The man hid the gun behind their backs robbery crime kidnapping
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By Brandon via concealednation.org

This is a story that we’ve seen quite a few times before, and it will serve as yet another example of why using a proper holster is essential to safety when carrying a firearm. The man with the extra hole in the photos below is named Matt. He was gracious enough to give me a call, even though he’s no doubt in quite a bit of pain. After talking with him for over a half hour, I got a good picture of what happened and, more importantly, what lessons can be  learned. He wanted to share this story, in hopes that it would stop this from happening to someone else. Here is how Matt’s Tuesday went . . .

A concealed carrier for over 10 years now, Matt typically carries in molded leather holsters. Up until this point, he’d never had an issue with his setup. He was thinking of making a change to a new holster just to see how it would go. His had his eye on a more expensive leather holster, but wanted to try a cheaper nylon one first to see if that would be his style. He bought a BLACKHAWK! Nylon IWB Holster, Size B.

Just as cup sizes cater to a wide variety of women, ‘sized’ holsters attempt to do the same thing. They’ll provide you with generally sized holsters which they market as being suitable for numerous firearms that happen to be of similar dimensions.

Before buying the BLACKHAWK!, Matt almost exclusively use a DeSantis Cozy Partner, which is a molded leather holster.

Here is what happened:

“I holstered the firearm in the new holster at home and made sure it was secure and comfortable, and then drove three miles over to our storage facility. I spent 10 minutes in the storage facility, just climbing around stuff and going through boxes. When I left, I walked outside and opened the car door. I went to get in the car and heard a loud bang,” Matt explained.

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“There’s no way that just happened. That did not just happen. And then I grabbed my butt and felt a hole in my pants and said, ‘Ok that just happened.’”

Matt went on to tell me that immediately following the discharge, he unloaded the firearm and set it on his seat and then went to check on a person who was in the vicinity. Once confirming that the other person was alright, he asked a question he never thought he’d ask another guy: “Can you look at my butt?”

When the police showed up, they took a look at everything and tried to determine where the bullet went. It turns out that the round went straight down through my left cheek, through the door jam of the car and then exploded on the pavement.

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As an experienced handler of firearms, after getting home from the hospital, Matt immediately started inspecting everything. He couldn’t get the striker to drop without pulling the trigger. Everything with the firearm was in 100% working order. He also noted that he’s had the firearm for years and has fired thousands of rounds through it without issue, and has also carried it extensively in the past.

I asked him if anything in the car could have hit the trigger area of the holster, and he informed me that he hadn’t even sat down in the seat before it went off. His (and my) best guess is this: he had a t-shirt tucked in at the time, between the holster and his body. He also had a button down shirt that covered everything up. What likely happened was a ‘bunching’ of the t-shirt that got into the trigger guard of the pistol, and pushed the nylon material inward. That’s the theory as to how the trigger was manipulated.

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The gun (not a GLOCK) in the holster…after the fact.

When asked what he learned from this unfortunate experience, Matt already had an answer for me.

“Rigid Holster. Molded Holster. Always. Know where your muzzle is pointing.”

The takeaway from this unfortunate story is to seriously consider a proper, molded holster. Any holster that doesn’t mold specifically to your firearm can set you up for a dangerous event, as the trigger isn’t properly protected from outside forces. With nylon and similarly soft and flexible materials, the opportunity to manipulate the trigger increases greatly.

Make no mistake: a proper holster will eliminate an accidental or negligent discharge by fully covering your trigger and not allowing anything to get in the way. This is not reason to stop carrying with a round in the chamber, but a learning experience to always use a proper holster.

The holster company, in this case, makes a large line of holsters including molded models. They do a great job with them and are very popular. With the technology of holsters today, however, it’s my thought to simply get rid of the ‘one size fits all’ holsters once and for all. I’ll be following up on this story in the next few days in an attempt to highlight the importance of proper holster usage even more. In the meantime, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this happen.

The damage to Matt’s rear end was extensive, as you’ll see in the images below. As a final warning, the images are graphic. If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to scroll down any further.

The first image was taken right after the incident and shows the damage before the hospital started to care for the wound.

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Speer Gold Dot 9mm +P in case you’re wondering

The next image is was taken at the hospital. I can’t imagine how painful this wound must have been for Matt.

