Tragic shooting death involving off duty Detroit Police officer

[357]

Originally Posted by ApexAZ

It absolutely makes sense because it requires more pressure to fire a DAO revolver. Stock M&P trigger is rated at 6.5 lbs. My Ruger LCR is rated at 10.2 lbs according to American Rifleman.

I agree that this accident is still possible with a revolver, but it would require about 3.7 more pounds of pressure to fire, thus reducing the chances of accidental misfire.

Other benefits of revolver use:

Extremely low rate of malfunction.
No thought needed about what condition it's in. Just point and shoot.

If this can happen to a seasoned LEO, it can happen to anyone.

If you want to carry loaded, the revolver seems the safer, more reliable choice, while sacrificing some ammo capacity.

I disagree. I like wheelguns. I appreciate their simplicity and overwhelming reliability. However, to imply this wouldn't happen because a DAO requires 3.5 more pounds of pressure is silly. Having two pieces of steel preventing the weapon from firing, requiring some form of actuation to disengage them, is much safer and doesn't require any more time to respond with. That said 1911s have been around over 100 years, 75 years of that they were the standard issue side arm for all branches of our military. They have a pretty good track record.

I don't worry about the condition of my 1911 a I always carry it cocked and locked. It only gets changed if I'm firing it or intentionally removing the ammo for cleaning or presentation to a friend. I draw and flick the thumb safety as I'm raising my pistol. The grip safety is disengaged by simply holding the weapon firmly enough for it not to fly out of my hand when I fire it.

That aside, the main issue seems to be unintentional pressure on the trigger caused the weapon to discharge. Had it been a DAO revolver the same thing may have happened. We don't know the amount of pressure exerted other than it had to be more than 6.5 lbs. Had the weapon been a 1911 or DA/SA pistol, it probably would not have happened given the physical safeties each has. I'm not begrudging him for what he was carrying, just stating fact. Carry what you want; legally of course. If I chose to carry a revolver or a striker fired weapon I would probably use a leather or hard polymer holster to help avoid something putting pressure on the trigger unintentionally.