Florida Officer’s Key Ring Causes AR-15 To Accidentally Discharge

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2013, file photo, a custom made semi-automatic hunting rifle with a detachable magazine is displayed at TDS Guns in Rocklin, Calif. One of the new gun control laws taking effect Jan. 1, 2014, ... FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2013, file photo, a custom made semi-automatic hunting rifle with a detachable magazine is displayed at TDS Guns in Rocklin, Calif. One of the new gun control laws taking effect Jan. 1, 2014, will ban kits that allow people to turn regular ammunition magazines into high-capacity magazines. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) MORE LESS

A police officer’s AR-15 rifle accidentally discharged in Hillsborough County, Fla. on Tuesday while he was on a call, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

A police investigation into the incident determined that Officer Timothy Higgins’s rifle went off due to a key ring attached to his belt, according to the News-Journal. The bullet was lodged in the rifle’s trigger guard, and no injuries were reported.

The report on the accidental discharge is not final, but Edgewater police Capt. Joe Mahoney said he was fairly certain that the key ring was to blame.

Officers are now prohibited from wearing key rings on their belts, Mahoney told the News-Journal.

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  1. Safety off? Check
    Round in the chamber? Check
    OK. Let’s roll.

  2. Okay, will somebody explain how a key ring can disengage the safety, then pull the trigger? Oh, and the round ends up in the trigger guard?

  3. The bullet was lodged in the rifle’s trigger guard

    Huh?

  4. No more keys, no more belts, no more rings, no more pants. From now on all officers will be naked except for tight-fitting long underwear in the winter months. Anything that might catch on a trigger is banned.
    Now let us pray for the trigger in this incident.
    Lord, we don’t understand why you would allow our guns to come under scrutiny like this, but we pray that it never happens again.
    In firearms’ name, amen.

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