Holsters, Lights, and Accidental Discharges

Last month there were two accidental discharges by police officers at schools (CA Kid Fires Officer’s Gun while in holster, and VA Officer’s Gun goes off).  Both had students put their fingers on the trigger while their gun was in the holstered.  In CA it was SWAT Cop doing a demo of gear to students.  I’m guessing he had a light on his weapon.  The other I couldn’t find info on whether there was a light or not.  Since this seemed to be a rash in the media and one department is “looking at the holsters” they use.  I dug up a couple holsters I use.  I have a Safariland ALS, one for a light mounted on my Glock 19 and one that doesn’t use a light.  I have the same set in a pair of White Dog Holsters.

I’ve always noticed that the lights are wider then the gun so the holster top has to be loser with the light.  This creates more space between the trigger guard and the holster.

Using a key (I don’t have little fingers) I was able to get the key on the trigger and discharge the weapon in both light holsters.

Using the Glock made it a little more difficult because I had to reach in a grab the safety on the trigger, which took a little more work.  If the trigger didn’t have the Glock Safe Action trigger I think it would be even easier to discharge the weapon while in the holster.

Using my little finger and my wife’s little finger (because she has much smaller hands them me) we could both get our fingers into the Safariland ALS holster and discharge the weapon.  She could go from the outside and get her finger into the holster and pull the trigger.  I could work my finger into the inside where there much more room and pull the trigger.

The White Dog Holster had less room between the holster and the trigger guard.  I was not able (nor my wife) to get a finger in there to pull the trigger, but a key worked surprisingly easily.

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Final Notes:  I still carry a weapon mounted light on my handgun and will continue to do so and will also use the same holsters.  But I will be more careful about what goes around my holstered gun.  Before this test I always believed that a holstered gun was a safe gun because there was no way to discharge the weapon without removing it from the holster.  If you carry a light on your handgun I suggest you test this and know what can and cannot discharge your weapon while it’s in the holster.

Stay Safe,

Ben

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