Posted on 01/14/2009 1:35:33 PM PST by skyman
The public toilet at Centerville's Carl's Jr. restaurant never knew what hit it. But police say it was a .40-caliber slug fired from a patron's handgun, which went off as he was hitching up his pants.
Centerville police confiscated the 26-year-old Salt Lake City man's firearm, for which he has a concealed weapons permit, after the incident Tuesday.
Police Lt. Paul Child said the bullet shattered the toilet and sent sharp shards into the man's arm. The minor injuries were treated at the scene.
The toilet? A total loss.
Police said the man told them his pistol fell out of the holster and fired into the toilet as he was pulling up his pants.
"The gun fell out of the holster, striking the tile
floor," Child said. "When the gun hit the floor, it went off. ... The man was hit by some of the porcelain in the arm, causing some small lacerations."
No one else was injured in the accident, but a woman in an adjacent restroom reported chest pain after being frightened by the shot. She did not go to a hospital.
Police said the accident would have been prevented if the man had used a more secure holster.
"A good-quality firearm also should not fire if it is dropped," Child said.
No charges are being filed against the man, but Centerville police did take his firearm "for safe-keeping" while they review the incident.
"He was a little shook up, so we just wanted to take it right then and allow him time to gather himself before releasing it to him," Child said.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Cameron Roden said police commonly pull weapons permits after crimes of violence, felonies or convictions of weapons violations. But he said agencies also sometimes confiscate weapons for a short time as part of their investigation.
I have been thinking about purchasing a first-time pistol. Numerous long arms, but never a pistol. The SA-XD .40 with a 4” barrel is what I’m thinking about. I like the various safety features that it has, seems to be reliable in the “always fires” mentality, and from the reviews seems to be pretty quick to pick up on accurate pointing. Still not real sure - but need to make up my mind soon before the laws all change. (A revolver might still be in the running too - S&W .357).
There is a difference between saying a 1911 and 1911A1. Arguing the finer points of possible variants within a particular series really depends on manufacturer I guess. When I speak of 1911s, 1911A1s, etc. I generally assume Colts. Although I’ve built up a few milspecs from pieces and tricked out a few from the cheaper manufacturers, and with the different manufacturers there sometimes are slight differences that are very subtle.....
Think fast - the bans/restrictions are coming (HR45).
Go to a range and try out a few guns, see how they point and hold for you. The big draw of the XD is that it’s the first polymer frame pistol to duplicate the ergonomics of the 1911 and Browning High Power, plus have the “transparent in use” grip safety of the 1911. Both the 1911 and the BHP are known to be natural pointers (the BHP more so than the 1911) and the XD continues in that line.
I like my XD45s. They’ve superceded the BHP as my frontline pistol choice.
Here is an affordable .40 cal that I carry almost always:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=36&category=Pistol
and here is a .357 I love:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=259&category=Revolver
Taurus has really improved their quality over the last few years. I have other brands, it is just coincidence that my two favorites are Taurus and they are affordable.
"..A 26-year-old man, who police did not name and did not cite, was carrying a Kahr P40 handgun, according to the release..."
Drop test!
So there is enough force on the hammer, even though it is in a dropped position (ie not cocked), it can fire? I am asking out of ignorance and wanting info not questioning you.
idk I never dropped any of my DC sidearms. ;)
There *can* be. On many pistols, when the hammer is down, the back of the firing pin is in contact with it. A sharp rap on the hammer may then bump the pin forward with enough force to cause the chambered round to go off - in the absence of a firing pin safety, that is.
I'm not a Sig guy, but if decocked, isn't the first round a long heavy pull, then single action.
If not decocked, I'm sure someone could let a round loose by snatching it on the way down.
Excellent instructional pics. Hope you didn’t have to sacrifice a gun to get them. The incident in question involved a Kahr P-40 per a gun forum which surprises many as they have a trigger block safety. I suspect something got in the trigger guard.
Not good news. Kahr’s are not cheap guns and the passive striker block is supposed to prevent things like this. The trigger pull is long and hard and it is meant to be compact and concealed so there is no external safety. I will fire off an e-mail today since my Kahr is in my rear pocket right now.
Is that your weapon of choice for shooting toilets?
Like, perhaps, the owner’s finger as he tried to catch it? That’s the usual cause, anyway.
The two legged kind that wander around and try to break into my house or car, sure.
I got them from TheHighRoad.org, if memory serves; they’re not mine, the 1911 never made up a significant portion of my collection. Not enough magazine capacity, and didn’t point as well as the BHP for me.
Maybe that one was defective in some way.
This is why I carry a HK P7M8 for CCW. Safe pistol to carry & draw from concealment and some "proprietary nature to the user" in case of a retention struggle. If I were in an open-carry role with a security holster (police/military), I'd go with a Glock.
This I can understand confiscation. At least take it out and put it on the toilet paper thing. This way nobody walking in can make out a handgun.
Maybe they should have used the word 'design' instead of 'quality.' You could beat on the hammer of my Ruger DC-90 until it broke into pieces and it wouldn't go off.
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