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Shooting Victim Was Trying To Fix Jammed Gun

Ausdog

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The officer here is said to have been a weapons expert,whichshows accidentscan happen anywhere to anyone. My condolences to his family, but this shows what can happen when the police disarm you for their protection.


http://www.wjactv.com/news/14115236/detail.html


Officials: Shooting Victim Was Trying To Fix Jammed Gun

POSTED: 12:28 pm EDT September 14, 2007
UPDATED: 1:25 pm EDT September 14, 2007


Investigators ruled on Friday that the shooting death of a man at a gun show was accidental.

Michael Kurty, 36, of Hollidaysburg, was shot in the head while he tried to unjam a military-style machine gun at a gun exhibition Wednesday night.

Kurty was an auxiliary officer with the Duncansville Police Department and was considered a weapons expert. He was off-duty at the time of the accident.

Police said Kurty was working for a company called East Coast Gun Sales, which owns the weapon and was putting on a demonstration.

Officials said Kurty and another person had fired several rounds that night when the gun jammed. The men disconnected power to try to clear the gun, but they did not know the firing pin could still activate even when the gun was powered down.

Kurty had about 24 hours to familiarize himself with the weapon, which can fire up to 4,000 rounds per minute.

Police said the gun was not defective and no charges will be field against the company.

Stay with Channel 6 News and WJACTV.com for continuing coverage.
 

CaliforniaCarry

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So... why did he have his head in front of the barrel of a loaded machine gun?

Not to sound insensitive about his death or anything, but to me that just seems plain stupid. He should have known better if he was a weapons expert.
 

imperialism2024

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Or why did he have his head in front of any loaded gun? The only time I'll look down a barrel is when the action's fully open or when the barrel is no longer part of the gun...


But then again, regular laws of physics don't apply to LEOs. That's why only they should be allowed to carry guns. This guy must have been an imposter. :shock:
 

Particle

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I won't look down a barrel unless the weapon is broken down and I know it's clear. :) Even then, it still feels very weird and uncomfortable.
 

SIGguy229

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How is "expert" defined? What makes one an expert? Self-described? or the guy who can rattle off stats of weapons faster than the guy next to him.



I doubt this guy was an "expert"--only 24 hrs to familiarize with a mini-gun? An expert would tell you to give him more time to learn how to trouble shoot a platform with so many moving parts. The military sends people to training for this kind of stuff and the course work is months/weeks long, plus OJT with a trainer right next to you.



Sounds likea victim of pride and ego....
 

cloudcroft

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As Ihave said 100 times and keep saying, it's not the armed citizen who needs "training," it's the police: Armed citizens have a much better track record whenit comes to hitting the target and not shooting innocent bystanders,when compared topolice shooting stats.

I would like to add that an armed citizen is not likely to put his/her head in front of a machine-gun barrel. ;)

-- John D.

P.S. I have never met a real"expert" in ANYthing, let alone firearms. It is very wise to be highly skeptical of this label.
 

hogleg

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So does anyone know what kind of gun this was? Mini gun or something on a larger scale.
 

hogleg

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HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- An auxiliary officer for a local police department was killed when a machine gun discharged at a private gun show in Blair County.

Michael Kurty, 36, of Hollidaysburg, was killed Wednesday night during a gun expo at the Hollidaysburg Sportsmen's Club.

Police said a Gatling mini-gun attached to a Humvee fired a few thousand rounds earlier in the evening before it discharged and released a fatal shot to Kurty's head.

""What appears to have happened is there was some sort of a jam and when they were trying to clear the jam is when the gun actually went off," said Pennsylvania State Police trooper Jeff Petucci.

A military official was expected to disarm the Humvee on Thursday.

Officials said Kurty was proficient in all types of firearms and conducted training for many local police departments.

The incident remains under investigation. Stay with Channel 6 News and WJACTV.com for continuing coverage as details become available.

[align=right]Copyright 2007 by WJACTV.com. All rights [/align]
 

DreQo

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Officials said Kurty was proficient in all types of firearms...
Except gatling guns...

Unfortunate as this is, this sounds like a classic darwin award. I'll be damned if I put myself in front of any weapon without a really damn good reason.
I won't look down a barrel unless the weapon is broken down and I know it's clear. :) Even then, it still feels very weird and uncomfortable.
+1, and I bet that feeling isn't nearly as uncomfortable as a round in your skull...
 

acrimsontide

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Ausdog wrote:
The officer here is said to have been a weapons expert,whichshows accidentscan happen anywhere to anyone. My condolences to his family, but this shows what can happen when the police disarm you for their protection.


How does this incident relate to an officer disarming someone for their protection? I may have missed some article that would indicate something like that, but based on the link provided, I don't see how this relates to police disarming someone.

Thanks
 

FogRider

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Particle wrote:
I won't look down a barrel unless the weapon is broken down and I know it's clear. :) Even then, it still feels very weird and uncomfortable.

