch a Falling Firearm. Here’s Proof to Support that Article.

The guy above is Dan, TheFireArmGuy, and he knows what he’s doing. That’s a screen shot from a video he did on this very topic.

A little while ago, I had written an article on this topic: If a firearm is dropped and in the process of falling, should you try and catch it?

If your baby is on it’s way to the floor, just let it go. By baby, I’m talking about your firearm. Of course. If it’s a real live baby, then you’d better be quick.

Not having any resources to back up my thoughts at the time (although they’re legit thoughts), the article still ran. You know, because common sense.

BUT NOW! Now, unfortunately, I have a real-life story to back up my article.

Enter: A jail Deputy from New York.

Deputies say that they believe the incident happened early Sunday morning, a little after midnight, at a residence on Doud Circle in Hilton. They say that the gun had reportedly just been field stripped and cleaned, which deputies tell us was done while the gun was not loaded, and the gun was loaded after. After the cleaning, deputies say they believe the gun was dropped by one of the jail deputies. The trigger was grabbed as it was falling and it went off.

The Deputy who dropped the firearm was said to have attempted to catch it as it was falling. As a result, that Deputy was shot in both the hand and leg. Another Deputy close by was hit in the leg by a fragment. All injuries were described as not life-threatening.

While it can be torture to know that your firearm is about to meet an undesirable fate by smashing into the ground, it’s still best to cross your fingers instead of reaching out to save it. Fingers get in triggers, and it’s just not a good time to try and save something. If it’s a modern firearm, it’s not going off once it hits the ground.

So, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, just let it go and hope that the end result is a simple buffing of the slide.