Florida Woman Shot in Leg by Bathroom Stall Neighbor

[peyton]

Gosh, it is not even safe to take a bathroom break. Article does not state what type of pistol was involved. On a serious note, I suspect the pistol went off when she attempted to catch it before it hit the floor.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531376,00.html?test=latestnews

TAMPA, Fla. — Authorities say a bullet from a gun that was accidentally dropped injured a Tampa woman sitting in a bathroom stall.

Police say the bullet hit 53-year-old Janifer Bliss in the lower left leg. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Bliss was sitting on the toilet in a hotel bathroom when a woman in the next stall accidentally let her handgun slip out of her waist holster. The weapon discharged when it hit the ground.

Police say the gun belonged to 56-year-old Debra Monce who has a concealed weapons permit.

The case has been referred to the State Attorney's Office to determine if any charges will be filed.

 

[JoeMal]

Good Lord...think of all the TERRIBLE scenarios that could have come from this...

The lady go lucky IMO

 

[middy]

On a serious note, I suspect the pistol went off when she attempted to catch it before it hit the floor.

I agree. That is much more likely.

 

[peyton]

What also surprises me is that they identified the gun owner, like you would a suspect. So how concealed of a permit do you have, when everyone knows you have it??

 

[TexasRifleman]

What also surprises me is that they identified the gun owner, like you would a suspect.

Well let's be fair, she's likely committed a crime, intentional or not.

Discharging a firearm, even "accidentally", where it hits someone is probably a crime.

She IS a suspect at this point, even if it wasn't on purpose.

Whether the prosecutor follows up on it remains to be seen, but she is certainly a "suspect".

 

[oneounceload]

Why did the gun discharge from falling the little of a distance and hitting the floor is the question I would like answered........

 

[Cannonball888]

She attemped to catch it by inserting a finger in the trigger guard

 

[runrabbitrun]

This is one of the areas that alarms me >>> Carrying with one in the chamber all the time.

I know, I know... some people have a need to do so 24/7 and I understand that.

Still though, I predicted a while back as more people get CC permits
this type of AD/ND will occur a lot more, due to many carrying hot all the time.

Let's just hope that in the future legislators don't try to undo what they have done
in the interest of 'public safety'.

 

[ArmedBear]

She attemped to catch it by inserting a finger in the trigger guard

For those who think that the 1911's or XD's grip safety is superfluous...

Now I know one shouldn't try to catch the gun by the trigger. Duh. Still, in the real world, some room needs to be made, so that little mistakes don't have big consequences -- and I maintain that these consequences are NOT NECESSARY if they can be engineered away easily.

This is one of the areas that alarms me >>> Carrying with one in the chamber all the time.

Again, there are ways to make this safer, and ways to make it more dangerous. I maintain that a semiauto with the lone "safety" on the trigger is more likely to be discharged accidentally, than one that has something like a grip safety.

Does that excuse dangerous gun handling? NO! But I like the idea of engineering something so it takes more to screw it up.

 

[rbernie]

Yup - things like this happen. Trying to catch a dropping handgun and winding up with a finger inside the trigger guard is NOT a unique occurrence. I've done it myself, many years ago, albeit with an unloaded gun.

The key moral is to, despite all instinct to the contrary, just LET IT DROP. I know that we don't like to get them all scratched up, but it sure beats the potential alternative.

 

[SSN Vet]

ya got's to have a "potty plan".....

and practice, practice, practice

so let's argue about whether this was an AD or a ND.....

this accident exemplifies why my wife does NOT want to carry

 

[highorder]

I'll be the first to say it; what's to say she didn't ND her weapon while fiddling with it?

She claims she dropped it...

Also, AD's are rare. Most are more appropriately called ND's.

 

[General Geoff]

so let's argue about whether this was an AD or a ND.....

If the gun went off just from hitting the floor, it's an AD.
If the gun went off as a result of her trying to catch it and inadvertantly yanking the trigger, it's a ND.

 

[SSN Vet]

If the gun went off just from hitting the floor, it's an AD.
If the gun went off as a result of her trying to catch it and inadvertantly yanking the trigger, it's a ND.

'tis it not negligent to fail to have your weapon properly secured at all time???

I guess the key is "reasonable care"....

by which standard, likely makes most of these events "accidental"

none the less.... this event reinforces my opinion about manual safeties on semi-autos (being a good thing)

 

[General Geoff]

'tis it not negligent to fail to have your weapon properly secured at all time???

