Man shoots himself twice!

[KLB]

Imagine if the media reported every time someone accidently cut themselves with a knife, or hurt themselves with a tool like they do every time something like this happens.

 

[T-DOGG]

don't let your girlfriend touch your gun, and triple check every gun you handle.

Just to be clear, the above statement is implying the "female" is uneducated or "stupid" about firearms, right?
So you shoot yourself and try to lay some of the blame on your girlfriend because she touched your gun, but you were the one who pulled the trigger while aiming the gun towards yourself?

Just some friendly advice, if you are going to have firearms around the house, maybe you should teach other adults and/or mature children about firearm safety before leaving guns laying around. But make sure you have learned safe practices first, before teaching others unsafe habits. Sounds like you folks are some gun owners that need to take some basic gun safety classes.

I realize you were trying to own up to what you did, but attempting to roll your girlfriend under the bus for your negligence is not alright with me.

Just my

 

[ClarkJr26]

You would think the guy would of learned the first time....

 

[johnny718]

Just to be clear, the above statement is implying the "female" is uneducated or "stupid" about firearms, right?
So you shoot yourself and try to lay some of the blame on your girlfriend because she touched your gun, but you were the one who pulled the trigger while aiming the gun towards yourself?

Just some friendly advice, if you are going to have firearms around the house, maybe you should teach other adults and/or mature children about firearm safety before leaving guns laying around. But make sure you have learned safe practices first, before teaching others unsafe habits. Sounds like you folks are some gun owners that need to take some basic gun safety classes.

I realize you were trying to own up to what you did, but attempting to roll your girlfriend under the bus for your negligence is not alright with me.

Just my

I was waiting for something like this. First, I want it said that I agree with the guy 100% who said more education is in order. I've taken two handgun safety classes in my life, and you betcha I'm signing up for more and better handling courses. My girlfriend at the time, however, had zero formal education and no previous experience with handgun prior us being together.

Second, I'm mentioning her primarily to say the scene for how was distracted by the whole situation. Cooking dinner, talking to her, her awesome breasts, etc all contributed to the distraction that caused this negligence. Secondarily, you should ask and be supervised by the gun owner while handling a firearm you don't own, and that all I'm going to say on that subject. She and I are no longer together, split up for different reasons.

I'm not laying the blame on her, by any means. I'm just giving as much of the whole story as I can.

To address the alleged first nd : I'm not sure where they got that idea...? This is the first accident (and hopefully last!) I've ever had. I wasn't present when my girlfriend was talking to the police. One time I discharged a shotgun just after they called cease fire at the range? It was before anybody moved forward, but bone headed nonetheless. Maybe she mentioned that and the newspaper ran with it, no idea. More a+ reporting from your perfect media.

Also, to address the ballistics: yeah I went down lol. I am 6'3", almost 200 lbs, and it was point blank, think physical contact range. It blew straight through my Hand, but did not exit my leg. The pain from my hand was instant and severe. I wouldn't say it was completely incapacitating, if I were in a combat situation I could have returned fire I think, but my battle was pretty much over. And that wss just a hand shot /leg shot.. 380 is more than effective as a side arm, especially with good shot placement and follow up. I personally carry a full size. 40, and I have a ton more respect for it, since it delivers almost double the energy.

Lastly, thank you to all the people who don't suck. I've been a keyboard warrior before when "some guy" acts like an idiot, but I appreciate that some people can accept my explanation and acceptance of responsibility. It happened two months ago to the day, and my hand is nearly healed. I'm actually typing this from my physical therapy appointment haha. But I expect a full recovery. I was actually at the range yesterday enjoying some trigger time with my grandpa. I'm using my story to educate, and hopefully save someone else this trouble ahead of time.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Kudos to you for owning it. That took guts.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Remember, every time, every single time you load or unload the weapon can discharge. The gun only has one job.

I hope you look into getting a sand barrel.

 

[Manatee]

Your post lends credence to the theory that carrying with an empty chamber can lead to people taking for granted that the chamber is empty and end up having a negligent discharge.

Horsepucky.

The shooter made a number of errors, none of which involved the state in which he carries his firearm.

 

[x10]

This gets messy,

Just because he has the right to own Firearms Doesn't mean he should

 

[HoughMade]

Well, I appreciate it when someone owns up to their mistakes.

I'm not going to jump on the "he shouldn't ever touch a gun again" bandwagon. This was a serious set of mistakes (several, as the subject noted), but hopefully these are lessons he will never need to be taught again.

