Glocks and Drawstrings

Tam links to a story about an Indiana Police chief that had his firearm discharge when a drawstring lock from his garment got lodged in the trigger guard of his Glock when he holstered it. She goes over all the other poor gun handling witnessed in the video. Safety is a habit.

Full disclosure, I used to wear a pullover as a cover garment when carrying that had a drawstring with lock. I had an entanglement of this sort happen to me once, but because I followed #6 of Tam’s lessons learned (don’t force the gun into the holster if something feels wrong), I didn’t have to shoot myself to learn #7 (that strings and triggers don’t mix). I’m also pretty religious about not unholstering the gun at all unless there’s a need to, and my holster is such I can remove it without unholstering the gun.

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9 thoughts on “Glocks and Drawstrings”

  2. Trigger mounted safeties are absolutely unsafe, the draw string incident is just one example of why. I also understand Glock has failed to respond, why?

    1. That’s a matter of opinion. The Glock is perfectly safe if you practice good gun handling skills. There are millions of them out there, and incidents like this are still pretty rare.

    2. “the draw string incident is just one example of why”

      The same thing was happening with thumbbreak holsters and traditional double-action pistols and revolvers before Gaston Glock ever made his first curtain rod.

      1. I suspect most long-time cops will tell you they’ve seen far more NDs with Glocks than they had with revolvers.

        Of course its still not the gun’s fault. They’re all equally safe if handled properly.

        1. RP — but some guns simply require more careful handling under certain circumstances to be “equally safe”.

          You’re more likely to negligently shoot a suspect with a SA gun like a 1911 or cocked revolver than you are if you have a longer, heavier trigger pull (longer is more important than heavier, apparantly). Which is why you’re not supposed to thumb cock a revolver, NYPD went to DAO revolvers before they went to Glocks, and police officers rarely carry 1911s on patrol. Yes, the risk can be handled by “proper handling”, but one has a higher risk than the other — and people still make mistakes.

          You’re more likely to have an ND when cleaning a gun that requires you to pull the trigger before you can disassemble it than one that does not. Yes, the risk can be handled by “proper handling”, but one has a higher risk than the other — and people still make mistakes.

          You’re more likely to injure yourself loading an M1 Garand than a revolver. Yes, the risk can be handled by “proper handling”, but one has a higher risk than the other — and people still make mistakes.

          Not saying that Glocks are bad — just that Glocks (and similar designs that share its light, short trigger with no external safety other than “don’t pull the trigger”) are more susceptible to this sort of screw up than many other designs.

          On the other hand, Glocks are far less likely to get you killed your gun is empty than a Model 10 is. Life is about tradeoffs.

    1. Loops if at all possible.

      There are times and places where a clip may be a better choice — like trying to conceal in a “tuckable” holster as much as possible — are called for. But by and large, you want a good sturdy belt and good sturdy loops around said belt, to make sure the gun stays put.

      I prefer loops that have a sturdy snap, so I don’t necessarily have to unthread my belt to take the holster off.

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