It's not just me? Cool. That was hammered in to my head at such a young age it is almost physically impossible for me to point anything at myself or anyone else, even if it just the barrel removed from the rest of the gun.

</threadjack>
 

DreQo

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acrimsontide wrote:
Ausdog wrote:
The officer here is said to have been a weapons expert,whichshows accidentscan happen anywhere to anyone. My condolences to his family, but this shows what can happen when the police disarm you for their protection.


How does this incident relate to an officer disarming someone for their protection? I may have missed some article that would indicate something like that, but based on the link provided, I don't see how this relates to police disarming someone.

Thanks

I believe the point Ausdog was trying to make is that if this guy is dumb enough to have his head in front of a gatling gun with a round in the chamber while they mess with it, then who knows what he'd do while he's trying to clear and unload YOUR gun.

The only safe place for MY gun is in MY hands or holster, period.
 

imperialism2024

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DreQo wrote:
acrimsontide wrote:
Ausdog wrote:
The officer here is said to have been a weapons expert,whichshows accidentscan happen anywhere to anyone. My condolences to his family, but this shows what can happen when the police disarm you for their protection.


How does this incident relate to an officer disarming someone for their protection? I may have missed some article that would indicate something like that, but based on the link provided, I don't see how this relates to police disarming someone.

Thanks

I believe the point Ausdog was trying to make is that if this guy is dumb enough to have his head in front of a gatling gun with a round in the chamber while they mess with it, then who knows what he'd do while he's trying to clear and unload YOUR gun.

The only safe place for MY gun is in MY hands or holster, period.
Makes you wonder what would happen if, after the local PD gets a "man with a gun" call and races to the mall, and throws you and you family down on the ground, one of the officers carelessly grabs your gun and accidentally shoots himself or another officer with it. How quickly would you get a "cop killer" conviction?
 

DreQo

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Makes you wonder what would happen if, after LEO229 gets a "man with a gun" call and races to the BANK, and throws you and you family down on the ground, one of the officers carelessly grabs your gun and accidentally shoots himself or another officer with it. How quickly would you get a "cop killer" conviction?
No conviction. You'd win with the argument that your gun has a built in safety designed to shoot anyone who unlawfully takes the gun from its owner. :celebrate
 

FogRider

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imperialism2024 wrote:
DreQo wrote:
acrimsontide wrote:
Ausdog wrote:
The officer here is said to have been a weapons expert,whichshows accidentscan happen anywhere to anyone. My condolences to his family, but this shows what can happen when the police disarm you for their protection.


How does this incident relate to an officer disarming someone for their protection? I may have missed some article that would indicate something like that, but based on the link provided, I don't see how this relates to police disarming someone.

Thanks

I believe the point Ausdog was trying to make is that if this guy is dumb enough to have his head in front of a gatling gun with a round in the chamber while they mess with it, then who knows what he'd do while he's trying to clear and unload YOUR gun.

The only safe place for MY gun is in MY hands or holster, period.
Makes you wonder what would happen if, after the local PD gets a "man with a gun" call and races to the mall, and throws you and you family down on the ground, one of the officers carelessly grabs your gun and accidentally shoots himself or another officer with it. How quickly would you get a "cop killer" conviction?
That's something I have worried about myself. I carry a XD, so it would be easy for someone unfamiliar with the gun to have an AD. No-one but myself touches my gun without me unloading and clearing it.
 

DreQo

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That's something I have worried about myself. I carry a XD, so it would be easy for someone unfamiliar with the gun to have an AD. No-one but myself touches my gun without me unloading and clearing it.
I don't carry an XD, but I AM familiar with them and know exactly what you're talking about. My SW99 is even worse, with absolutely NO external safeties, and a DA trigger. This means that no matter how you're holding the weapon, or how the trigger is pulled/pushed back, if the trigger goes back the gun goes boom. I am confident with my weapon, but I doubt the average LEO would be. Hell, I keep hearing about LEO's questioning why someone has their hammer back on their 1911... :banghead:
 

Xhado

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It was a M134a. There was no round in the camber but there were rounds in the feeding system. The jam had something to do with an ejecting shell. The officer didnt know that to fire the thing all you have to do is turn the barrels. While turning the barrels, more rounds fed and fired.
 

DreQo

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Xhado wrote:
It was a M134a. There was no round in the camber but there were rounds in the feeding system. The jam had something to do with an ejecting shell. The officer didnt know that to fire the thing all you have to do is turn the barrels. While turning the barrels, more rounds fed and fired.

You're absolutely right. The reason I said "round in chamber" is to emphasis the weapons ability to fire at any moment. The fact that "the officer didn't know" is the key here. Rotating those barrels is effectively putting the weapon through its cycle of operation. The "power" that they disconnected was simply the power to the motor that rotates the barrels. Did they break the chain of ammo before doing this? Who knows. Regardless, the bottom line is, he had his head in front of a gun barrel, and he found out why you're not supposed to do that.

I feel bad for his family.
 
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