User Panel
Posted: 1/4/2002 1:27:38 AM EDT
[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000000569jan03.story[/url]
From Times Staff and Wire Reports A National Guardsman accidentally shot himself at San Francisco International Airport while trying to remove his gun from his holster. Louis E. Alvarez, a National Guard specialist, was going off duty about 11 p.m. Friday when the accident happened, according to Sgt. 1st Class Tom Jacobs. He was trying to make sure his M-9 pistol was clear of ammunition when he had trouble removing the gun from its holster and it went off. The shot went through his hip and exited at his buttocks. Alvarez was taken to a hospital and released Saturday afternoon. **************************************** Trouble removing the Gun??!! I guess if you put your hand around the grip and insert your finger in the trigger guard and pull real hard the pistol is supposed to come out, right? What the f*ck? |
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What kinda holster was that? Was it the new Threat Level V? So snatch-proof the wearer can't get the pistol out?
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Quoted: What kinda holster was that? Was it the new Threat Level V? So snatch-proof the wearer can't get the pistol out? View Quote Bianchi M-12. I don't know how you could have any trouble removing a weapon from this holster. Its a Level I holster at best. The scenario I'm imagining involves the Guardsman cycling the action of the weapon with safety off (hammer locks back, trigger pull drops to almost nothing) and then reholstering the weapon with his finger in the trigger guard. Gun goes bang, exactly as it was designed to do. |
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OUCH! That's going to leave a mark.
Cycle the action, remove the mag. Or was that remove the mag, cycle the action. |
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Can somebody post of pic of the M-12? Here's a link, but for some reason our IT guy has our system blocking the site....(I think he needs his a$$ kicked.)
[url]http://www.ammil.com/p0001068.htm [/url] |
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Since his head was up his buttocks, he's damn lucky he missed blowing his brains out...does he get a Purple Heart ?
GIB ;{> |
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[img]http://www.bianchi-intl.com/images/prod_large/Military/UM84.jpg[/img]
If operating this thing kicks (or shoots) your ass, you should not be around hot coffee or even those rounded off scissors they give schoolkids. |
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Isn't this exactly the sort of accident that issuing a double action service pistol was supposed to prevent?
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Quoted: Isn't this exactly the sort of accident that issuing a double action service pistol was supposed to prevent? View Quote It's double/single action. Nothing is foolproof. |
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Attempting to pull it out of the holster was just part of the cover story. He was actually told by several people over many years that his brain was in his ass. This event was a suicide attempt.
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I feel so much safer. And think ... Soon, the other people protecting us will be FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. Oh, Boy !!!
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Quoted: [img]http://www.bianchi-intl.com/images/prod_large/Military/UM84.jpg[/img] If operating this thing kicks (or shoots) your ass, you should not be around hot coffee or even those rounded off scissors they give schoolkids. View Quote Thanks Jarhead. I was almost positive that the holster I bought for my tac gear was an M-12, but I wanted to make [u]sure[/u] before I commented on the ND. HTF can you shoot yourself removing a pistol from one of these??? You can't even get your finger on the trigger until you pull the pistol out an inch or two. BTW - if anybody is looking for a good tac holster - these [b]are[/b] nice. Expensive, but nice. I had around $125 in the holster, hip extender & a 4 mag pouch. |
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Quoted: I feel so much safer. And think ... Soon, the other people protecting us will be FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. Oh, Boy !!! View Quote The best part is that it will be the same people doing the same jobs, but on the federal payroll. |
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Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out.
Wonder how much training they had? |
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Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. Wonder how much training they had? View Quote They're actually great holsters, for what they do. They're not LE holsters or CCW holsters, they're military holsters, whose primary purpose is not presentation, but retention of a large variety of firearms (M9, 1911, M11, etc.). |
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Quoted: Trouble removing the Gun??!! I guess if you put your hand around the grip and insert your finger in the trigger guard and pull real hard the pistol is supposed to come out, right? View Quote That's not a trigger - its a holster release. Pull harder. [}:D] |
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Quoted: Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. Wonder how much training they had? View Quote They're actually great holsters, for what they do. They're not LE holsters or CCW holsters, they're military holsters, whose primary purpose is not presentation, but retention of a large variety of firearms (M9, 1911, M11, etc.). View Quote I guess the presentation part really needed some work here. |
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Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. Wonder how much training they had? View Quote It depends on what you're using the holster for. When I have my gear on, the sidearm is a secondary weapon and actually needing it would mean that I've exhausted 5 mags of .308's through a FAL. (In other words, I'd already be in deep sh!t!) I figure I'll have time to unsnap the holster with my right hand while I'm dropping my now-useless FAL with my left hand. I do agree that it would suck as duty holster for LEO's. |
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I know this: No MPs I've ever seen wore an M12 holster on duty. With all the thousands of these holsters in supply, the MPs always wore Bianchi black gear with retention holsters, just like civilian LEOs.