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A few days later, Matt went in for a follow up appointment. The doctors told him that it’s healing quickly and nicely, but he’s obviously still has a long road to recovery. While he should be able to return to work in a few weeks, he’ll be nursing this wound for some time.

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I want to wish Matt a quick recovery and will be keeping in touch with him during the process to see how he’s doing. As some comic relief, Matt told me about the conversation he had with the police officers who arrived on the scene. They were trying to determine how to write up the incident.

“They were arguing among themselves as to how they were going to even write up the report. They said, ‘This isn’t assault with a deadly weapon unless he wishes to press charges against himself.’”

One officer turned to Matt and said, “Sir, do you wish to press charges against yourself?” Matt smiled and replied, “I’ve consulted with my council and I choose not to at this point.”

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159 COMMENTS

  1. … and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I never carry a single action striker fired handgun in condition 1. I like the number of holes in my ass to stay at it’s present number.

      • Striker fired is striker fired. It is not really single action or double action. but there is no hammer, and charging the striker (racking the slide) does not reduce the trigger pull, but rather enables the trigger. Some striker fired pistols have quite a light trigger pull. (I.E. I have a taurus TCP that is very light).

        • Not quite. There is such a thing as a SA/DA striker fired pistol. (Walther P99 is the example that comes to mind immediately.) Most striker fired pistols are essentially single action.

        • Striker fired can be a true double action and it can be a true single action.

          Double action means the trigger alone cocks the firing mechanism and then releases it. Some striker-fired guns are a true double action and even if the slide doesn’t cycle (e.g. dry fire or a dud primer) pulling the trigger over and over and over will result in the striker being cocked and fired every time.

          Single action means the trigger serves only one function: disengaging the sear in order to drop the striker or hammer. There are plenty of striker-fired guns on the market that work this way (e.g. VP9, PPQ, TP9sa, etc). The action of the slide cycling fully cocks the striker, just like it would in a hammer-fired gun with a single action mode (hammer is fully cocked by the slide cycling). Pulling the trigger, then, simply releases it from being 100% cocked. Pulling the trigger without the slide cycling far enough to fully cock the striker will do nothing at all.

          Many or most striker-fired guns live in a world between those two things. Glock may have set the standard for this. The slide cycling partially or mostly cocks the striker. It isn’t cocked enough to ignite most primers should it fall sans trigger pull for whatever accidental reason (part of a “safe action”‘s safety), but it’s cocked enough to take away all of that work that you’d otherwise have to do with the trigger (meaning trigger travel can be shorter and lighter). Pulling the trigger just cocks it the rest of the way — however much that is — and then releases it as soon as it’s fully cocked. Again, the slide has to cycle for these guns to work, as it must first do the majority of the striker cocking work. For all practical intents and purposes, I categorize these guns as “single action” because the gun must cycle properly or you have a dead trigger. In my world, that’s single action enough for me and “double action” means pulling the trigger causes the striker/firing pin to be “fired” every time whether or not the slide moves.

          BTW — there are also some striker-fired guns that are DA/SA. When the slide cycles, it partially or completely cocks the striker so that the trigger serves only to drop it. That results in a short, light trigger pull. However, should a round not fire or should the gun be intentionally de-cocked, the trigger is still capable of doing the entire striker cocking process on its own. That results in a long, heavy trigger pull but it does mean “second strike” capability and a safer trigger if it’s being carried without a safety. Just like a DA/SA hammer-fired gun, the first shot would be a long, heavy pull and subsequent shots have a shorter, lighter pull. Examples would include Walther P99, Canik TP9, Schmeisser SLP-9, and I’m sure many more.

        • Taurus PT145 is also the “SA\DA” type. I’m not a huge fan of the way it works and you can bet the manual safety is activated at all times unless I’m readying to fire. I can see a gun like that being activated in such a way as described if the safety were off and a crap holster was used.

        • Jeremy:Vote for promotion to article here. Really relevant and interesting info. I was watching a vid on MAC about an SMG from the 80s that had a decocker on it but was striker fired today. Who’d have thunk it?

        • Minor point of correction: the TCP isn’t a striker pistol. The hammer is shrouded inside the frame and slide.

        • Andrew — thanks for the suggestion. I’ll write it up as an article in the next week or two.

