From the link, quoting the Defense Minister-
“It was near him in his vicinity and he made some kind of movement which suggests that it discharged.”
WHAT?!?
Dude… Nice gov’t you’ve got there. Very informed. Not as lame as mine, of course, but hell, we always want to be the best at something!
Not to mention that the Hi-Power has a magazine disconnect, so he apparently had a magazine in the gun, and it couldn’t have merely been forgetting to clear the chamber. And since it is single action, it would have needed to be cocked as well.
Glock Handguns are readily and legally available in all States of Australia, provided you have a Handgun Licence and a Permit To Acquire (neither of which are especially hard to get, as long as you’ve been behaving yourself).
The barrel has to be at least 120mm long (hence the Glock 17A), but aside from that, Glock handguns are VERY popular here (most pistol shooters with a “New” 9mm pistol tend to have either a Glock 17A or a Beretta M92), and most of the Police Services use them.
Personally, I can’t stand Glock handguns (they’re really not that great), but there are plenty of people who can’t understand why I’d want to shoot a century old revolver, either. Each to their own, in other words…
They’ve now officially withdrawn the claim that it happened while cleaning the gun. The statements now are it was “near him in his vicinity”, whatever that means, “he made some kind of movemement which suggests it discharged” (I kinda suspect the BANG and the hole in the head also suggest it discharged, but whatever) and “there was obviously a live round in it” (ya think?).
A question to the experienced: how far could the recoil have sent the gun if he did shoot himself, and wasn’t holding it particularly tightly?
I wouldn’t imagine it would go very far; the Browning Hi-Power is a pretty heavy gun, and 9mm is not a particularly powerful cartridge.
I don’t have the time or the inclination right now, but the relevant figures (for US manufactur M882 NATO ammunition–I don’t immagine Australian specs are much different) are a 880 gram firearm firing a 7.26g (112 grain) bullet at 385 m/sec, if anyone feels like doing the calculations.
[QUOTE=Hirundo82]
I wouldn’t imagine it would go very far; the Browning Hi-Power is a pretty heavy gun, and 9mm is not a particularly powerful cartridge.
QUOTE]
This is what I would say, too. Maybe a foot or two at most, and most of that would be from bouncing when it hit the floor…
Autopsy finds no powder burns on him, so it was not suicide. Remaining possibilities are:
1/ guys dicking around
2/ murder
3/ an incredibly unlucky accident
Keep in mind that weapons were to be unloaded inside the compound at all times, supposedly having the magazine removed and then the gun discharged into the sandy ground nearby. So either tis procedure was not followed or the gun was deliberately loaded again afterwards.
There’s something very suspicious about this whole situation, and it’s interesting to hear people at work (who know nothing about guns) wondering what really happened…
Indeed there is.
But I truly doubt the coronial inquest will reveal anything. I’m going for cover-up here, by both army and defence department personnel.
The family are insisting that he wouldn’t have accidently shot himself because he’s handled guns his whole life and knew all about safe handling, etc. They are also denying that his wife was having an affair. The news tonight says he was standing, typing on a laptop computer that was on the top bunk when the gun went off. Two other soldiers were earlier reported to have been in the room at the time of the incident, then they story was that he was alone, now we’re getting a new version that says two other soldiers had been in with him shortly before and last saw him standing up operating the laptop but weren’t in the room when the gun discharged. Oh, and the family is now denying that he was reading a “distressing email” from his wife at the time of his death. Link for any of those interested.
I am going to ask my brother about this- I was under the impression that his weapon was loaded all the time… I mean, these guys aren’t exactly in Brisbane, right?
Nowhere near that nasty, just a secured compound in Iraq.
News reports have consistently emphasized that protocol was that no loaded guns be allowed in the secure area.
I thought the whole story was dodgy from the beginning. What kind of idiot thinks that they can cover up what really happened there. It will come out sooner or later
Not necessarily.