Travel News - ATL: LEO fires gun he was supposed to be unloading

Perhaps allowing some LEO's to handle the guns is as dangerous as letting the pax carry them through security?

From Gun in Plane Carry-on Bag Accidentally Fired by Police Officer (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/gun-plane-carry-bag-accidentally-fired-police-officer-183120815.html)

"Popkin cooperated with authorities, and was showing police officer N.J. Phillips, whom TSA agents had summoned to the scene, how to clear the gun of ammunition when Phillips accidentally fired the gun."

I'm no gun expert, but it seems to me you should be able to unload a gun without pulling the trigger.

Perhaps allowing some LEO's to handle the guns is as dangerous as letting the pax carry them through security?

From Gun in Plane Carry-on Bag Accidentally Fired by Police Officer (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/gun-plane-carry-bag-accidentally-fired-police-officer-183120815.html)

"Popkin cooperated with authorities, and was showing police officer N.J. Phillips, whom TSA agents had summoned to the scene, how to clear the gun of ammunition when Phillips accidentally fired the gun."

I'm no gun expert, but it seems to me you should be able to unload a gun without pulling the trigger.
Every gun I've encountered can be unloaded without pulling the trigger.

There are at least a few however that require you to pull the trigger in order to disassemble it, which is usually how a few people looking to escape the gene pool usually manage to shoot themselves each year.

There are at least a few however that require you to pull the trigger in order to disassemble it, which is usually how a few people looking to escape the gene pool usually manage to shoot themselves each year.So you have to fire them to unload them? Is that the fast-track version of unloading - fire gun until empty?

So you have to fire them to unload them? Is that the fast-track version of unloading - fire gun until empty?

No, every gun that I've encountered can be unloaded without firing it.

However, some require you to, at some point during the disassembly process, AFTER unloading it, to pull the trigger.

You can see an example of one here (http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/springfieldarmory_xd.pdf). Note how many times Springfield mentions about ensuring that the firearm is unloaded before disassembly, and how it's built into the process to check.

Already discussed in TSS forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/checkpoints-borders-policy-debate/1290425-atlanta-cop-fires-paxs-gun-atl-tsa-checkpoint.html

Let's follow the discussion there, thanks.

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News