The reason for stringent safety rules in force-on-force training is that we're pointing guns at others and pulling the trigger; it's no game, it's deadly serious. Having the "wrong gun" leads to trainees being shot - it's happened. Even having training guns and marking ammunition, it's too easy to point guns at each other in "horseplay." 

In an effort to remind folks of things we should have known long ago, it’s time to dust off the “Rules” sign and point to it.

Many years ago, a pair of police officers engaged in a “quick draw” contest against each other with “empty” guns. Reminder, Rule 1 is All Guns are Always Loaded. It’s not a good plan to “quick draw” against people who don’t present an imminent threat of deadly force. And “horseplay” (according to the department in the latest reported shooting) is never okay when guns are involved. 

It appears that people labor under the delusion that this hasn’t happened before, that it could be a “striker-fired, short-trigger travel” problem. The first cases I heard of occurred when the police sidearm was nearly always a double-action revolver – with a long, heavy trigger stroke cocking and releasing the hammer to fire the gun. 

The reason for this bit of editorial is the September 2025 shooting case at Pasadena PD. Strangely, we’re hearing about it now, because the outfit just released the shooting video, taken by a dash cam.

The video depicts an officer, afoot and near a police vehicle in what appears to be in an interior parking garage, draw a pistol and point it in the direction of the dash camera (!). The offending officer reholsters the pistol as a shot is fired in or near the “victim’s” dash camera. The story is that the officer in the car drew a pistol and it “discharged,” sending the round into the other officer’s shoulder.

While the video aspect is a recent innovation, the rest is just another day on the job. Characterized as “a joke” and “horseplay,” it’s neither.

There’s nothing new under the sun and this recent case is one of many. Don’t believe me?

According to a five-second search by an AI search provider, we have these obvious cases –

•  Frankel v. Moody (3rd Cir. 1968): a police officer engaged in mock “quick draw” contests with a store owner; on one visit the officer turned, drew his gun, and it discharged (sic), killing the store owner; the court found the shooting could be within the scope of employment. nevadajustice.org
• Thompson v. United States (D.S. Dak. 1980): a CETA police trainee practicing “fast draw” in a BIA police station shot and killed a person; the court held the United States could be liable under FTCA because the trainee was practicing police firearms techniques as part of training. nevadajustice.org
• News reports and local police-account incidents of officers injured or accidentally shooting colleagues while joking, handling or showing firearms (e.g., dashcam/coverage of a Pasadena officer shot by a colleague during horseplay). NBC News (The case referenced above.)

That’s just low hanging fruit. As we step into our personal “Wayback” machine, there were cases of full-length mirrors, a one-sided snow ball fight when the “victim” got a firing grip on his sidearm and channeled “Rooster Cogburn,” cops with swivel holsters and DA revolvers squaring off to see who could get the first “click” of the “empty” revolver in a locker room quick draw contest – and more. 

From 1993 – and a search I made without AI – there was this story from Florida:

#1. An off-duty police officer put a round through a full-length mirror (ritual suicide) when practicing “quick draw.” He was a deputy assigned to a SWAT team. The following year, now with another agency, he contrived to shoot through the bathroom mirror in his apartment into the apartment of a neighbor. 

#2. In an airport office – an “international airport” – another quick draw artist shot through a wall during “practice.” There were no injuries in either of these cases.

Was it always cops? No, careless and reckless behavior isn’t restricted to a single occupational group, sex, complexion or political preference. It’s everywhere, in all social groups. 

To leave the cops for a moment, (#3) a March 2026 report has a Utah man charged with manslaughter after shooting “an opponent” in a “game of quick draw.”

Standby for a surprise – the offender (the one that shot first) “believed the firearm wasn’t loaded …”

I never saw that coming.

The pair were “doing quick draw drills,” pointing their guns at each other.

Darwin Award, anyone?

That last was for the anti-cop bleating “cops are the only ones who should carry guns because they’re trained” sarcasm. 

Save it for the political lightweights and the “writing on the bathroom wall” forums on the internet. Until very recently in our history, cops handled guns daily – more than any other social group of any size in the population. The more handling, the more familiarity (good), the more familiarity, the more “contempt” (bad). 

If you want some tips on refining the draw, stay tuned. I’ll have a few suggestions.

– Rich Grassi