"Professional" DEA agent sues agency

[KBCraig]

It takes a dark sense of irony (I have one) to see humor in this situation. So yeah, I smirked.

But re-watching the video, the thing that strikes me is how thoroughly and effectively he indoctrinated that bunch of kids into the mindset that guns are something to be feared. That's not funny; that saddens me terribly.

Take the same group of kids to the range for a few days, instead of filling their heads with drug war propaganda, and you'd have a better chance of of keeping them off drugs, off the streets, and out of jail.

At least the kids had the presence of mind to start yelling "put it down!" when he tried assuring them that the long gun was an "empty weapon".

Kevin

[Commander]

The video is not that clear, but it appears that he has the slide locked open when he is holding the gun up talking about it. How professional is he that he didn't look and notice a round in the chamber with it right there in his face? Listening to his dialogue, he was too cocky (no pun intended) and (I think) trying to impress the kids and it bit him in the butt. (foot actually)

[Piney]

Greetings--
It looks like he opened the slide, locked it in place and he might have even asked/showed it to someone off camera that it was cleared (no round in chamber). His apparent mistake was the he left the loaded magazine in place ! When he used the slide lock lever to release the slide, it placed a round in the chamber.

I thought it was interesting that when he picked up the rifle and proceeded to tell the class that it too was unloaded, several in the audience yelled for him to put it down. As previously said, he has now shown his audience that firearms are somehing to be feared *sigh*

I guess I'm sitting on the fence about this kind of presentation. On one hand, I firmly feel that children (and adults) should be taught respect for firearms. I feel fairly certian that at some point, they are going to come across a firearm. Everyone should know what one is and how to conduct themselves safely around someone that has a firearm. They should also know what unsafe behavor around a firearm is as well. A benifit of this knowledge is that they may develop an interest in the sport.

On the other hand, a brief "introduction" to firearms such as this may only serve to give the child (and adult) a false sense of correct/safe knowledge. I can see a situation develop where a child (or adult) who has seen such a presentation would feel comfortable handling a firearm. IMO, a brief presenation is not sufficient information on safe firearm handling and certianly not safe operation. A possible disaster waiting to happen, eh ?

Our kids have known we have firearms around the house for some time. They only recently have come of age where we felt comfortable letting them shoot. We frequently talk about safe handling and safe couduct around a firearm. Even when watching tv or movies, the kids will now comment about how the actor didn't do so and so. One could say they get 24x7 training.

[jbirds1210]

Piney,
I agree that a short presentation is not enough training for the use of a firearm. I believe that we all need a reminder from time to time to make sure that we stay on top of our safety practices.
I disagree that the presentation left the audience with a fear of guns, I beleive it left them with a fear of the agent. Notice that the crowd did not really get restless until the second firearm was being passed to HIM and not when the other person had control of it.
I think it is important to remember that the Glock "forty" did not walk into that room and shoot the guy in his foot....it was a practice of poor safety and an obviously high level of his cocky behavior. Who was he to say that he was the only qualified person in the room.....did he interview the other adult audience participants?