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Quoted: trigger pull drops to almost nothing View Quote You don't own a 92fs, do you? Besides the wierd(at least to me) way of getting the safty off, the trigger pull is my one complaint about the 92. It is no where near "nothing"! |
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Quoted: I know this: No MPs I've ever seen wore an M12 holster on duty. With all the thousands of these holsters in supply, the MPs always wore Bianchi black gear with retention holsters, just like civilian LEOs. View Quote We must have hung out in different places. Since they were issued, I've never seen an MP that hasn't worn the Bianchi. Many of them have the black holsters with the black duty belt, but they were Bianchi's. In any case, the troops "guarding" our airports have, without an exception that I've seen, been wearing the M12. But, if I were an MP, I would certainly prefer a holster more attuned to retention and presentation than a standard issue combat holster. |
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Quoted: Quoted: trigger pull drops to almost nothing View Quote You don't own a 92fs, do you? Besides the wierd(at least to me) way of getting the safty off, the trigger pull is my one complaint about the 92. It is no where near "nothing"! View Quote I have owned two 96FSs. When the weapon went to single action, the trigger pull felt like almost nothing to me. YMMV |
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This guy will never live this one down. Oh man, I would hate to be him. His platoon is probably going to go out and design something like a bullet proof diaper or something and put it on him or give it to him when he gets back. YOu Know Kevlar reinforced in the ASS. TO FUNNY.
Benjamin |
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Quoted: Quoted: I know this: No MPs I've ever seen wore an M12 holster on duty. With all the thousands of these holsters in supply, the MPs always wore Bianchi black gear with retention holsters, just like civilian LEOs. View Quote We must have hung out in different places. View Quote MCAS Yuma, AZ MCB Camp Kinser, Okinawa Japan MCB Camp Pendleton, CA MCRD San Diego, CA (just visiting!) If they were wearing a badge, they were wearing LEO black gear. |
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Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. Wonder how much training they had? View Quote I've used those holsters several times on active duty and they're not too bad. You can get the flap off pretty quick and it keeps it very secure while in the field. As for the training these guys have with the M9, unless they are MPs, machine gunners, or officers, they have ZIP - ZERO - NADA. None. At the most, some staff NCO told them, OK, this is the safety, mag release, etc... when they handed them the weapon at the beginning of their shift. Dumbasses like this are the reasons why you see Guardsmen (oh, sorry, guardsPEOPLE) without live rounds or even mags in their weapons while on duty. Sadly, even our own troops cant be trusted with live ammo. |
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Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. View Quote The flaps are to keep belly button lint out... Gib ;{> (fire for effect) |
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Quoted: The flaps are to keep belly button lint out... Gib ;{> (fire for effect) View Quote Or buttcrack lint, in this guy's case... |
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I was listening to a local radio station concerning this event. A caller mentioned that he contacted the local recuiters and was told that [i]anyone from outside the US[/i] can become a Guardsman as long as they reside in this country and have a work visa or a green card. Anyone know about this? Maybe I'll need to call the recruiter today and find out for myself.
sgtar15 |
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Quoted: Quoted: The flaps are to keep belly button lint out... Gib ;{> (fire for effect) View Quote Or buttcrack lint, in this guy's case... View Quote Ah ha! but not if you use "Crack Spackle (TM)" Anyone who saw the man show laast night knows what I'm talking about! [:)] |
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Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. View Quote The flap can be replaced with a thumbreak for about $8. Probably not authorized for these folks, tho. |
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Quoted: I was listening to a local radio station concerning this event. A caller mentioned that he contacted the local recuiters and was told that [i]anyone from outside the US[/i] can become a Guardsman as long as they reside in this country and have a work visa or a green card. Anyone know about this? Maybe I'll need to call the recruiter today and find out for myself. sgtar15 View Quote I'm not sure how it works, but I DO know that we had a guy in boot camp that could barely and I mean BARELY speak any english at all. I also met several more Marines later on that were from foreign countries. |
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Quoted: I was listening to a local radio station concerning this event. A caller mentioned that he contacted the local recuiters and was told that [i]anyone from outside the US[/i] can become a Guardsman as long as they reside in this country and have a work visa or a green card. Anyone know about this? Maybe I'll need to call the recruiter today and find out for myself. View Quote It's a fact. Our very own Hunter223 from Argentina is going through the process right now to join the US Army. |
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Handgun training in the military is minimal at best. I was astounded to hear that some airports are being manned by Guardsmen armed solely with the M9, given the militarys lack of training on the weapon except for the officers and medics.....
They should stick to giving the Guard guys the M16 they are more familiar with. Either that or provide some intensive training and give everyone BOTH an M16 and an M9. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Those are actually horrible holsters. You shouldn't have to undo flaps before you can get the pistol out. View Quote The flap can be replaced with a thumbreak for about $8. Probably not authorized for these folks, tho. View Quote Oh man, I can't believe I forgot about that. It's been too long since i read the manual. (Yes, the M-12 comes with an instruction manual!) |
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its also ambidexterouse, can be switched from side to side, and have a variety of attachments available. all and all they are pretty good for full size auto-loader retention and "agressive" apearance.. but arent very practical for combat and l/e..