The gun is designed to discharge when the trigger is pulled, not when it's jostled by a hard impact on the floor. Thus, if it is discharged by its designed method (trigger pull), the firearm is working perfectly. If it discharges by being dropped onto a floor, I would consider the firearm to be defective and/or unsafe.

 

[runrabbitrun]

The key moral is to, despite all instinct to the contrary, just LET IT DROP. I know that we don't like to get them all scratched up, but it sure beats the potential alternative.

Yep I leaned that lesson with another tool.
A table saw.
If your work gets bound up or a kick back occurs, simply let it happen
let it drop, let it do what ever it's gong to-do and back away.

And no, I didn't lose a finger that day.
I was very very lucky.

 

[SSN Vet]

I view my guns in a very similar manner as my "power tools"

healthy respect and just a shade of fear.

despite what my wife says... they're not toys

 

[runrabbitrun]

I view my guns in a very similar manner as my "power tools"
healthy respect and just a shade of fear.

And here I thought I was the only one.

 

[Yo Mama]

So how concealed of a permit do you have, when everyone knows you have it??

It's public record. This is concerning and has been discussed here as well, but newspapers tend to become political and play around with names of CCW holders on occasion.

Still though, I predicted a while back as more people get CC permits
this type of AD/ND will occur a lot more, due to many carrying hot all the time.

Ok, so you're pointing at this one story as hysteria.

 

[starkadder]

Most of the posts on this thread do not address the fact that some guns if loaded, can and will discharge when dropped. A friends girlfriend was shot through the knee when her fathers Model 10 S&W fell from the holster he had secured to the seat of his truck, it landed on the hammer in a concrete parking lot and discharged. She is very lucky to be alive because the bullet entered her leg below the knee, passed through the knee cap, exited above the knee and grazed her chin.
I also witnessed a dealer at a gunshow who was setting up the evening before the show disslodge his Colt Commander (cocked&locked) from the holster, it fell to the floor and disscharged. Luckily the only thing that the bullet hit was the cement wall across the building.
Most guns made in the last ten to fifteen years incorperate saftey features that make these types of AD "almost" impossible but many older guns can disscharge when dropped.


This is this! It's not something else, it's this!

ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR MEN AND WOMEN OVER THERE.

 

[Jolly Rogers]

Posted by Yo Mama
It's public record. This is concerning and has been discussed here as well, but newspapers tend to become political and play around with names of CCW holders on occasion.

That may be debatable if the CCP holder pays a fee for the license and any fingerprint fees etc. If this is the case and no other public funds are used to process the permit then I submit the members of the group aren't public or part of a public record. Besides...how come the media dosen't publish the names of all the public elementary school students and their addresses??? Think the soccer moms would raise a holy Jihad then?
Joe

 

[Leanwolf]

Whether or not the woman who dropped her pistol is charged with a "crime," guess how much money the injured woman is going to sue her for.

Big time $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

L.W.

 

[oneounceload]

I guess if you're gonna get the crap scared out of you, they were in the right place!

I can't see this as a crime - a stupid accident, yes.....a crime? no. Is she gonna get sued? Of course, even lawyers are hurting in this economy

 

[Devilfrog]

It's public record. This is concerning and has been discussed here as well, but newspapers tend to become political and play around with names of CCW holders on occasion.

It's not public record in Florida.

 

[Grump]

With no mention of make and model, most of this discussion on design is mere speculation and WORTHLESS.

A S&W Model 10 discharging when dropped on its hammer? Not any modern version I know of, unless it's been futzed with. The hammer rebound is handled by the trigger slide, which makes it impossible to fire without breaking the hammer pin. Firing by breaking the hammer pin is similarly prevented by that sorta flag-shaped hammer bar which in its upward position (before being pulled down out of the way by the trigger) blocks the top part of the hammer from going deep enough into the frame for the pin to hit the primer.

My Dad carried S&Ws his whole career and once dropped one of his personal ones. Broke the hammer spur, but did NOT fire.

Regarding semiautos with safeties: I'm always a bit leery of ANY design which merely blocks trigger function but does not also trap the hammer or striker and solidly prevent a sear malfunction from firing the gun.

I believe that trigger safeties have been thoroughly discredited as not quite enough.