We’ve said it before — a few times, actually — but it bears repeating, particularly after recent events…don’t try to catch a gun you’ve dropped. Period. It’s far more dangerous to try to grab it as it falls than it is to let it hit the ground.
Virtually all modern guns are reliably drop-safe. Even with a round in the chamber, letting them fall presents far less risk than catching it and possibly making contact with the trigger.
For a good example of the hazards involved in trying to catch a falling firearm, let’s go to…a Walmart in an Atlanta suburb.
From 11alive.com . . .
A man is in Clayton County Jail after police said he triggered a bizarre sequence of events. When it ended, he had accidentally shot himself, along with three other customers inside a busy Walmart, all with a single bullet.
Police said it all started when a man dropped his loaded gun and as he tried to catch it, the gun went off. Now four people are hurt, and a reminder over gun safety is back in the spotlight.
First, you might be wondering why the man’s gun wasn’t in a holster. We certainly are.
“He had a loaded firearm that was not in a holster in his waistband that fell,” [Sgt. Akeem] Turnbull said. “He attempted to grab the firearm, and while handling the firearm, discharged it, and struck him in the leg.”
Carrying a handgun without some kind of holster that covers the trigger is asking for trouble. Oh, and never mind what the ballistically challenged reporter wrote. The dropped gun didn’t “go off.”
The brain surgeon who was carrying an unholstered gun dropped it, and then tried to catch it obviously made contact with the trigger, creating a negligent discharge. In other words, he fired the gun inside a big box store (not that he’s the first).
It’s bad enough that he was struck by the round when he ND’d, but so were a few bystanders.
