Dave,
I am sorry about your loss, but I feel that most of these accidents are just caused by carelessness. In the safety class we teach, never point the weapon at yourself weather cleaning it or not. Also with my semi-auto, I disassemble it to clean it and the barrel is in my hands, out of the gun. On a rifle, always clear the magazine, and then whatever type it is, make sure the chamber is clear by either puling the bolt a couple of times or jacking the lever a couple of times. Then lock it open to run your cleaning tool through it. Revolvers have been very well covered in the above posts.
Also many of the accidents we have reported at the range from cleaning were after the cleaning was done and the clip or magazine was filled again. For some reason without checking, people pull the trigger and they have jacked a round into the chamber. Most don't seem to really have an explanation as to why they did it. The main safety point stressed is
NEVER POINT THE WEPON AT YOURSELF, ALWAYS POINT IT IN A SAFE DIRECTION DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE AND ALWAYS HANDLE ALL WEAPONS AS IF THEY ARE LOADED.
Ron
