| What of mechanical failure? A gun with a worn or broken trigger, stuck firing pin, or other condition that renders it mechanically unsound can fire without the trigger being pulled, but only if it is handled, and under Rule 1, as soon as it is handled it is loaded. Therefore, a ND that results from a mechanical failure is still a ND, because the user had to handle (and thereby load) the gun and operate the action. If he causes a mechanical failure ND by subjecting the gun to a sudden shock (by dropping or falling on it, for example) it is still a ND, as the key component of human input in the form of negligence is still present. This type if ND is the reason keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction is Rule 2. Negligent discharges due to mechanical failure are, however, rare.
One of my good friends had a rifle that was worked on by a duely licensed and previously quite competent gunsmith. He loaded said rifle, worked the action once, lined up on target. All was well. He pulled the trigger it went BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG.
Now you might say, that's what a gun is supposed to do, but this firearm was meant to only make one BANG with each pull of the trigger. I would contend that this falls into the realm of Accidental on the part of the shooter. It's not something he did to render the gun into such a state, and while he did keep it controlled and on the backstop so all was safe, he was certainly not Negligent in his using of the firearm.
Negligence is defined as failure to exercise the degree of care expected of a person of ordinary prudence in like circumstances in protecting others from a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm in a particular situation.
Jay |
