The Idiot Jar

I was down in Missouri and being only 20 or so miles from Osage County Guns, one of the largest online retailers of Sig Sauer and Sig products- naturally I had to go see them.

Nice store. Lots of Sigs. Yada yada.

At the check out counter, there was a clear plastic jar half full of mismatched rifle, pistol and shotgun ammo that made me snort out loud.

It was “The Idiot Jar”.

The label said “Ammo from Empty Firearms.”
“Bring a loaded firearm and Ammo will be added to the Idiot Jar.”
“Don’t become an example.”

Yes it was a jar full of live rounds brought inside customer guns, all of whom of course assured the staff “Don’t worry. It’s not loaded.” Yes, well befitting of display in the Idiots Jar.

It made me snort and chuckle to see it- but also made me think of just how often they had to empty that jar and start over. It could be deadly serious.

Firearms Rule #1- Treat Every Gun as if it was Loaded. This can’t be reiterated enough and we all should review the safety rules every time we go near a gun. Familiarity can breed laziness and contempt.

I personally have seen negligent discharges on the range with police, civilian students and military personnel so many times I can’t count them all. If any of them had just used Rule #1 that discharge could have been avoided.

I remember a classic time at a 3 gun match where two squads waiting to shoot (about 20 people) were standing together in a confined space at the bottom of a hill. A knucklehead- with a rifle thankfully pointed skyward- had his rifle go off, deafening and frightening all. He immediately commented in a split second “It wasn’t loaded!” That fell on rather deaf ears, and he was sent home. What is Rule #2 in case you forgot Rule #1? Oh yeah keep yer damn finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot!

I worked the death scene of a military member who fatally shot a fellow Marine in the head with a MK 19 grenade launcher. What made this extra tragic was in the aftermath, investigation the shooter broke no less than seven safety rules- any one of them would have prevented this death. Seven.

I went to another death scene (and subsequent trial) where people were drinking and generally horsing around and a loaded .45 was displayed. A senior member (should have by God known better) asked to see the gun and the owner handed it over along with the epithet “Be careful, it’s loaded.”

The borrower said (and later had to repeat under oath in the criminal court) “No it’s not” and pointed the gun to his side and pulled the trigger to prove to the owner the gun was not loaded. Almost everyone in the room was pretty surprised to hear it go off- especially the guy behind him who immediately bled out from being shot in the chest.

Idiot Jar indeed.