Unintentional discharge


Unintentional discharge is the event of a firearm discharging at a time not intended by the user. An unintended discharge may be produced by an incompatibility between firearm design and usage, such as the phenomenon of cooking off a round in a closed bolt machine gun, a mechanical malfunction as in the case of slamfire in an automatic weapon, user induced due to training issues or negligence, or a simple accident. The phenomenon has also been defined in the scientific literature as an activation of the trigger mechanism that results in an unplanned discharge that is outside of the firearm’s prescribed use. Where prescribed use refers to departmental policies and laws related to the operation of firearms.

Accidental discharge

An accidental discharge may occur when the trigger of the firearm is deliberately pulled for a purpose other than shooting—dry-fire practice, demonstration, or function testing—but ammunition is unintentionally left in the chamber. Unintentionally leaving a firearm loaded is more likely to occur when the individual handling the gun is poorly trained.
Gun safety rules recognize the above possibilities, and aim to prevent them. The primary firearm safety rule usually listed by any source is a version of "Always keep the gun pointed in safe direction."

Negligent discharge

A negligent discharge is a discharge of a firearm involving culpable carelessness. In judicial and military technical terms, a negligent discharge is a chargeable offence. A number of armed forces automatically consider any accidental discharge to be negligent discharge, under the assumption that a trained soldier has control of his firearm at all times. This is the case in the United States Army, Canadian Army, the Royal Air Force, the British Army and various Police Forces within the United Kingdom.
From an article on a U.S. Air Force website: