Carry Safety

JohnKSa

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It should go without saying, but part of carrying a pistol safely is ensuring that it won't be discharged while it is being carried. That means a holster or something similar that prevents the safety and trigger from being manipulated. If you carry in a pocket or in a purse, you need something to protect the trigger and safety to make sure they can not be manipulated. It means carrying your firearm so that you don't have to mess with it to access other items you are carrying.

Don't be this person.


Radley told police that she was reaching into her purse and accidentally pushed the trigger on her loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol while searching for her keys.
Police said that the handgun discharged and shot through her purse, fatally killing her daughter.
The teenager was rushed to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital emergency room, where police say she died from a single gunshot.

If you have friends who carry, help them do so safely.
 
It should go without saying, but part of carrying a pistol safely is ensuring that it won't be discharged while it is being carried. That means a holster or something similar that prevents the safety and trigger from being manipulated. If you carry in a pocket or in a purse, you need something to protect the trigger and safety to make sure they can not be manipulated. It means carrying your firearm so that you don't have to mess with it to access other items you are carrying.

Don't be this person.


Radley told police that she was reaching into her purse and accidentally pushed the trigger on her loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol while searching for her keys.
Police said that the handgun discharged and shot through her purse, fatally killing her daughter.
The teenager was rushed to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital emergency room, where police say she died from a single gunshot.

If you have friends who carry, help them do so safely.
"Fatally killing"? is there a non-fatal way?
 
Surprisingly, I know or read about guys who think concealed carry is having their wives carry the gun in her big ol' purse.
 
One of them is a nice church going fellow with no legal proscriptions and a permit. Yeah, criminals have women and kids carry the guns for them, but some guys do as they don't want carry gear. However, finding the gun in an emergency - well - good luck on that, except for a dedicated carry purse.
 
"Fatally killing"? is there a non-fatal way?

Fatally killed often means in a sort of DRT situation, versus fatally wounding a person that survives X amount of time until expiring. In gun battles, fatally wounded people may return fire while in the fatal state, but still alive, but fatally killed people do not. I don't think the reporter got it right in this case as the daughter was fatally wounded and then transported to the hospital, where she died (If I read that correctly).
 
This is obviously a tragic example of the negatives of (negligent) purse carry. That being said, I think any type of off-body carry should only be considered, reluctantly, by experienced concealed carriers.
 
It is a tragedy brought about by lack of the most basic safety awareness. Now the family is destroyed, and while the article says no charges have been filed, you can bet the state has criminal negligence or similar on the books. This sad mother will be crying in prison as she contemplates her pain, guilt and shame.
 
I always thought "felony murder" was also a pretty dumb term. Who ever heard of misdemeanor murder?
There is misdemeanor manslaughter: https://definitions.uslegal.com/m/misdemeanor-manslaughter-rule/

I know a case where some kids were carrying on Halloween night. The home owner chased them off once. Then one came back to apologize, the home owner fired a shotgun through the door killing the kid. The homeowner claimed he thought someone was going to break in. So he reached into the closet for something made of iron and steel (like a golf club) - his words. Surprise, it was a shotgun - duh. It just went boom and killed the kid. The angle suggested it was brought to shoulder. However, he was convicted of misdemeanor manslaughter - not what the DA wanted.
 
One of them is a nice church going fellow with no legal proscriptions and a permit. Yeah, criminals have women and kids carry the guns for them, but some guys do as they don't want carry gear. However, finding the gun in an emergency - well - good luck on that, except for a dedicated carry purse.
Conversely, I knew a lady without a permit that got a concealed weapon citation because her husband left his pistol under the seat and she took the car to the store.
If you have a permit it is a good idea for your housemate to have one too.
 
GUN TYPE...

Only guns with LOOOONG, HEAVY trigger pulls should be carried in a pocket or purse...but... read any thread about pocket 380's and you'll quickly see this is nobody's priority.

Most glorify how much better the triggers are on some models with shorter lighter pulls, and poopoo anything with an actual safety.

I pocket carry a Bodyguard 380 in a Sticky Holster, my wife carries a S&W model 60 in one of those shoulder sling type purse things (thinking about getting her an Airweight soon).

I myself would never dream of carrying anything striker fired in a pocket or letting her do it in a purse, might as well do it with a 1911 style cocked and locked (and we're not doing that either)...striker and single action guns are to be carried in a holster, on a belt.
 
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Only guns with LOOOONG, HEAVY trigger pulls should be carried in a pocket or purse
The FEG PA63 really shines here. Unless you reach into your purse to crack pecans with your bare hands you should still be ok.

More seriously, a holster with a secure trigger cover is a must. Particularly with Glock-type trigger safeties. I don’t feel comfortable with anything where I can get a finger on the trigger without some sort of holster. Quick access to stop hostiles is important but we also have to weigh the risk of friendly fire by accident too.
 
GUN TYPE...

Only guns with LOOOONG, HEAVY trigger pulls should be carried in a pocket or purse...but... read any thread about pocket 380's and you'll quickly see this is nobody's priority.

Most glorify how much better the triggers are on some models with shorter lighter pulls, and poopoo anything with an actual safety.

I pocket carry a Bodyguard 380 in a Sticky Holster, my wife carries a S&W model 60 in one of those shoulder sling type purse things (thinking about getting her an Airweight soon).

I myself would never dream of carrying anything striker fired in a pocket or letting her do it in a purse, might as well do it with a 1911 style cocked and locked (and we're not doing that either)...striker and single action guns are to be carried in a holster, on a belt.
In a holster designed for the striker pistol and on a belt sturdy enough to maintain the holsters position and that full covers the trigger with little room for 'stuff' to get in.
 
Scenarios like this is why I sometimes question "Constitutional" or like in Tennessee "Permitless" carry. While I completely agree with the idea that every law abiding citizen should have the right to carry, the idea that anyone, without even the faintest notion of gun safety or gun operation, can carry a loaded gun in a public place, makes me nervous. I can only wonder, if the mother had taken even a 4 hour safety course, if her daughter might still be alive.
 
I always thought "felony murder" was also a pretty dumb term. Who ever heard of misdemeanor murder?
I learned that "felony murder" was committing a felony in which somebody was murdered, even if you did not pull the trigger. You could even be charged if an accomplice was killed by an intended victim.

Right, and so here is a page from Cornell Law discussing it. I knew about it, but like jim, didn't realize the specific name for it.

I can only wonder, if the mother had taken even a 4 hour safety course, if her daughter might still be alive.

This was a common sense sort of mistake. I don't think it would have mattered if she had training or not and maybe she did. We don't know. However, this is woman claimed to not even know her gun was loaded and in her purse.
“I didn’t know my gun was loaded in my purse and shot through my bag,” she told the station. “Then I saw the blood.”
 
What is the difference between a Glock 42 or a J frame in a quality, trigger covering pocket holster. It is just maybe 3 pounds of pressure on the trigger. The J trigger can be an ND due to a slip, yip, sympathetic pull, inappropriate finger on trigger and a panic pull. Is the risk of a ND greater than not getting the safety off when you draw from the pocket. Recall, you are not drawing from the pocket unless you are really in a critical incident.
 
"Fatally killing"? is there a non-fatal way?
Media doesn't employ rocket scientists, or even decent grammarians. Our local paper (aka, the Tribune Fishwrapper) headlined "One Killed, Two Electrocuted" in an accident, some years ago.
Who ever heard of misdemeanor murder?
One of the oldtime gun scribes was in favor of a periodic "misdemeanor murder' day, for an opportunity to kill people who just plain needed killing. ;)
I pocket carry a Bodyguard 380 in a Sticky Holster
One of the reasons I've gone to a Bodyguard, though some alternatives are safe, if in a holster that covers the triggerguard. Personally, like Alabama kydex, and leave carry triggers stock. A G42 or a P365 have deliberate triggers, safe in a decent holster.
Moon
 
This was a common sense sort of mistake. I don't think it would have mattered if she had training or not and maybe she did. We don't know. However, this is woman claimed to not even know her gun was loaded and in her purse.
“I didn’t know my gun was loaded in my purse and shot through my bag,” she told the station. “Then I saw the blood.”
While I have nothing but sympathy for the mother, I have a hard time believing she did not know she had a gun the size of a .40 S&W in her purse, and the old "I didn't know it was loaded!" excuse is as old as firearms themselves. Who else would have loaded it and put it in her purse? Gun safety is more than just knowing what to do with a gun once it is in your hands. It's knowing that if your semi-auto pistol has a mag in it(obvious by looking at it), it is loaded. It's knowing that putting that same gun in a bag, unprotected, is putting the trigger at risk, not only when you reach into the bag, but also from any other items in that bag. While it was a common sense mistake, it was a common sense mistake by someone with a complete lack of gun common sense, which may have led to the scenario. This is why I wonder, if even the most basic form of training, may have changed the outcome. I did not say it would have, I just said, I wonder if it would have. Being a motorcycle rider most of my life, I have seen a multitude of accidents by new riders. Most of who, bought a bike and got a learners permit without any form of instruction and training. They get on a 900# machine that goes over 100 MPH and do not know how important tire pressure is and how to counter-steer. Basic common sense things that one does not know unless they are exposed to it either thru training or experience. Having helped with hunter safety training for many years, it is amazing how many basic safety ideas that are not automatic to both new gun owners and those who have owned guns all their lives. The huge amount amount of reduction in hunting accidents by the use of firearms since states required forms of training in order to get a license, shows how dramatic a difference, even the most basic of gun safety training, makes.
 
I learned that "felony murder" was committing a felony in which somebody was murdered, even if you did not pull the trigger. You could even be charged if an accomplice was killed by an intended victim.
Yep, that's exactly right. In Alaska (and I expect in most states as well) if you and a buddy commit a felony, and your buddy stumbles and cracks his skull on something and dies as a result, you get charged with felony murder.

There is misdemeanor manslaughter: https://definitions.uslegal.com/m/misdemeanor-manslaughter-rule/

I know a case where some kids were carrying on Halloween night. The home owner chased them off once. Then one came back to apologize, the home owner fired a shotgun through the door killing the kid. The homeowner claimed he thought someone was going to break in. So he reached into the closet for something made of iron and steel (like a golf club) - his words. Surprise, it was a shotgun - duh. It just went boom and killed the kid. The angle suggested it was brought to shoulder. However, he was convicted of misdemeanor manslaughter - not what the DA wanted.

Thanks for posting this--I had no idea there could be the concept of "misdemeanor manslaughter" in other states. Here in Alaska there is nothing of the sort. Any form of criminal homicide is a felony.
 
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