Force Science research about unintentional discharges

[Wendell]

If you haven't already, you might want to check out Force Science News #348.


A Force Science research team has completed an update of its ongoing analysis of unintentional firearms discharges by LEOs in the US and Canada. We reported on the initial phase of the team’s work in Force Science News #317 [8/10/16], when the researchers had studied 137 UD occurrences. Now 171 additional instances have been analyzed, offering a broadening picture of the causes, circumstances, and consequences of “an unplanned activation of the trigger that is outside a handgun’s or long gun’s prescribed use;” i.e., an unintentional discharge.

<October 17, 2017
Force Science News>

You can subscribe at www.forcescience.org

[Mark D]

Thanks for the link. It looks like there's no subscription necessary. Following your link I was able to click through to a 36 page, pdf. I've downloaded it and will read it with interest.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Their summary seems to indicate they felt that startle response and sympathetic grip response were new discoveries. Dr. Roger Enoka, PhD, Univ. of Colorado, only published his seminal work on that back in 1985. Hope they get things figured out, because that summary is kindergarten simple and had nothing new or surprising in it. They didn't even mention loss of balance or as Dr. Enoka termed it, "postural disturbance", as one of the factors. I nearly got killed by an ND from that circumstance and the shot that just barely missed me critically wounded a Dallas PD officer on my right.

[Dagga Boy]

Their summary seems to indicate they felt that startle response and sympathetic grip response were new discoveries. Dr. Roger Enoka, PhD, Univ. of Colorado, only published his seminal work on that back in 1985. Hope they get things figured out, because that summary is kindergarten simple and had nothing new or surprising in it. They didn't even mention loss of balance or as Dr. Enoka termed it, "postural disturbance", as one of the factors. I nearly got killed by an ND from that circumstance and the shot that just barely missed me critically wounded a Dallas PD officer on my right.

It was still witchcraft to discuss this stuff back then. While many today find it amusing to discount Gunsite, the reality is that the principles founded in the Modern Technique and then hammered out into how to practically employee them and adopt them in the field by the pioneers of those early years were finding out things that have taken several decades for science to be able to catch up with using today's technology to document. Next thing you know we are going to find out that small, shoulder fired pistol caliber carbines work really good for surgical application of lethal force in small confines of typical indoor shooting distances, and shotguns are really efficient at dropping felons in hose same types of encounters. It is really a brave "new" world.

[GardoneVT]

"Thirty-four of the officers removed their firearm from its holster and 20% of those officers placed their index finger on the trigger for longer than 1s during the scenario. None of the officers reported being aware of any contact with the trigger."

Interesting. This is a similar result to the German LE study on the same subject; IIRC they also showed 20% of officers placing their fingers on the trigger who later didn't remember doing so.

[Wayne Dobbs]

"Thirty-four of the officers removed their firearm from its holster and 20% of those officers placed their index finger on the trigger for longer than 1s during the scenario. None of the officers reported being aware of any contact with the trigger."

Interesting. This is a similar result to the German LE study on the same subject; IIRC they also showed 20% of officers placing their fingers on the trigger who later didn't remember doing so.

Very true. By the way, I have both the Enoka paper and the German project paper if anybody wants them. They're eye opening. PM me with an email address if you want copies.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Not really a breakthrough - this 2007 book reviewed most of what we've heard.

Human Factors Issues in Handgun Safety and Forensics 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
by Hal W. Hendrick (Author), Paul Paradis (Author), Richard J. Hornick (Author)

Amazon has used ones for about $40.00

[Erick Gelhaus]

Their summary seems to indicate they felt that startle response and sympathetic grip response were new discoveries. Dr. Roger Enoka, PhD, Univ. of Colorado, only published his seminal work on that back in 1985. Hope they get things figured out, because that summary is kindergarten simple and had nothing new or surprising in it. They didn't even mention loss of balance or as Dr. Enoka termed it, "postural disturbance", as one of the factors. I nearly got killed by an ND from that circumstance and the shot that just barely missed me critically wounded a Dallas PD officer on my right.

Yup, the info has been out there for several years. First time I recall hearing it was in the long version of the safety lecture by Bill Jeans' back in '94/'95. Hitting the Why far more than the What he addressed loss of balance, inter-limb, & startle waayyy back then.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

My toes still remember a 45 ACP a few inches from them as a shooter supposedly holstered a 1911 with safety on (yeah).