Another "Booger-hook on the Bang Switch" Malfunction

[stormbringerr]

lock it up before children come over sheeeees

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P7fanatic]

Did the Uncle not know she was coming over, unload it before she gets there; or better yet don't store your gun under the couch.

I hope the girl didn't suffer.

How about just using common sense.
Don't unload a gun while it is pointed towards someones face.
Okay, maybe it's not so common.
How sad.

[HavOkSIS]

Another senseless death.

What is so hard about "Don't point at something you don't wish to destroy..and DON'T PULL THE <insert profanity> TRIGGER UNLESS YOU INTEND TO DESTROY SOMETHING!?"

Agreed, I don't see that could happen!! My finger is not in the guard unless it's getting ready to blast.

[SevenSix9ine]

That's why I don't UNLOAD my gun! but then again it doesn't leave my hip...


-Alex

[Fitch]

My biggest concern when I was considering whether to carry or not was causing a negligant discharge (ND). It still is. I practice regularely, I'm completely familiar with my carry pieces. I pay attention, I focus on what I'm doing every time I touch the gun. That said, my concern is based on the fact that if you do something long enough and often enough, sooner or later you will make a slip of some sort. It doesn't have to result in an ND, but it can.

It can happen to anybody, regardless of time and experience, in a moment's inattention. A couple of years ago a local LEO had an ND and shot himself in the leg getting out of his vehicle in the Gander Mt. parking lot when he was off duty and packing.

With all this on my mind I went looking for a concealable handgun that would make an ND harder than usual. I found out while practicing packing around the house, barn, and farm, with an empty pistol, that a big part of packing is handling the thing while being sure it doesn't discharge. I take it out of the holster and stick it in a front pocket in restrooms, for example. I want something that won't have issues with my keys. I end up bumping it into things, I don't want a safety that can be bumped and moved to unsafe.

In the end I made a list of requirments and went looking to find something that met them.

I ended up with a Walther PPK/S as being the closest to meeting all but the requirement to be able to be locked open after clearing, thought there are a couple of others that are nearly as good - the DAO Para "carry" series are nearly as good, for example.

I won't go into what I didn't like about a number of popular semi-automatic designs. What I do like about the PPK:

1. It is DA/SA and designed so that there is no stored energy behind the firing pin when the hammer is down.
2. With the decocker in "safe" the piece can be loaded, unloaded and cleared with almost zero chance of a discharge regardless of issues while doing it.
3. It can be carried with the hammer decocked, no energy in the spring, but the decocking lever in the fire position so it is ready to go ehwen drawn, and be equally as safe as any other DAO pistol, and safer than the ones that have the hammer partially cocked.
4. I can put the decocker in the safe position when I take it out of the holster to drop it in my front pocket in a restroom stall, or the night stand.
5. After the first shot it is single action and very accurate for it's size.
6. I can draw and empty it with all shots into the 9 ring on a standard target in 3 seconds at 20'.

That said, while it is only a .380, it is a gun. When I don't have the PPK/S, I have my LCP in a pocket holster. I never have to take it out of the pocket holster so I carry it.

I've been looking for a 9mm that has all the same characteristics along with being small enough to carry. So far the DAO Para Carry 9 or PDA, and some similar ones, look almost as good. They can't be loaded, unloaded, and cleared with the safety on like the PPK, so an accident like the subject of this thread could still happen, but for the rest of it they look pretty good to me.

Fitch

[Landor]

What really gets me is that gun could of been pointed in any direction but it was pointed at her. *** was he thinking.

[cj]

I get SO sick of this stupid type of accident happening over and over (remember the babysitter shooting a child while checking to see if the shotgun she found was loaded?).

We need basic firearms education to be available...something OTHER than Hollywood movies.

[cvhoss]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I do believe that accidental discharges are possible. This guy's gun firing could have been his stupidity in having his finger on the trigger. But it could also have been his hand slipped while racking the slide and some part of his hand then hit the trigger. The one thing I find unforgivable is that while in the act of handling the gun, it was allowed to sweep a person. The two most important rules of gun handling -- Don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot whatever the gun is pointed at (which I'll concede that he may or may not have done) AND, even if you ignore the "no finger on the trigger" part, NEVER let the muzzle of the gun cover anything that you aren't willing to shoot (which he obviously didn't do). I couldn't imagine having to live with that.

Hoss