Scene of the crime, Upper West Side, New York City (courtesy nypost.com)

Some pro-gun folk reckon stories of police officers’ negligent discharges, piss-poor shooting and over-zealous lead dispensation help the pro-gun cause. These reports supposedly undermine the antis’ argument that cops are the only ones qualified to keep and bear arms (openly no less). I’m not buying it. Any time any good guy with a gun does something stupid with a gun it gives credence to the theory that GUNS ARE DANGEROUS! Way too dangerous for untrained civilians. It’s not true, of course, but there it is. And here it is [via nypost.com]. . .

A drunk off-duty state narc turned the Upper West Side into a shooting gallery Friday night, blasting a woman and her boyfriend in a struggle over his gun after the three spent a boozy night together in a bar, police sources said.

The drug cop had handed his firearm to the 31-year-old woman when she asked to hold the weapon as they all stood on West 82nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue — then tried to grab it back at about 9 p.m., the sources said.

Hey baby, hold my gun while I . . . what? More like: I’ve never held a gun before. You want to hold mine? Your what? My gun. Sure! Am I holding it right? Don’t wave that around. What’s the matter, think I’m going to shoot you? Give it back. You scared of me? Don’t point it at me! Followed by lunge-bang.

The gun went off as the cop and the woman fought over it, the sources said.

The the bullet ricocheted off the street.

First it struck her foot, then slammed into her 42-year-old boyfriend’s shin.

The boyfriend limped after the fleeing cop up Amsterdam until the narc spun around at 83rd Street and tried to shoot him — but his gun misfired, according to the source.

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The gun “went off.” Then the unnamed, unidentified drunk cop in question took off, but couldn’t outrun a limping, presumably unarmed (hey, it’s New York) boyfriend. So he “spins around” (without falling) and pulls the trigger on his wounded pursuer. The gun “misfires.”

What part of that seems credible? The “unnamed, unidentified” bit. And this “’We heard like a pop first, and then we saw cops outside with their guns drawn,’ said Carolyn Frankel, who was in a local pub when the shots rang out.” In other words, a bunch of drunk cops (assuming) with guns drawn ran outside of a bar to arrest a drunk cop with a “defective” gun in his hand.

This sort of gunplay does nothing to help New Yorkers reclaim their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. The only way it could be a positive development: if the New York State Police publicly ID’ed the drunken narc and fired him (without a pension or health care benefits). With great power comes great responsibility, for all of us.

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47 COMMENTS

  2. ‘The only way it could be a positive development: if the New York State Police publicly ID’ed the drunken narc and fired him (without a pension or health care benefits).’

    Nah, they’re not going to risk getting in trouble with the union. They’ll give him a month of paid leave instead.

      • I never said he wouldn’t get arrested and charged by another department, just that he wouldn’t be fired. I suppose if he’s actually incarcerated they might, but the union will probably make a stink about it.

      • The Post article did not identify him as a NYS Trooper. They identified him as a “state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agent,” whatever that is. Maybe that’s the state agency that plants pot on minorities – who knows?

  3. “WABC-TV said the officer involved was Victor Zambrano, 49, of New York City, a member of the New York State Bureau of Narcotics. He is being charged with criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and two counts of assault, the station said.”

    What an idiot!. Every police department I know of has policies to prevent this stuff. They shouldn’t have to but idiots are among us.

    • Everyone with a scintilla of wisdom has the same policy: don’t handle guns when you are hammered. If you want to get lit, secure your guns first. Ditto with the car keys.

    • “He is being charged with criminal possession of a weapon …”

      And the “criminal possession” would include the man possessing a firearm with more than 7 cartridges in violation of the New York Safe Act, correct? After all, he was not a law enforcement officer acting in official capacity. Can I have an Amen?!?!?!

    • And if a civilian had performed this outstanding act of idiocy in NY, he would have been charged with attempted murder in addition to the other charges.

    • What is it with NY cops? From a FOX News story 9/29/2013: “An undercover detective who investigators said was off duty when he was recorded on video pounding on an SUV as a biker rally spiraled into violence was arrested late Tuesday. Wojciech Braszczok [10-yr veteran of the NYC cops] surrendered to face riot and criminal mischief charges, New York Police Department spokesman John McCarthy said. … Investigators discovered video evidence showing him punching an already damaged back window, then twice kicking the side of the SUV before leaving the scene, according to two people familiar with the case. The arrest added to the complexities of the Sept. 29 episode, which authorities say began with a reckless motorcycle group ride on a Manhattan highway and ended with one motorcyclist run over and the driver dragged from his SUV and beaten on a street. Six people have been arrested. Four bikers have been criminally charged.”

