Posted on 03/09/2004 3:56:46 PM PST by kAcknor
I as at a gun show this weekend with the wife and she was very interested in a Walther PPK in 380 for a carry gun. I've heard of the second scenario of slam-fires, and that was my first thought as to the cause of this incident. However, I've never heard of a Walther having Nambu moment (Thank you History channel for my knowing exactly what that is!).
I'm not employed at a range, but I volunteer as a RSO once a week.
I don't believe in Accidental Discharge. It's nearly always a Negligent Discharge. I guess it's the way you look at it. This was negligent. Loading a live round at a gun shop anyplace but on the range with the pointy end going down-range qualifies it. Unpleasant results from that point inherit the same description.
I don't see how it would be possible to fire it by any kind of manipulation of the frame or slide. The slide covers up everything. There are a lot of ways a defective gun could fire tho.
I am not an expert on the PPK. Mine was made in postwar France so it could conceivably be slightly different from German wartime guns.
It is, now that you mention it... WBNS is owned by the same people who own the local paper and are not known as anything close to conservative. I wonder if the recent passage and strong local support of the Ohio CHL has anything to do with it?
Of course, with that "feeling terrible" quite from the idiot ahh, employee it really doesn't need much more
Impossible to say from the article, but today's PPK's are made under license by S&W. If I remember correctly, they were banned from import because they were 'too small' and were considered a 'Saturday Night Special'.
Although, how a $400 to $500 handgun qualifies for that is beyond me...
"feeling terrible" quite = "feeling terrible" quote
Actually, until you are good and ready to pull the trigger. Your finger should remain on the trigger guard until such time, even if your sights are on a legit target. If someone has a weapon in their hand that I want them to drop, they will be in my sights, but my finger won't be on the trigger.
The gun control act of 1968 just barely made the PPk unimportable. Walther solved the problem by putting the PPk slide on the PP frame, making it just large enough to pass.
Sometime around 1980 or so, Interarms, the importer of Walther at the time, arranged to have the PPK/s made in the U.S.
They were manufactured by a company in Gadsden, Alabama. There were some initial problems with quality but the were eventually corrected to the point that the Alabama made guns were even being exported to Germany.
After WWII, Walther moved manufacture to Manurhin in France. These guns were if anything even better made than the German ones. Walther eventually began to make the P-38 again in Germany although they kept having the PP and PPK's made in France then shipped to Germany where they were stamped "made in Germany".
Ahhh, the grist of many a fine thread here, and I fully agree. In fact, for my carry piece I'm looking at the Para Ordinance CCW in .45 ACP, with a warm weather small(er) frame option of the Khar MK9 or MK40. If I opt for the .40 it just might be the single option.
However, I live with this woman, and while I would love to convince her that anything with a larger jump and kick than her favorite .38 special is OK too, I have yet to fully succeed. ;) The closest I've come is the classic S&W Ladysmith, but she likes the thinness of an semi-auto.
So was I for a long time. Then several people suggested to me that Sig Sauer P232 (also .380) is better quality. I'd be interested in hearing your opinions. Thanks.
OK, that's where I got it. I read an article sometime back and it did mention the slide change. S&W has exclusive import rights today and that's where that came from.
It's good to know that when you screw up, you can figure out why. ;)
Thanks!
As far as I know tho, they are not making the pocket pistols.
I've looked at them also. Very nice and as you said, fine quality. It's also a bit larger, and when she looked it didn't catch her eye. But, at the shop I frequent they have two copies of the P232 in Stainless with gold accents, a little scroll work on the front of the slide and nice wood grips that just may catch her eye.
(OK, OK, I thought it looked like a pimp-gun. But it is pretty... )
They are both very fine guns. If I had to guess tho, I would say the Sig is slightly more reliable, not that the Walther is unreliable.
From the piece:
"Two-year-old Ryan Gildow remained hospitalized Monday night following surgery. He was listed in fair condition after the bullet was removed."
As has been mentioned, this was a .380 and not known for it's overwhelming power, and it was fired at the ground (concrete floor?) to boot. For it to still be lodged in a two-year-old's leg means the round was nearly spent or (most likely) only a fragment hit the child. Very fortunate indeed.
I'll add my prayers for the little boy, the parents, the owner of the shop and yes, even the idiot who screwed up. As said by Levy78, perhaps this story will cause someone to check the chamber before they handle a firearm when they may not have done so otherwise. Some good may come of it and we will never know.
Yes, let's hope something good comes out of this. It's just so sad when things happen to the little ones. I'm sure the clerk feels worse than anyone.
Accident's do happen. My deceased husband was a police officer. One time he had to pull a 16 hour shift. When he got home he took his service revolver out to unload it before he went to bed and he dropped it. Had it discharged, it would have hit me. We both just looked at each other. He felt very bad. It scared him worse than it did me. This was a man who had gone through the service and the police academy. He had spent hundreds of hours at the range, and yet it happened. I'm sure fatigue from the long night was the reason it happened, but, none the less, it happened.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.