          Stinkeye — true story. a lot of those little .380s that look like striker guns actually have internal hammers. Kel-Tec P3AT, LCP, Pico, TCP, Bodyguard, etc etc

        • TCP isn’t striker fired its got a hammer. Also define light, my tcp isn’t NYPD heavy trigger pull but it’s quite a bit heavier than my other full sized handguns and rifles.

          Edit: sorry apparently I didn’t read down far enough to see others had already replied about TCP not being striker fired.

      • This. I carry a Springfield XDS (pocket carry in a non-rigid pocket holster) specifically because of the grip safety giving me confidence in carrying “locked and loaded” while even further reducing the chances of a true “accidental” discharge (it’s hard for me to call a holstered pistol firing off in this way a negligent discharge).

        • I’ve carried a Springfield XDS .45 for a few years now in a OWB DeSantis thumb break holster at the 5 o’clock position. To holster the weapon, I’ve gotten into the habit of gripping the grip below the grip safety (so I’m not engaging it), getting the gun started into the holster, then finish seating it with my thumb on the back of the slide, largely because I can’t see what’s going on back there and why chance it by holstering with the grip safety engaged and having this happen.

        • That is the proper way of handling a pistol equipped with a grip safety. You only take a firing grip when you plan on fireing the gun. That is what makes the 1911 the safest gun on the market. It has two safeties and all operations can be performed without disenegaging all of them. You can rack the slide without depressing the grip safety.

      • Or a gun that has a thumb safety. Without some sort of safety, separate from the trigger, anything that pulls the trigger will cause the gun to fire. It could be something, like a piece of your shirt, that gets in the way as you re-holster. A molded holster makes such an accident less likely but it’s still not a guarantee.

    • Flawed reasoning- the gun being loaded is not what caused the discharge. That’s like saying you drove into a telephone pole because the engine was running. The holster is the problem.

    • Shirt in the trigger guard. No holster will prevent a discharge when the shirt material is pulled back. Not a holster problem he.

      • I tried to recreate this myself usig the same holster, with an unloaded gun of course, and the only thing I can figure is that his t-shirt got into the holster and trigger guard and as he raised his leg to climb in his vehicle the trigger was pulled. I could not get the trigger to pull with any manipulation from the outside of the holster.

        Thanks for sharing though, it is thought provoking and I wish him a speedy recovery.

      • A proper fitting holster that is molded to your gun will not allow material or anything else to get to the trigger. I like my Kydex holsters for IWB carry. Or a Kydex trigger guard for purse or pocket carry. Never worry about the trigger being engaged.

    • I think you missed the point of this article completely. Please re-read and pay particular attention to the advice about holster selection.

      • Unless you have a different take and see this as yet another, in a long line of incidents, that shows striker fired pistols with no other safety are a poor design.

        This would not have happened if the gun had a grip or thumb safety. Blaming the holster is an excuse for an unsafe gun.

    • If you are carrying any gun that isn’t in condition 1 then you may as well carry a rock! Don’t be scared of carrying a striker fired gun, go take a real defensive handgun course and learn the proper way to carry and handle the gun!

  2. “BCACKHAWK” is almost certainly a typo. Please verify the type of holster for us and perhaps provide an image so we can better visualize this incident?

    • There is a picture of the holster in the article, although the label is only barely visible and – for obvious reasons – the holster is pretty torn up. It is BLACKHAWK.

      • My grandpa used “cack” as a synonym for crap. I’m sure they make other holsters that aren’t crap, but the Blackhawk holster in question certainly qualifies as a Cackhawk.

        One more reason to carry a Springfield XD. A pistol with a grip safety (heck, any safety) literally would have saved his ass.

        Also, seeing daylight through that poor dude’s buttcheek…ouch. Just…ouch. I don’t know whether to laugh or vomit.

  3. So we’re not mentioning the make and model of the sidearm? Striker fired or? Just curious.

    I carry OWB or shoulder rig, but still something to be mindful of..

    That poor sod… the embarrassment alone….

  4. Ouch! He’s going to take a lot of years before that wound stops bothering him. Every time the barometer drops, he’ll know before anyone else in the area. Speedy recovery Matt.

  5. /sarcasm. Lucky that wasn’t a 45.

    But seriously +1 on the info. A good holster goes a long way toward preventing ND.

    Wound looks to be healing well. Placement is about as good as you can get… Muscle heals pretty quick.

