the quality of French Police Marksmen!

[30Three]

You may have seen in yesterday's news that a French Police marksmen accidentally discharged his rifle during the President Francois Hollande's speech.
Apparently he decided to change position mid speech and ended up shooting two people with one accidental discharge! (both injured, one in the thigh and the other in the calf) Apparently the safety was off
It seem's to me that there was a lack of basic " Safety lesson 1" don't walk around with a loaded rifle.
Doesn't say much for the quality of training

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[CINDERS]

More so why have you got your finger through the trigger guard if they were getting up from the prone position its not as if they were in a war zone......or picking the rifle up for that matter

[browningautorifle]

a lack of basic " Safety lesson 1" don't walk around with a loaded rifle

Absolutely wrong. If you're a civilian perhaps an unloaded rifle is fine but when in a paramilitary situation the rifle must be loaded and ready for use at an instant's notice. Yes, the time it takes to cock it can mean the difference between life and death. As pointed out, keep your booger picker off the trigger and fire control is set to safe. Hand should be in the operating position...

[30Three]

It's true I'm am not ex military. But I was wondering why he had to move position during the time the President was actually speaking. I would expect the area to have been inspected and the best vantage points chosen prior to the VIP arriving. There is always more than one marksman on hand so if you absolutely have to move; it would be easy to contact your colleagues and inform them to watch your designated area while you move.
I agree that in a battle situation it would be different. But this is a protection assignment; sure you have to be ready; but it does seem unproffessional to me.

[CINDERS]

There would not be just one sniper protecting the president there would be a cell with a cell leader the point is it did discharge why the investigation will find the cause and the sniper may now have 2 ar*s holes the second being torn by his cell leader.
Things happen they have a fairly stressful job and sometimes things just go south thank goodness no one was killed imagine how the sniper would have felt then...... Hope they are all ok.

[30Three]

Apparently the injured got a visit from the President. Bet that made their day

[Flying10uk]

We were taught in the Army Cadets that a firearm should always be pointing in a safe direction, regardless of whether or not you think that it is loaded, and that the only time that a firearm should be pointed at a person is if you intend to kill that person.

[Sentryduty]

This may not be a matter of pointing, but a failure of muzzle and trigger control while moving.

While not pointing in civilian use is a good rule, in military use pointing is part of the use of a weapon.

Every vehicle that approaches a checkpoint in a hot zone has at least one MG trained on it for the duration of the visit.

And agreed with BAR, an unchambered weapon is like having no weapon at all when events unfold.

[Flying10uk]

Wasn't there a period during the 1970s/early 80s when soldiers on guard duty outside bases on the U.K. mainland were not permitted to have either magazines or loaded magazines attached to their weapon?

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

France. Perhaps it was a MAS 36 (no saftey).