Florida Man Shot by Cop With His Own Gun Says His Career Is Over

A Florida man experienced the shock of his life when he was accidentally shot with his own gun by a police officer during a traffic stop ... and now he's telling TMZ how profoundly this agonizing experience has complicated his career.

Jason Arrington tells us he blacked out when Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Mindy Cardwell accidentally pulled the trigger as she tried to remove his gun from his waistband ... sending a bullet through his right hip area, exiting near his kneecap. He says his first thought was he would die right then and there.

BTW, he was legally carrying the gun -- a Glock .45 semiautomatic pistol -- which he had let Officer Shaun Lowry know about early on in the December stop, for allegedly running a red light. For everyone's safety, Lowry asked him to step out of the car ... which is when things quickly went south.

The wound gets even deeper -- Arrington says Cardwell never apologized to him ... he says she did nothing but anxiously walk in circles while he was gushing blood due to her negligence. Other officers applied a tourniquet before paramedics arrived.

To make things even worse ... Arrington -- a crane operator -- tells us his job performance has suffered since the injury, and his plans of becoming a merchant seaman have been completely squashed. He was super close to taking the next step in his career and even passed the written test. Now ... he predicts his physical state will keep him off that job path forever.

Arrington is currently going to physical therapy to help his body heal ... and psychotherapy to help with the trauma sustained from this wild incident.

Arrington and his attorneys are working on a lawsuit now. Attorney Kay Harper Williams did not specify a dollar amount, but she says they will plead the jurisdictional threshold to account for all of Arrington's permanent injuries, his recovery, and his lost future earning capacity.

As for Officer Cardwell ... she was slapped with a charge of incompetence and proceedings have begun to formally boot her from the sheriff's office. The state will not be going after her for criminal charges, Harper Williams confirms to us.