AFTE Store - MISUSE OF THE UZI SUB-MACHINEGUN SELECTOR

In cases of accidental discharge, the question of wheather the firearm is capable of firing without the trigger being pulled and if the safety features of a firearm are operational is of utmost importance. In cases of design defects, a study of the mechanism must determine if, with proper use, could an accidental discharge occur? In this case an Uzi submachine gun, fully functional, was not operated according to the manufacturer’s instructions (in fact against all logical firearm handling) and a “situation” occurred. This paper will show that when the trigger is pulled with the selector on “auto”, and moving the secletor towards “safe” simultaneously, the Uzi can continue to fire after the releasing of the trigger. Though the shooter admitted pulling the trigger, resulting in a fifteen shot burst, an examination in our firearms laboratory revealed that after the initial trigger pull, the “remaining” automatic fire might have resulted from a “quirk” in the trigger design. Thought it is clear that negligence of the shooter is the root cause, one could not ignore an element of accidental discharge that is coupled to the firearm’s unique design.