Argentine vice president survives assassination attempt when gun jams

[subsonic]

Question: I'm no expert on pistol malfunctions, but how does a semiautomatic pistol "jam" firing the first round?

Seems to me that "click and no bang" possibilities are 1: empty chamber, 2: light primer strike or similar misfire, 3: bad load. Am I missing something? But it's journalists we are talking about here.

Argentine vice president survives assassination attempt when gun jams

Vice President Cristina Fernández was unharmed after a gunman’s weapon failed to fire as he tried to shoot her at close range outside her home, the country’s leader said.

www.nbcnews.com

Argentina’s vice president survived an assassination attempt late Thursday after a gunman’s weapon jammed as he tried to shoot her at close range outside her home, the country's leader said.

Vice President Cristina Fernández was unharmed in the incident, which has rocked the South American nation already racked by turmoil due to spiraling inflation and her trial on corruption charges she denies.

The man attempted to kill the vice president as she was surrounded by large crowds of supporters outside her Buenos Aires residence around 9 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET) Thursday, according to a statement by President Alberto Fernández.

Video footage of the incident verified by NBC News shows the vice president greeting boisterous supporters near a white vehicle when a hand appears from the crowd holding a black pistol. The hand appears to pull the trigger inches from her face and a click is heard, but no shot rings out. Members of the crowd then appear to turn and overpower the gunman.



The gun was loaded with five bullets, according to the president. “A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” he said in a national broadcast following the incident.

 

[Blimey]

I haven't seen video but you'd be surprised about the jamming--I have seen multiple videos of pistols "jamming". Generally it's some thug with one who has no idea what he was doing trying to mug somebody and his gun misfires. I think there was an example of recently when that marine in a corner store disarmed somebody. He said the gun jammed. In practice was it racked, was the bullet good who knows, but a lot of these guys are using either poorly maintained equipment or have no idea how to use it (the latter isn't an equipment malfunction but probably is sometimes evidence of a "jam").

 

[subsonic]

I haven't seen video but you'd be surprised about the jamming--I have seen multiple videos of pistols "jamming". Generally it's some thug with one who has no idea what he was doing trying to mug somebody and his gun misfires. I think there was an example of recently when that marine in a corner store disarmed somebody. He said the gun jammed. In practice was it racked, was the bullet good who knows, but a lot of these guys are using either poorly maintained equipment or have no idea how to use it (the latter isn't an equipment malfunction but probably is sometimes evidence of a "jam").

Ok, but if the slide is forward and there is, a) a round in the chamber, or b) no round in the chamber, how is the pistol "jammed"?

I'm trying to learn here. I think it's jammed in the same sense that it's fully semiautomatic with 5 bullets in the clip, but maybe I'm being pedantic in thinking this should be called a "misfire" not a "jam."

Edit: "was the bullet good"? that's kind of embarrassing.

 

[FrankenCub]

Can't tell from the video what kind of gun it is but maybe something as simple as the safety was on.

 

[subsonic]

Can't tell from the video what kind of gun it is but maybe something as simple as the safety was on.

I wouldn't call that a jam either, but there wouldn't be a "click" if the safety was on with any safety I'm aware of. I'm guessing shitty ammo and/or light primer strike, or the idiot forgot to chamber a round. Either way the president is extremely lucky here.

Could have been one of them bad bullets too as Blimey suggested.

 

[Grimscale]

I have seen semi-auto pistols where the slide appears to be forward, but is not quite all the way and the pistol will not fire.

Usually a result of lack of cleaning or an improperly reloaded round such that the case is slightly large.

 

[FrankenCub]

I wouldn't call that a jam either, but there wouldn't be a "click" if the safety was on with any safety I'm aware of. I'm guessing shitty ammo and/or light primer strike, or the idiot forgot to chamber a round. Either way the president is extremely lucky here.

Could have been one of them bad bullets too as Blimey suggested.

Could be, I didn't hear a click.

 

[FRANKIE]

Loaded with 5 rounds of .38 caliber ammunition?

 

[spb1122]

I think you're giving the media too much credit.
I suspect that to any person with little to no knowledge about guns, the word "jam" just means it didn't fire when they pulled the trigger.

You're analyzing it in it's correct definition, and of course you are probably right; not a "jam", the alleged misfire was caused by something else.

 

[dwa12479]

Looks like just a FTF. I wouldn't read too much into the wording of the article. Journalists are clueless on gun terms.

 

[Uzi]

I have seen semi-auto pistols where the slide appears to be forward, but is not quite all the way and the pistol will not fire.

Usually a result of lack of cleaning or an improperly reloaded round such that the case is slightly large.

That's when the slide is "out of battery". The first round chambered in a firearm after the slide is racked that's been sitting for a period of time or for any other reason like you mentioned can very easily not chamber rounds until the slide is worked for a while. Doesn't matter what handgun or how new or old it is. Typically it's not a first round chambered, but it has happened to me enough times with brand new glocks and 1911's. It's a very good thing that they don't fire in that instance.

 

[vago]

the vice president is a correct person, she has several causes, the prosecution for one of the causes is requesting a sentence of 12 years
It's all a political show, a pistol, caliber 32 with 5 bullets. in the magazine and none in the barrel?

 

[spat]

Ok, but if the slide is forward and there is, a) a round in the chamber, or b) no round in the chamber, how is the pistol "jammed"?

I'm trying to learn here. I think it's jammed in the same sense that it's fully semiautomatic with 5 bullets in the clip, but maybe I'm being pedantic in thinking this should be called a "misfire" not a "jam."

Edit: "was the bullet good"? that's kind of embarrassing.

Was it even the right bullet ?

Drop a .380 in a 9mm and see how that works forbyou..for you.

 

[vago]

fake news, only 5 rounds in the mag, no round in the chamber
pistol bersa made in argentina single action 7.65 mm

 

[vago]

The reconstruction of the facts
Attack on Cristina Kirchner: an official story with a false start, unresolved doubts and a self-deleting cell phone
In the Bersa pistol found by militants in the street after the attack, the fingerprints of Fernando Sabag Montiel have not been found so far.
The story of the attack against Cristina Kirchner is false. The event occurred and there is no doubt about that crucial issue. Both statements do not contradict each other. For unknown reasons, the political authorities K and the national security forces erred, lied on purpose, or were confused about how this plot under judicial investigation

Atentado a Cristina Kirchner: un relato oficial con inicio falso, dudas no resueltas y un celular con autoborrado

En la pistola Bersa encontrada por militantes en la calle tras el ataque no fueron halladas hasta ahora las huellas dactilares de Fernando Sabag Montiel.

www.clarin.com

All Fake News

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

38 super would make sense in Argentina. Failure to fire is what happened. A jam to me is what happens after the gun has already fired at least once. IE stovepipe, failure to eject, failure to feed. Perhaps the gun was actually packed with jam?