I have never fired a handgun. Are the triggers really that sensitive? You hear all the time about guns that “go off by accident” when they’re tucked in a waistband, dropped, etc. (The only firearms I’ve handled are shotguns for trap shooting.)
Noy unless they’re messed with. To discharge while she’s rummaging around in her purse it would have to have been in Condition One. That alone should get her years of prison time, just for being a Hazard to the Community. I don’t think they could make a First Degree Homicide case stick (barring new info) but Negligent Homicide should be a slam-dunk.
I had to look that up. Wouldn’t that be Condition 0 (safety off)?
99.9% of self defense experts will tell you that it’s foolish to carry a handgun (for self protection) with an empty chamber. And for good reason. However, those same experts are in agreement that the handgun should be kept in a holster. Furthermore, the holster should be designed to protect the trigger.
Probably the way is was. The safety could easily be disengaged bouncing around unsecured in a purse. Benefit of the doubt (which she doesn’t deserve) - Condition One.
Some of those handguns have a jointed trigger lock that holds the trigger securely until the tab, which is attached to the trigger, rotates to release the trigger for action. At least one manufacturer uses that for the primary (drop) safety, not having a separate lock switch. If it was of that type of design, rummaging around in a purse could have got some object, say, a tube of lipstick, into a position where it could simulate a finger within the trigger cage and caused the gun to go off.
Some people actually pay to have the trigger pull set lighter. I think that makes them fools, but whatever. Some states demand that trigger pull may not be changed to less than two pounds ( Massachusetts ) but this is Tennessee so all bets are off.
Agreed about the holster. That said, she knew when she bought this thing that it was going into a purse. If she had bought a hammerless revolver, her daughter would be alive today*.
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.* If she had the good sense not to buy a gun, her daughter would also be alive today. Then again, Tennessee…
I’m going to amplify these points a bit. If you feel threatened in your life enough to carry concealed (and I have, for a reasonably good reason, and have a CCW permit for that reason), then it’s reasonable to have a weapon ready to fire - which does mean a round in the chamber/racked.
BUT (!!!)
If you feel concerned enough about your safety per the above, you absolutely should be concerned enough to carry the weapon SAFELY in a protective, purpose-built device that maximizes your safety (as well as access) and that of those around you. And train yourself in the habits that allows you to take said purpose built device on and off and secure it properly (with about 1000x more emphasis on the above if you have children in the house).
Someone who does the first without the second, IMHO, really don’t feel that threatened - or they’d be a hell of a lot more worried about being able to get the weapon out quickly, while pulling from a crowded purse being one of the worst possible options.
YMMV, IMHO, etc.
(for the record, I am no longer in the position where I felt threatened, and do not carry as it’s a major PITA to so responsibly although I maintain my CCW)
Agree. And if someone wants to carry a handgun in a purse, they should purchase a concealed carry purse. These have an integral holster that protects the trigger. Examples can be seen here and here.
Exactly, just leaving the handgun rattling around bare and loose in your purse with all its other ramdom contents and then fumbling blindly in that space, is textbook “stupid gun use”.
In this ten-year-old-story, it was my understanding that the victim did indeed have a concealed carry purse, with, I think, a side-access pocket for the pistol (which would have been especially accessible for the child who shot her).
Yeah, well her lack of irresponsibility led to her “accidental” end.
If only the people who buy guns for purses spent as much time trying to pick out the right gun for themselves… if only they didn’t cheap-out on the items you mentioned because something else was more their style or less expensive… if only they’d conclude that a gun with a round chambered needs to be safely stored in a safe holster… if only they’d realize that a gun outside of a safe holster Needs to be much-less ready to fire.
If only their daughter was still alive.
( No, I don’t know what calibur an “if” is. )
Her major screwup was failing to keep the purse under her control at all times.
On that note, I’m not a huge fan of concealed carry purses. If you’re going to conceal carry, the CCW should ideally be on your person at all times (traditional belt + holster, shoulder holster, etc.).
The story does use “accidentally” in quotes. Perhaps they suspect this was no accident, and the mom achieved the intended result.
It’s really hard to accidentally do what she did.
I cringe whenever I see the word “accident,” “accidental,” or “accidently” in stories like this. 99% of the time the word negligent or negligently should be used. (In the above story, the mother was certainly negligent, not the two year old.)
I agree, but news providers are reluctant to use legal terms of art that may lead to a lawsuit.
Can we agree that there are just some small arms that shouldn’t be jostled around in a regular purse full of junk and gunk?
Should it have been a better purse? Point you.
Should it have been a less tetchy pistola? Point me.
And if this is all just a lie cause she hated & shot her teenager… all bets are off.
If only there had been a good guy with a purse…
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but for many things, I don’t think accident is the right word. What we have is an inevitable.
You already know how a certain segment of the society feels about drag.
It’s all good, Coloradans; he apologized:
A Colorado lawmaker apologized Thursday for leaving a firearm unattended in a bathroom at the State Capitol this week.
Republican state Rep. Don Wilson left a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun on a shelf in a single-occupancy bathroom around 9 p.m. local time Tuesday, the Colorado State Patrol said in a news release. The Capitol was closed to the public at 7 p.m. that evening.
State Patrol officials said security video showed the gun was left unattended for about 20 minutes before it was found by the janitorial staff and safely stored. Wilson contacted state troopers about an hour later, and they returned the gun to him.
And, evidently, what he did isn’t illegal.
Colorado State Police said that after an investigation it was determined that Wilson had not violated any state laws.