Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Not MRI safe, huh?
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
As someone who routinely disregards the “no weapons” signs that litter our environment, not even I would be dumb enough to carry a gun into a high-powered magnetic field. Didn’t any of these people watch the X-men movies for Christ’s sake?
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
At the time the weapon discharged, it was reportedly in a cocked and locked position; that is, the hammer was cocked and the thumb safety was engaged to prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin. A live round was in the chamber. (Many people who choose this weapon for personal protection will carry it in this manner because it allows them to quickly fire the weapon if needed.)
When the firearm was removed from the magnet, the gun was still in a cocked and locked position. An empty cartridge was found in the chamber. The presence of an empty cartridge in the chamber is highly unusual. If the thumb safety were not engaged and the weapon fired normally by depressing the trigger, the normal backward recoil of the slide should have automatically ejected the empty cartridge, and a new live round should have automatically been chambered. As discussed earlier, the thumb safety performs two functions: it prevents the sear from releasing the hammer, thereby preventing the hammer from striking the firing pin; it also locks the slide in place, preventing retrograde motion of the slide and automatic ejection of the empty cartridge. Thus, the presence of an empty cartridge in the chamber confirms that the thumb safety was engaged at the time the gun was fired. Given that the thumb safety was engaged when the gun discharged, it is also likely that the normal trigger and hammer mechanism of firing the gun was bypassed because the thumb safety would have also prevented release of the hammer.
The gun likely discharged as a result of the effect of the magnetic field on the firing pin block. The firing pin block was probably drawn into its uppermost position by force of the magnetic field. The firing pin block has to overcome only light pressure from a relatively small spring to release the firing pin. The pistol was likely drawn into the magnetic field so that the muzzle struck the magnet's bore first. With the firing pin allowed to move freely in its channel, the force of the impact on the muzzle end was sufficient to cause the firing pin to overcome its spring pressure and move forward to strike the primer of the chambered round.
This account explains how the weapon discharged when the thumb safety was engaged.
The presence of an empty cartridge in the chamber explains why the gun did not discharge a second time when it was moved from the left to the right side of the bore. Even if the identical forces were repeated, an empty cartridge, not a live round, was in the chamber at this time.
Discussion
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In this incident, the gun discharged despite the thumb safety being engaged. This has important implications in that it shows that the weapon poses a risk for discharging in an MR imaging environment even with the thumb safety engaged.
One can look at the sequence of events preceding the discharge of the weapon and see several points at which the incident could have been prevented. When the officer came in with the gun, it should have been immediately secured in a safe location, even before the officer changed for the examination. The technologist, knowing the officer had a firearm, should have instructed him that under no circumstances could he bring the weapon into the MR suite. Also, the technologist should have been monitoring the officer more closely to make sure he did not enter the MR suite with the weapon. Signs should have been posted at that site, if they were not already there, warning the public of the dangers of approaching the magnetic field of the MR imager with implants, metallic devices, or objects such as firearms.
In light of this incident, all radiologists should reexamine our own site's screening methods to ensure that steps are implemented to prevent such a situation from ever recurring.
Address correspondence to A. O. Beitia.
References
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1. Kanal E, Shaibani A. Firearm safety in an MR imaging environment. Radiology 1994; 193:875-876 [Crossref] [Medline] [Google Scholar]
2. Sweeney P. Gunsmithing: pistols and revolvers. Iola, WI: Krause, 1998: 30-34 [Google Scholar]
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Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Very interesting discussion of the mechanism of discharge. Pretty clear that JMB could not have seen that one coming.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
20+ years ago I got an email from a nationally recognized training organization, not only about having a gun snatched by a MRI device, but the dangers of entering an MRI suite when an east coast officer did a building search of a MRI suite and later had FTFs. Turns out his stiker was magnetized and stuck to the slide magnetically when released by the trigger bar...He learned about it weeks later when he tried to qual...Those macihnes are never really powered down. Just..,sleeping...
To this day I use paperclips to test the strikers and/or firing pins and slides of handguns I am servicing or inspecting...
pat
Interesting. I know first hand that when a Glock is exposed to contact with an MRI it will become unreliable...and Glock was even surprised when the gun was returned to them.
Saw this a few days ago. Lawyer killed in Brazil when MRI causes gun to discharge:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-gun-off.html
I want to say this happened in Atlanta with a prisoner being in an MRI and an officer present.
I couldn’t find the article in the 20-30 seconds I spent.
ETA: IIRC it was a Glock.
God Bless,
Brandon
The “like” was for providing valuable information, not for what happened.Originally Posted by TC215
It would be interesting to know the type of gun and how it discharged.
Several years ago, a participant on TPI described a police officer entering an MRI room to address an individual who was in custody and had become unruly while getting an MRI. The technicians desperately tried to provide a sufficiently fast warning, but had no time before the officer was stuck to the machine, which had pulled in his holstered gun
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