Im a leader that believes in standardized training based on the regulatory requirement that i sign a memorandum before deploying that i personally certify my Soldiers were trained on all of their equipment. And if some jackass has a nd with his persoanally owned g19 and injures another Soldier im profesionally.....and yes morally responsible because I allowd the soldier to use equipment and was not trained on it propey. Thats command respinsibility. The first question asked after an accident in the Army is "who certified the that the Soldier was trained on that equipment....second question is "where is the copy of the current risk assesmet"? I dont make these regs.....but i do follow them.
Oh yeah not to mention.....personally owned fire arms are prohibited by regulation anywAy in line units.
Two Marines (that I know of) in my company had shot themselves with personally owned weapons accidentally prior to our deployment (years prior, not to get out of deploying) One took birdshot to the foot when the action was stuck on a side by side shotgun, and another had shot himself in the quad with a "new custom .45" that had a "match trigger." Are there training issues that could have prevented this... sure, and they were trained and should have known better... but unfamiliarity and lack of specific training on the various firearms served as increased risk factors.
Firearms are dangerous. We have weapons, everyone knows their function and capability, everyone is trained on them or doesn't use them, and that serves as another layer of protection for the individual, the unit, and the mission. People aren't infallible, you work to mitigate risk. Likewise, reliability and familiarity, or lack thereof, can also get people killed in combat.
Mike