      Motto of the NYC cops: “Laws? We don’ got to obey no steenkin’ laws!”

      • That was the most obvious and clearly videotaped example of “should have been a defensive gun use” I’ve ever seen. When that guy busted the driver’s window, he should have caught a .45 hollowpoint in the face.

      • Motto of the NYC cops: “Laws? We don’ got to obey no steenkin’ laws!”

        That was under the reign of then-Police Commish Ray Kelly, who is now heading the CIA. Perfect fit there.

  4. Fire him and send the case through the legal system, like all the other serfs in NYC would have to endure for the same actions.

  5. “Witnesses say the man with the bowl haircut repeatedly poked the mentally ill obese victim in the eyes. When their friend, described as a lanky jewish man with long, frazzled hair, tried to stop the argument, the assailant distracted him with a series of quick hand movements, then brutally pinched his nose.”

  6. Obviously the cop broke NY law by handing the pistol to the woman and she broke NY law egregiously by taking control of the pistol, not to mention the pistol had rounds in excess of that which is legal for non-LEO possession.

    But then again, with drunk NY cops carrying guns as they stagger out at closing time, handing guns out for show-and-tell, shooting streetlights out on City Island and so forth, the story is of little news value, any more than a report that the sun came up this morning.

    Knowing NY city folks, their typical reaction will be “if cops can behave that recklessly, just imagine what non-sworn citizens would be doing!” Makes no sense, but an opinion that never gets an empirical test can fester in the mind unchallenged, and, through other-affirming mutual reinforcement in conversation with similarly ignorant acquaintances, can come to be taken as truth. They simply can’t imagine that law-abiding CCW types share none of the feeling of “beyond the law” that both cops and gang-bangers feel, each for different reasons.

    • Well said, sir. In statist big cities, cops feel above the law, gangbangers don’t give a sh!t about the law, and John Q. Taxpayer gets screwed by the law.

  7. I dunno, RF, if the issue is statism and dependence on the nanny state vs. individual freedom and responsibility as much as it is guns per se, maybe it can be helpful to show that such dependence is misplaced.

    • But he was a real choir boy! Just look at the end of the article:

      A 2008 report on misconduct within the narcotics bureau said Zambrano was issued 11 summonses worth $1,015 for improper parking of his vehicle with state-issued placards.

      According to the state Inspector General probe, Zambrano’s tickets were unpaid when the report was issued even though the IG informed him of the outstanding summonses.

  8. How drunk do you have to be to hand a loaded weapon to another drunk? Sounds to me like the woman was trying to scam the cop out of his gun.

  9. The article states the cop’s name is Victor Zambrano Jr., 49. He’s been charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and reckless endangerment. A 2008 report on misconduct within the narcotics bureau said Zambrano had 11 unpaid summonses worth $1,015 for improper parking of his vehicle with state-issued placards.

  11. Noting to see here, move along now . . . .

    “This sort of gunplay does nothing to help New Yorkers reclaim their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.”

    But it does say something about the kinds of people who become NY narc cops. What an inspiring example of professionalism.

  12. Just thinking, after Sammy’s post–in Hollywood-world, Officer Z would be about to bust a huge drug ring implicating (unknown to him) extremely powerful political figures. The female and her “boyfriend” would not be drunk at all, they would be assassins hired to take him out before he stumbles onto the big names. But then, in H-wood, the gun wouldn’t have misfired I guess…

  14. Hey, what about the attempted murder bit, when the narc turn around and TRIED TO DELIBERATELY SHOOT the dude he already shot by accident? And how did that come out? Did the cop fess up? Witnesses? How does he get away with trying to cap his friend? And can anyone identify the make and model of this “misfired” gun?

  15. Gun probably ‘misfired’ from being out of battery. Sounds like they really were struggling over it when it fired. Guess that’s what happens when you do such stupid, stupid things.

    • More likely the struggle prevented the gun from cycling when it was fired, leaving a fired casing in the chamber.

  16. Off topic a little, but curious, am I the only one who leaves the gun at home if my intention is to get plastered? Always seemed to me alcohol and guns don’t mix.

    • lol the MOST responsible thing to do is avail yourself of the right to drink alcohol in the comfort and privacy of your own home… but then you have a “drinking problem.” 🙂

  17. Ridiculous, RF. We must expose the anti lie at every turn. They believe in the punitive priesthood. We expose the lie.

  18. The only truth to this story is that the officer was drunk and people got shot. I find everything else almost impossible to believe.

  19. He should have whipped out his small caliber weapon, then worst case he would have only had to pay child support.

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