Monday, January 19, 2009

Let's Be Careful Out There

Let's Be Careful Out There

I'm not sure what pistol this guy was carrying that a fall like this would cause an accidental discharge, but consider this a word to the wise:
A Utah man bagged a public toilet at Centerville’s Carl’s Jr. restaurant Tuesday when his gun fell out of its holster and misfired as he was pulling up his pants.

Police said a Salt Lake City man received minor injuries to his arm from flying shards of porcelain when the .40-caliber bullet from his gun shattered the toilet as it hit the tile floor, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The 26-year-old had a concealed-weapons permit but police confiscated the firearm for “safe-keeping” while they reviewed the incident and to give the man time to calm down.

No one else was injured in the incident, however a woman in the adjacent restroom complained of chest pain after being frightened by the shot.

UPDATE: A number of readers point out that the pistol in question, the Kahr P40, has (as nearly all modern pistols do) a firing pin block. Dropping one to cause a discharge is almost impossible, and would require the firing pin block mechanism to be removed or broken. Several commenters at the January 15, 2009 Deseret News suggest that he may have been grabbing at the pistol to prevent it from falling. One of my readers suggests that he may not have had it in a holster, and when it slipped out of his waistband, he might have grabbed at it to catch it--and his finger went inside the triggerguard, firing the pistol.

Holsters are good things. Yes, you can safely carry a pocket pistol in a pocket, but it should be a pocket with a flap on it, so that there's no danger of the pistol slipping out when you sit down. If you are carrying a pocket pistol like that, there should be nothing else in that pocket that could conceivably snag on a hammer, a trigger, or a safety.

To quote from noted philosopher Spiderman: "With great power comes great responsibility." For those who carry guns, that means thinking carefully through the consequences of how you carry a gun.

No comments:

Post a Comment