CEBU, Philippines — It is “impossible” for a 9mm Glock pistol to get “accidentally discharged” as its internal security features will not allow it to shoot unless triggered or only if the gun has been modified.
“The gun will never charge if not loaded, and even if it is loaded, if you don’t pull the trigger because of the internal safety mechanisms, the gun will never go off. Mubuto ra na og kabliton,” Karlon Rama, a licensed security professional and member and safety marshal of the Kamagong Gun Club told The FREEMAN.
Rama is also a range officer at the National Range Officers Institute and safety officer at the International Defensive Pistol Association.
The gun was the firearm that reportedly fired accidentally and hit SPO1 Roderick Balili, a member of the Regional Special Operations Group.
Last Friday night, he succumbed to two gunshot wounds in the chest.
Balili took the spotlight after he was pointed as the alleged killer of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agent Von Rian Tecson. Balili was brought to the hospital about the same time as Tecson’s ambush last week.
But the Police Regional Office -7 denied the allegation, saying the timing was but coincidental. Balili was reportedly on covert operation in Pinamungajan town and was hit when the Glock the driver was handing over to him discharged when their vehicle hit a hump on the road.
Safe
Rama said a Glock is considered one of the safest in the world that cops in United States use it a service firearm.
“Safe man kaayo na siya nga gun. It is so safe that it is the most common firearm of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. It is common because police officers consider it safe, users consider it effective,” he said.
According to the Glock website, the Glock Safe Action has three safety mechanisms while the gun is at rest namely; trigger bar, firing pin lug, and firing pin channel block.
The technical precision of the three internal mechanisms will only make it possible to discharge if the shooter would also pull the firing pin attached on the underside of the firing pin.
Moreover, a standard Glock has a trigger pull weight of 3.5 lbs to 5 lbs; unless, the owner would choose to have it modified using the ZEV trigger installed by a gunsmith.
Following the modifications pulling a trigger would significantly lower to 2 lbs, which can help gun enthusiast during gun competitions. Rama said it can be considered a malfunctioning modification if, after the first shot, and during the resetting, the Glock would still shoot.
He also said that a gun which has a defective sear will most definitely malfunction.
Another modification is called a full-auto sear, which makes a semi-automatic gun into automatic, which means that a gun that has been triggered will continue shooting unless released.
Senior Insp. Ricardo Tero, deputy of RSOG, said Balili has mentioned having modified his service firearm to automatic.
“Oo, iya man to gipa-modify into full-auto sear para sa isa ka kablit daghan na,” Tero said.
Negligent handling?
Rama said if the police’s account was really what happened, it would imply that the police officers were negligent in handling the firearm.
He said it is a cardinal rule when handling guns that all guns are loaded. Among the safety acts include controlling muzzle direction at all times, ensuring that the finger is off the trigger and out of the trigger guard; and seeing to it that a firearm is unloaded.
PRO-7 spokesperson Reyman Tolentin said the incident will be an opportunity for cops to undergo retraining on gun handling.
“There will be a re-visitation of our capabilities and we will wait for the investigation on the case,” Tolentin said.
The Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division of PRO-7 will look into possible liability of the one handing over the gun to Balili. They, however, refused to mention name. (FREEMAN)