Posted on 11/20/2011 8:51:58 PM PST by smokingfrog
A Spotsylvania County man with a valid concealed-weapon permit died after a semi-automatic pistol without an external safety discharged as he tried to adjust the weapon, which was tucked into his waistband, investigators have concluded.
The 45-year-old man was sitting in the front seat of his family's minivan in a shopping center parking lot on Sunday when his .40-caliber Glock discharged, authorities said.
"For some reason, maybe for comfort, he reached out and went to adjust it," said Spotsylvania sheriff's Capt. Liz Scott. "The detective thinks that in doing so — in just grabbing it — he inadvertently grabbed the trigger."
"This particular weapon does not have an external safety," Scott added.
The single shot struck the man in the hip and he bled to death in a matter of minutes, the captain said.
The incident is at least the second in Virginia in 15 months in which a concealed-carry permit holder accidentally shot himself in public.
On Sept. 11, 2010, a Bedford County man with a permit accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Lynchburg restaurant as he apparently reached into his pants pocket to pay a bartender for a beer. The .45-caliber Glock 36 was unholstered. Permit holders are not permitted to drink alcohol in restaurants while carrying a concealed weapon.
The man was later convicted of recklessly handing a firearm, given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and fined $500. He also was ordered to give up his concealed-carry permit for a year.
In the Spotsylvania case, police said the victim was sitting inside his family's van with his four children outside the Giant grocery store in the Harrison Crossing shopping center.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.timesdispatch.com ...
My Prayers to his family. Poor man. :(
Glocks are nice, but they just feel unbalanced, even with a full mag.
Most PolyCarb Pistols feel like that to me, Beretta included.
I was thinking of getting a Beretta 9000, but it just doesn’t feel natural in my hand.
I guess I’m just used to the feel of steel and the M9
But when people ask me “what type of handgun should I get” I tell them to go to the range, rent several, and find the one that you shoot the best.
Like I said, to each his own.
I wouldn’t mind a plastic Kel-Tec .32 for concealed carry, but they’re illegal for sale in Kalifornia as they don’t have an external safety.
The Glock is a simple firing mechanism, very reliable, and accurate. When you see police carrying a Glock it is always in a holster and most always not concealed. Ask a few detective who carry in concealed holsters what they prefer as primary pistol and what they carry as backup. I own a Glock with a 9mm barrel and mags and a .40 cal barrel and mags. I concealed carry a CZ82, chambered with hammer down. If I holster and carry my .45 Taurus OSS DS it is always in aholster, chambered and decocked. The Glock is reserved for holstering in a Molle Vest or as an extra in a fanny pack, and I never carry it chambered, but never have just that pistol to depend on.
The gun went off because he pulled the trigger.
AS far as the news story, it’s a liberal reporter wanting to install redundant mechanical safeties to make up for the stupidity of a few individuals. Never mind that millions carry Glocks and Revolvers without a problem.
Actually a glock even though a fine weapon is a poor choice for a carry weapon. There have been more cops shot with their own glocks than with any other weapon!
The safety system on a 1911 has saved more lives because of it’s complexity than all the glocks ever produced could dream of.
I own both guns but carry a 1911!
Police departments jumped on the glock because they didn’t have to teach weapon use just shot placement and according to FBI stats police shot placement is only 50 percent of the time.
In classes I have put on when I allowed somebody to take an unloaded glock from me they were able to pull the trigger my 1911 they were not able to make the gun fire before I had it back in my hands or were able to display a backup weapon!
Safety was a priority during those drills but now what firearm do you want to carry?
And let’s face it, if the Phantom wore two 1911’s, they must be the best.
Gave himself a “Glock racing stripe”, alas.
Glocks are reliable (except for when firing reloads) but are very unforgiving if you get a finger or even a fold of cloth inside the trigger guard.
Condolences to his family.
Before I even read beyond the title, my mind was screaming GLOCK!
The reasoning behind the Glock’s safety is as follows:
1. If you want to fire the weapon, you depress the trigger.
2. If you want to fire the weapon, you must release the safety.
3. One way to be assured that you have depressed the safety when you want to fire the weapon is to put it where it must be depressed when you pull the trigger.
4. The striker in the Glock is about 1/3 cocked before you depress the trigger, not enough to discharge the primer on the round in the chamber. This pre-cock somewhat reduces the trigger pull.
5. The partially cocked striker can not hit the primer unless the internal safety (located in the center of the trigger) is depressed.
The Glock is made to balance reliability, safety, and speed of operation. It is the preferred sidearm of some people, as designed. Because of relatively high rate of inadvertant discharge, some police departments required changes, such as the higher trigger pull variant called the “New York Trigger” required by the PDNY.
Other people disagree with the balance struck by its designers, and so make different choices.
I have a Smith and Wesson double action revolver in .45 ACP. It will also discharge if you pull the trigger, and it has no external safety at all except the operator, and the trigger mechanism. It is not normally carried about while cocked. Not very concealable, but that is my choice. Yours may differ.
Russian approach: “Is gun. Is not supposed to be safe.”
XDM is a solid choice.
The early XD versions, like the Glock required dropping the striker by pulling the trigger, hopefully on an empty chamber.
To me that is a “Rule 3” violation, which I didn’t want to sign up for as a matter of routine. Does the XDM still require that to disassemble?
12 lbs? That’s strong......I’ve got a Nagant 7.62 pistol, WWII that’s a gas-seal design (the trigger pull actually has to pull the cylinder back away from the seal over the barrel throat to rotate a new round in)....it’s a DA but has a 25 lb pull!......
Thank you for the explanation on the Glock trigger safety. And I like the quote!
Russian approach: “Is gun. Is not supposed to be safe.”
My old man used to say how Skill-saws and guns scared him (he was a builder and a hunter). “But - I also have all my fingers and never shot anything I didn’t want to!” (I’m thinking “scared” wasn’t quite the right word for it - but it worked on me as a kid using both of them. (Although I must admit when it comes to skill-saws, chain saws and other items spinning at high rpms next to my body - scared fits pretty well!)
It does have an external safety, in the sense that there is a separate external lever that must be depressed to permit the striker to move.
That lever is located in the middle of the trigger.
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Don’t point your gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your booger hook off the bang switch until your sights are lined up.
4. Know your target and what lies behind it.
No - you don’t need to press the trigger, just a locking mechinism on the slide needs to be rotated and then it slides apart.
My main compaint against the glock is the safty built into the trigger. It just doesn’t seem safe to me. Tough I own one I don’t carry it.
My old style .44 Navy single action lets me drop the hammer between loaded chambers, so I get most of the benefit of an empty chamber, and still get that one extra round: A 20% gain for that oh-so-common situation in my pastoral existance wherein I miss the bad guy the first 5 times.
And the added round, for a firearm stoked with black powder makes the defensive smoke cloud even thicker.
Right here I realized that this was one of those false gnostic gun gospels that hippie gunslingers try to pawn off on the gullible in the glock flock. All scripture needs to be tested against both the special revelation of other scripture and against the general revelation, which is reality. And, while I love my 1911s to death, and they're the most fun and best shooting guns I've ever owned, they don't necessarily workith when needeth.
And yeah, anyone who carries a glock without a holster is a moron.
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