  6. Is it good or bad that this is scaring me away from my Glocks?

    Lack of confidence comes from a lack of competence. I FEEL competent enough. I always carry in a full kydex holster. Appendix carry just works so well for me but I don’t know anymore.

    But lately I’ve been thinking about giving up my Glocks towards a couple HK USPs. Mainly for the safety. Anyone go through a change/issue like this?

  7. Nasty. It reminds me of a similar wound I saw on a sword forum where a guy was using a Gladius to trim vines on some trees near a creek when he lost his footing and nearly took one of his calves off. His leg was just a mess.

    • I remember that story. He stumbled out and two ladies who were nurses were taking a walk and saw him and helped. That guy almost bled out. Man it has been a long time since I’ve been on the sword buyers guide forum, probably not since I’ve been able to buy guns :). (Still have my swords though)

  8. If this was because a foreign object entered the trigger guard and depressed the trigger, why would a rigid holster make this any less likely?

    • If I read it right, the theory is that the soft holster material was bunched together and it (the holster itself) pressed into the trigger guard and hit the trigger.

    • A rigid holster doesn’t allow any foreign objects to slide into it. Nothing is getting into my Kydex or leather molded holsters besides the gun they’re made for.

      • A rigid holster will make it more difficult for an object to get into the holster but not impossible. There was a training accident where the cylindrical thing on the bottom elastic of a windbreaker that is used to tighten the elastic got into the holster and caused the pistol to fire when holstered. The elastic is thin enough that it is possible to holster even with a molded holster.

        I do not recommend using a handgun that requires the use of a manual safety for personal protection. I teach NRA Basic Personal Protection Outside the home classes and I have rarely had a class with students that had pistols with manual safeties where there weren’t multiple occasions where during a drill a student was pulling the trigger with the safety on and did not realize, for a time, what was wrong. If that happens with the small amount of stress you put on yourself during a drill I think it is very likely in a defensive situation.

        I understand that enough of the right sort of practice can prevent this but how many people who carry will do enough of that?

        I believe the answer is a good quality molded holster and being slow and careful every time you holster. In particular be aware of possible clothing issues. I have students re-tuck shirts between drills if they move during the draw.

        • Note the holster and where the bullet exited…..the pistol was partially out of the holster. That means the trigger was exposed to anything that might activate it. I was also looking at the door latch and the proximity of the bullet hole to the door column. I postulate that since the pistol was partially out of the holster and he was entering the door, the latch caught the trigger. Bad holster as it didn’t secure the pistol. Bad human for not having awareness of where the pistol was and how it was secured/unsecured. Adds up to complacency which can be deadly..not just embarrassing.

  9. I’m having a hard time visualizing where exactly this holster and pistol were located IWB in order for the round to have entered at that trajectory. Looks like it had to be almost 5:00 which is very near small of the back.

    I sometimes carry my SR9c, slide safety off, in a Remora holster at 3:00. I have learned to be careful about bumping into things because twice I have bumped hard objects and had the magazine release pop the mag loose.

    After reading this article I cleared my pistol and tried everything I could think of to cause the trigger to release/fire the striker while the pistol was holstered or being pushed into the holster and was entirely unsuccessful. I contend that there must be some other factor at work in the discharge of his pistol and that the only way to resolve this would be to obtain another Blackhawk! holster and using the same pistol attempt to duplicate the event. I recommend loading with dummy rounds this time.

    It just seems a stretch that the nylon holster would deform sufficiently to manipulate the trigger without some outside obstruction facilitating the operation unless he has a VERY light trigger pull, in which case that in itself might be more to blame than the choice of holster.

    • Look how high up the tear in the holster goes. I bet his gun rode up, out of the holster and then got jammed back in…and that’s when the trigger got caught on the holster lip (or something else)

      The moral of the story still holds–buy a quality holster.

      • Your assessment of the issue makes sense and is very likely correct. If the pistol rode up in the holster and his outer garment/shirt bunched up in the trigger guard it is very possible that sliding into the seat of the car would force the pistol back into the holster and stress the trigger far enough to discharge. Bravo.

        Moral is that any holster should have enough retention to prevent the pistol from riding up, no matter what material it is made of.

  10. Mom always says to never leave home without clean underware.

    This is why. You never know when pics of your butt will go viral on the Internet.

  11. Working in a hospital I have seen many GSW, some though accidents, some through careless gun handling and through criminal activity. I thoughts are it could have been worse, he could have been carrying in the front of his body.