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Quoted: but arent very practical for combat and l/e.. View Quote Depends on what kind of combat we're talking about. In my case, for an infantryman, it's very practical. |
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Quoted: Quoted: but arent very practical for combat and l/e.. View Quote Depends on what kind of combat we're talking about. In my case, for an infantryman, it's very practical. View Quote You got that right. This holster is a vast improvement over the leather holsters used up until the mid 80's. Not too gimmicky, with a good solid fit. I used the thumb break strap in addition to the holster, as an added bit of protection. I still have 4 of these holsters in various configurations for field use. |
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I got mine for $25 from an Army/Navy store going out of business. Homerun.
At first I didn't like the flap. Seemed ungainly and hard to quickly operate. Then I purchased the thumbreak and I really liked it,it was quick and easy to remove the weapon from the holster. Then I took it to the field. Under field conditions(crawling, low crawling and general movement I found a few problems with the thumbreak strap. The strap compresseds the top of the holster and the M9 safety diengages to the firing position. While crawling the holster quckly fills with dirt, snow, pine needle bits and other crap. Also, after a 800 meter movement in knee deep sea water, I found my weapon trigger guard deep in salt water. On went the flap, I practiced with it and have become more proficient with it and I'm happy with it. Sherm |
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I WEAR ONE OF THESE!!!
They do their job, hold the damn weapon. I for one, think he is a fool. Even the people who are scared of guns here don't have a problem unholstering the weapon and checking to see if it's clear. What an idiot. It's true, you release the flap with your thumb, and only the grip is availiable for you to grab. It almost forces you to keep your index finger out of the trigger guard to take the weapon out of the holdster. How do you manage to shoot yourself? Hell if I know. I would say almost on purpose (especially with the safety on). |
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Quoted: How do you manage to shoot yourself? Hell if I know. I would say almost on purpose (especially with the safety on). View Quote That and the fact that the M9 has such a long double action trigger pull. You have to be EXTREMELY reckless to have a AD. |
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What about the part in the article that states "...he had trouble removing the gun from its holster and it went off."
In this culture of ours that refuses to accept responsibility for our actions, again we hear that when it comes to guns, guns somehow have the innate ability of accidentally "going off". |
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[img]http://home.hiwaay.net/~thefanns/images/Bfirewater.jpg[/img]
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Disclaimer--I am not attempting to defend the dumb ass Guardsman who blew his ass off!
My MP Guard Unit did a two week rotation in Vicenzia Italy, now we got issued different holsters while we were there. I don't know what kind, but they sucked. It had a weapon retention system thay just retained the weapon to much. It took serveral tries to get the weapon out, and I saw one guy's holster it would take 2 people to get the gun out. Before you start blaming user error, most of us (not me though) are LEO's in cilivan life, and most of us are gun nuts so we are familar with holsters. We were always joking about what would happen if we needed to use them (Don't shoot, give me a minute to get my gun out!) Anyways, maybe this guy got one of those, of course even with that it doesn't excuse him before being a dumbass. I believe the pistols are supposed to be carry in condition 3, safety on, no round in chamber. That's the way it always is with us. |
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I got out the old web gear and the trusty M9, it was suprisingly diffcult to get a shot to the ass lined up. If he was returning the weapon to the holster after a quick draw demostration in the mirror, he may have smacked the barrel into the flap and pulled the trigger while trying to shove the gun into the holster. This was the only way I came up with of shooting from the hip to the ass. Sounds like somebody was playing OK Corral.
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"He was sitting, twirling his gun,
Butterfinger Irving gunned himself down. Dead Irving Dead Dead Irving Dumb Dumb Dead Irving the 129 fastest gun in The West." Old Dr. Demento song. I heard during Vietnam War people would shoot themselves in the foot to get out. Think he's trying to get out of being a guardsman? |
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Geez, and I thought the most dangerous time when dealing with a holster was when you [i]insert[/i] the weapon, not when you remove it.[>:/]
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I'm not too far from San Francisco and was watching the local news report on this. They were talking to the Guardsman's Lt. who said that they were not authorized to carry with a round in the chamber. This guys has some explaining to do once he recuperates (ie - can sit without the donut
My wife and I were laughing a bit when we saw this. We were imagining the guy "struggling" with his holster. |
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Good to know we have Forrest Gump protecting the Kalifornians at SFO. But then he "got shot in the buttocks."
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If the NG is there to protect us from terrorists, who's going to protect us from this guy?
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Quoted: I was listening to a local radio station concerning this event. A caller mentioned that he contacted the local recuiters and was told that [i]anyone from outside the US[/i] can become a Guardsman as long as they reside in this country and have a work visa or a green card. Anyone know about this? Maybe I'll need to call the recruiter today and find out for myself. sgtar15 View Quote We had non-citizens with green cards going through Basic with me years ago. My old unit had several foreign Nationals serving in it. |
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Geee, My work place feels much safer already. Thank god that they do not patrol on my aircrafts.
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