Human Factors Issues in Handgun Safety and Forensics (PDF)

Written by two certified human factors/ergonomics professionals and a criminalist and firearms expert, all of whom have testified as expert witnesses, Human Factors in Handgun Safety and Forensics draws on their formidable collective knowledge and professional experience to present the first scientifically based volume in the field. This seminal work identifies numerous human factors in handgun design, training, and related human behavior in unintentional and inadvertent shooting incidents. The book provides an overview of handgun use in general but focuses on firearm handling in unintentional and inadvertent shootings. It describes the discipline of human factors and ergonomics and includes available statistics on shootings, examines their limitations, and reviews actual cases to determine human causes in unintentional and inadvertent shootings. It provides a history of firearms and details the components and mechanics of handguns and ammunition to reveal safety problems in current designs. It explains the fundamentals of shooting and how violation of those principles can result in unintentional or inadvertent shootings. The authors stress the importance of firearms safety training. They evaluate various safety training programs (including those from the National Rifle Association), investigate inconsistencies in basic safety rules, and make suggestions to improve safety training. The importance of instructor training is also emphasized. The book concludes with a summary and application of the previous topics to forensic and investigative settings and gives advice for human factors/ergonomics professionals as expert witnesses. The book comes with an accompanying DVD with hundreds of color photos to support the topics covered in the text.