[curiousgeorge]

Hi. I have a question regarding hand gun hammers. I don't know a whole lot about guns. I've seen in old west movies where cowboys would slap the hammer repeatedly rather than pulling the trigger. And recently I heard about a police officer that accidently shot themselves when the hammer of their gun hit their holster. I believe the weapon was a revolver, but I'm not positive on that.

So my question is... in handguns can a handgun fire if the hammer is struck without having to pull the trigger? A cop I know says "that can never happen. Guns don't fire unless you pull the trigger". I'm not sure he's quite right about that. But he swears up and down that it is an impossibility. So I thought I'd ask unbiased folks what they think.

Is it a possibility that as you're putting a handgun into your holster, that you can push the gun down and the edge of the holster catch the hammer and when you let go of it (thereby releasing pressure) that the hammer slam back down and fire the weapon?

[ClamHammer]

When I saw the post "A question about the hammer" I thought you had a question about me....lol.

[Big Dog]

The old westerns show the gunslinger "fanning" the hammer - generally very showy but not conducive to accuracy! With the triger held back, the other hand simply sweeps over the gun, pulling the hammer back and then releasing it to swing forward again - "BANG!"
Some pump shotguns can do the same, holding the trigger down and firing on each stroke of the pump.
Many revolvers and pistols can fire if dropped in such a manner the hammer (down on a loaded chamber) is able to hit the firing pin and fire the gun.

But, in steps Mr. Gun Safety Guy, and has them redesigned to help prevent such activities.
Modern gadgets like the "Transfer Bar Safety" and various firing pin safeties are intended to make this less possible.
As far as tripping the hammer putting the gun into the holster - no, not enough travel in most cases. Some Glock accidents have happened when the owner holsters the pistol with his finger IN the trigger guard - a No-no!

Hope all this helps . . .

[Iron_Colonel]

Yes, it is possible. I have not witnessed it, but I do happen to know a LEF guy who has shot himself twice in the hand by the means of the hammer striking the firing pin with enough force to discharge the loaded weapon.

He had a compact 1911 style pistol (I am pretty sure, he showed it to me once, I thought it was a Colt, but I forget. At any rate whatever gun it was, it did not have the hammer safety in place on it. He was holding a small holster and inserted the gun, with the gun pointing right into his left hand. Then the hammer caught on something and it discharged. His hand is half crippled, but he can still manage to qualify. He has a pretty gnarly scar. He said the bullet squeezed right through some tendons, and didn't ruin his hand enough that he can't use it.

But no matter what gun it is, care should be taken if one is going to put a loaded gun into a holster. It is possible, but it depends on what kind of gun it is. As the other person commented about transfer bars and hammer safety, it just depends on the gun.