An object lesson on gun safety: DEA agent shoots himself

I'm apparently one of the few gun-nuts left on the planet who hadn't seen this video which our state concealed-carry instructor showed to our instructor's class last week. When he asked how many had already seen it, I was almost the only one in the room who didn't raise his hand.

On April 9, 2004 DEA Agent Lee Paige shoots himself in the foot with a Glock .40S&W handgun while talking to children and parents about gun safety at the Orlando Youth Minority Golf Association.

It would be funny if it wasn't so stupid. The DEA agent had 14 years experience, but screws up the basic gun safety procedure of unloading his duty Glock. He opens the slide but does not remove the magazine. So when he hits the slide release, that puts a round in the chamber. Then he puts the Glock between his legs, pushes down on the slide-removal levers to remove the slide and pulls the trigger. And the inevitable happens with a loaded Glock: Boom!

Incredibly, he tries to continue his lecture while bleeding on the floor, saying it could happen to anyone. Yeah, anyone stupid enough to pull the trigger on a loaded firearm in their crotch.

Then it gets worse. He asks his assistant to bring out another gun, a full-auto M4 carbine. Needless to say, pandemonium erupts in the kids and parents watching. He assures them the M4 is unloaded and somebody in the back yells "You just shot yourself with an unloaded gun!"

And here's the postscript for this sad tale. The DEA fired him and released the video of the incident as an object lesson about gun safety. And the agent has now filed suit against the DEA alleging they have made him "unemployable." Do ya think shooting himself on video might actually be the proximate cause of this idiot becoming "unemployable"?

What iz it? It'z a Browning BDM 9mm Ambi Pistol

One of my gun nut buddies identified the "What iz it" gun photo I posted earlier. Ain't it great to have gun nut buddies all over the world linked up on the Wide Wonderful Web?

I shoulda known, it's a Browning. See that little Buckmark logo at the top of the grip right behind the trigger? That's what detectives call a clue.

Next photo down is a Browning BDM from the World Guns site, which gives the nomenclature.

"BDM stands for the Browning Double Mode (or Dual Mode), and it means that the pistol can be had in either traditional Double Action mode or in Double Action Only Mode ... in the same gun, and the change of mode can take a split a second, not more.

"It is done via the small slotted switch in the left side of the slide. The switch has two positions, marked "P" and "R". P stands for Pistol, or DA mode, R stands for revolver, or DAO mode. The switch can be turned from one position to another by any sharp-tipped tool such a knife, screwdriver or even a coin. BDM is equipped with ambidextrous, frame-mounted safety / decocker levers. To engage safety (and decock the hammer in DA mode) one must pull the lever down, and the lever will stay in this position. To disengage safety the lever must be pulled up, so a red dot will show on the frame."

And the last photo is a current Browning by FN, the Hi-Power Mark II 9mm, which also a lefty-friendly thumb safety on the right side in addition to one on the normal left side for righties.

Mystery solved. I'll be on the lookout for one of those Browning BDMs, now out of production.

Another of my gun nut buddies also came up with a link to a fellow gun nut who hacked an inch off the grip and 3/4" off the slide and barrel to create a short Browning BDM.