You'd Think a SEAL Would Know Better

Violation of Cooper's Rule 1 and Rule 2:

SAN DIEGO — A Navy SEAL was hospitalized in very serious condition Thursday after he apparently accidentally shot himself in the head, officials said.

The shooting happened about 2 a.m. in a house in Pacific Beach, a popular oceanfront community north of the city. According to 10News, the local ABC affiliate that first reported the incident, San Diego police said the unidentified man was handling the gun and pointed it at his head to show his girlfriend it wasn’t loaded, but pulled the trigger and shot himself. Both had been drinking at a local bar earlier that night, 10News reported.

Jeff Cooper's rules of safe gun handling can be seen on my blog sidebar, but I'll mention them here for people who aren't familiar with them:

Rule 1: All guns are always loaded. Even if it's not, treat it as if it is.

Rule 2: Never allow the muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)

Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.

Rule 4: Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.


Reading further into the article I see that this young man was a baby SEAL, just passed BUD/S, the SEAL qualification course, but still...he's supposed to be a professional, should know better than this.

What a tragic lapse in judgment. Best wishes for his full and complete recovery.