Service Weapon Safety

It was reported in the Los Angeles Times today that the three year old son of Enrique Chavez, a police officer, was able to gain access to Chavez' service weapon and shoot him in the back while the two were riding in a pickup truck in Anaheim, California.

It is said that the child was not in a car seat, and it is unknown how the child was able to get hold of the officer's service weapon. It is also noted that Chavez was the third officer to be shot by a relative with his or her service weapon recently. Whether Officer Chavez will recover fully is not yet known, as the bullet caused severe damage to several vital areas of his upper chest.

I remember one time sitting in Tiny Naylor's in Seal Beach and an officer stopped by to have lunch at the counter. I looked over, and his service weapon, a .45 auto, was in condition one-cocked and locked. That was far too edgy for this civilian, and I am gratified that departments have generally moved to safer weapons.

Folks, it goes without saying: one cannot afford to be casual about a deadly weapon under one's control. It's bad for the health and the career.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kidcop12jul12,0,5177294.story?track=tottext