However, just a couple of things- he noted the problem of not checking the chamber after your girlfriend having handled the gun, but the first problem is that his girlfriend handled a loaded gun, unsupervised, apparently does not having a command of the safety rules. Would I hand my loaded gun to a woman? Absolutely, but one who I know had the proper training and respect for gun and then I would watch every move (man or woman), and then checking the chamber afterwards. My gun, my responsibility. If it leaves my hands, I check it visually the moment it's back in my hands.....I would say "doesn't everyone?", but we know the answer to that.

Second, I do not have a S&W Bodyguard 380 so I just read the manual and watched 2 field strip videos. I fee confident saying that pulling the trigger is not necessary for field stripping. Why did he pull the trigger without it being necessary? In this thread, I made an earlier comment guessing a Glock was involved and my reasoning was the necessity of pulling the trigger to field strip. Now, I find out that pulling the trigger isn't even necessary on this gun. I have a S&W M&P. I could field strip it by pulling the trigger but I never have and never will. I use the sear disconnect lever as the manual says. I will not get in the habit of pulling the trigger unless I want to send a bullet out the pipe.

Finally, not 1 body part, but 2 were in the path of the muzzle. Why would anyone ever have your hand or fingers in front of the muzzle while pulling the trigger?

Our friend, was not "paranoid" enough and made a lot of unwarranted assumptions. Much too casual about a loaded gun. I hope this ends that practice.

 

[223 Gunner]

johnny718, I think we're all glad you are o.k. It takes guts to own up to lessons learned (I no longer call them mistakes). There are many on here and elsewhere that would never admit to shooting themselves.

 

[JettaKnight]

i carry it condition 3, or empty chamber.

Failure #1: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...se/298254-rob_pincus_empty_chamber_carry.html

... and pulled the trigger to release the slide. yeas, very dumb to have not remembered to check again, or why was the slide forward vs back, but what happened happened. blew through my hand and into my leg, just missing the femoral artery.

Failure #2: Where was the gun pointing such that you hit your hand and leg?

don't let your girlfriend touch your gun,

Failure #3: Blaming your girlfriend for YOUR actions.

i'd imagine that most people that posts here have violated that "triple check for safety" rule at some point somewhere,

Failure #4: Trying to claim your no more unsafe than the rest of us.

i took the time to post this just to set the record straight, i guess.

Thank you and welcome to INGO. +1 for owning up and accepting responsibility (and the inevitable INGO pile-on)

 

[JettaKnight]

Your post lends credence to the theory that carrying with an empty chamber can lead to people taking for granted that the chamber is empty and end up having a negligent discharge.

Horsepucky.

The shooter made a number of errors, none of which involved the state in which he carries his firearm.

Horsepucky on you, Manatee.

The OP clearly thought it was unloaded because he doesn't ever carry with the chamber loaded.

Why do people carry without a loaded chamber? The number one reason is the false sense that it's safer to carry that way than loaded. He is a clear case where that reasoning breaks down. If the OP carried loaded, then the OP would have checked the chamber again.

The fact that the OP failed basic safety rules is a straw man - we ALL know that he failed in that respect. The argument here is limited to loaded versus unloaded chamber.

I'm arguing that in this specific case if the OP carried with a loaded chamber then he wouldn't have shot himself.

 

[johnny718]

It should be said that girlfriend was handling firearm without permission or knowledge as well. I didn't "let" her, she just did it.

I believe the bullet was actually Deflected down to my leg. I was holding it more or less parallel to the ground. The entry wound is clean, but the exit out of my hand is very angled, and xray reveals the bullet was traveling backwards before stopping. I'm just super unlucky it hit my leg I guess.

Yes, I have a sand bucket now next to my safe. And a new respect and awareness for safety.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

You forgot about the Bullet Fairy.

Failure To Fire - MDB Fairies

 

[scottka]

Good for you for owning up to it even though you knew what was coming. I don't think you'll make that mistake again, but complacency is very dangerous. Always visually and physically check the chamber. Don't just rack the slide. This habit kept me from putting one through a wall awhile back. A round was stuck in the chamber and didn't eject when I cycled the bolt. I saw it when I looked into the chamber.

 

[SSGSAD]

Hello, Johnny, and to ..... I have only one question. In over 45 years of handling firearms, 26 in the Mil., I have never pulled a trigger, with the muzzle pointed at me, or anything I didn't want to shoot..... How did that happen ?????