I don’t own a gun, and I’ve never fired a gun. On TV, when someone shoots someone, they often drop the gun on the sidewalk or street - often holding the gun out at elbow or shoulder height and just dropping it. It seems like this would be dangerous, yet in all the shows I’ve watched it never fires after hitting the ground. Is it really not dangerous to drop a gun onto a hard surface?
There are several features to prevent it from going off. Sometimes there is a recall for it, so when it does happen the company fixes them so they will be safer.
Can someone explain exactly how a gun would go off when dropped? Does this happen when the gun is already cocked, and dropping it somehow dislodges the hammer? I don’t know a lot about handguns, but it would seem that would be the only mechanism of setting off a rifle, as all but one of mine have springs to keep the firing pin from accidently hitting the cartridge unless stuck with force.
It has a lot to do with the design, age and condition of the particular firearm. There are a large number and type of built-in safety devices in modern (approx. post-1900) firearms and most will have more than one type ex. a manual one that must be intentionally disengaged, a hammer or firing pin block that only allows the weapon to fire when the trigger is pulled and a grip safety that is depressed by the hand holding the pistol.
Like any mechanical system, these can fail. Age and poor maintenance can increase the likelihood of failure, but this is just about the only case where TV is at all accurate regarding firearms. They’re actually pretty well designed to not go off unless someone want’s them to.