Safe Gun Handling

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Deputy Shot With Own Gun at Berks Co. Courthouse | NBC 10 Philadelphia  An agency started using new holsters.  Some of the deputies wondered if the guns could be fired while they were still in the holster, as if a suspect was trying to take away the gun.  They got the answer when one of the deputies reached for his partners gun and shot his partner in the leg.  The agency may want to consider new holsters and better training. A new holster should be treated like a very important piece of equipment because it is important.  New holsters being issued to officers need to be practiced with and broken in.  New holster designs being issued to a department need new training.  Agencies should not assume that officers will fully understand the benefits and drawbacks of a new holster.  It should be explained to them and they should practice dry firing on the range and then live firing on the range until they are proficient with the new design. These officers also bear some responsibility too.  Training with loaded weapons is a potentially deadly mistake.  I almost never use real guns to train anymore unless I am on the range, even then I use red guns to demonstrate as often as I can to avoid shooting someone with an unloaded gun.  This officer is lucky to be alive; that's what the SGT Says.