Words mean things. In firearms safety terminology, we\u2019ve seen some changes. It used to be that whenever a shot was fired unintentionally, it was called an AD, or Accidental Discharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent decades, the distinction has been made between the AD and the ND, or Negligent Discharge. The standard became this: if the shot was fired because of a defect in the firearm, such as a broken firing pin or defective sear, it was an AD \u2013 but if the gun wasn\u2019t defective, the incident was automatically presumed to be a Negligent Discharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When speaking of both types of discharge together, the accepted term is now UD, for Unintentional Discharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, most recently, we are hearing UC: Uncommanded Discharge. This describes a pistol that \u201cgoes off by itself\u201d in holster, box or waistband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Decades in court have taught me that before we assign that liability-laden word \u201cnegligent,\u201d we must get all the details and fully investigate.\u00a0 In one incident at a gathering of uniformed police officers seated close to one another, the keys hanging from one\u2019s duty belt slipped unnoticed into the holster of an adjacent officer. When one of them stood up, one or more keys pressed the trigger and the pistol discharged in the holster. The old standard would automatically demand a Negligent Discharge finding, even though neither officer did anything negligent and a proper finding would have been Accidental Discharge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n