    • Yes, this is probably the least grievous GSW you’re likely to see,
      I still don’t understand how it happened. What’s the holster made out of, silk?

  12. Damn. He actually has a hole in his a$$ (a second hole). I wonder if that is going to heal shut – or if he is actually going to always have a second hole is in his a$$.

    • I wasn’t able to read the bottom part (no pun) of the article because I’m at a stand up desk at work so this might already have been written, but normally large wounds can be packed with cotton and stuff* to make sure it heals from the inside out instead of forming a gappy area under the skin*.

      * I’m a patient, not a doctor.

  13. A little more manbutt than I typically like to see, but… Looks like he was carrying on the small of his back. I’ve heard of several people carrying there when they slipped on the ice and seriously effed up their backs. I’ll have to add the possibility of shooting yourself in the ass to my reasons for not carrying there. In the meantime, I can’t see this happening with my revolver in it’s thumb break holster.

    • When I worked security, a few of the guys made sure to tell us not to wear handcuffs in the middle of your back. One fall and it could injure your spine. Made sense to me. For the same reason I wouldn’t carry a pistol back there.

  14. Had the poor guy been appendix carrying, this story might have been even worse than it is. And I would not want to see any pictures, even though “feminists” in every American university would be cheering.

  15. Kudos to the gentleman in question for being willing to share his story. I would much rather learn about the importance of a good holster from this article than from experience. Hope his recovery is swift and complete.

  16. I have several of those holsters. I’ve been trying, but I can’t get the material to bend enough to get it to interfere with the trigger.

    I say the problem is an exposed trigger and a shirt that can get caught on it. I’ve always avoided that; such holsters come in different styles, and I never get one that leaves the trigger out and available. My reason was that someone could theoretically just stick a finger in and shoot my weapon while I was wearing it; I never thought of this possibility.

    I think I’m going to pay attention to what shirt I wear more from now on.

  17. small of the back holster and he did have his right hip on the seat when the weapon discharged. Visualize the holster in the small of his back, look at the angle of the entrance/exit wounds on his left cheek then look at the hole in the seat of the car and the exit hole from the vehicle. You can see him him getting in, slightly turned to the left as he rested his right buttock on the seat (BANG!) preparatory to lifting his legs into the car while turning his body to face forward.

    I have to wonder if he actually leaned against the left lap belt point as he slid into the car.

    Having fallen on my lower back where I had a smoke grenade and pop up flare in a butt pack on my equipment belt and fracturing both L4-L5 vertebrae, I have mentioned to about a gazillion people over the years about how stupid it is to carry anything hard on top of your spine

  18. “What likely happened was a ‘bunching’ of the t-shirt that got into the trigger guard of the pistol, and pushed the…”

    ROing and SOing 3gun and IDPA matches frequently, I see peeps OFTEN holster hot pistols with disregard for shirt and foreign objects.

    Don’t do this. Usually it’s a noob thing but not always. Range officers: watch this; I’ve yelled STOP more than once and pray for safety and shouldn’t have to point out the hazard they are creating.

  19. Looks like his doctor was got a little behind in his work that day, har har.

    Is anyone else interested in the make/model of his gun?

  20. I applaud his humble attitude, could have been worse for certain.
    I considered this very scenario when choosing my edc and holster. I carry a da/sa. FNX .45 manuel safety in a crossbeed supertuck.
    Never found it comfortable to carry at my six or appendix carry. I prefer three o clock carry.I always carry condition 1.
    Good thing it didnt bump fire.

  21. Guess he’ll be the butt of a bunch of jokes in the future….
    Bet that was like a shot in the ass…
    Wonder if he will be doing a half assed job at work….

    Okay, I’ll stop… and I’ll be in the corner now…

  22. Ouch. He was very luck. Glock leg put me in the hospital for three days, on crutches for six months and a cane for another six.

    And no, I will never carry a gun without a manual safety or DA trigger. Current carry gun is a PX4 in a Blackhawk Serpa holster.

    • obviously you haven’t seen the most famous Serpa YouTube video of all time, Tex Grebner’s immortal “I just shot myself”:

      Seriously funny stuff and the reason Serpa’s are banned from many tactical courses

        • Where the release is on those holsters, if you keep applying force to it as you draw the gun up, your finger goes into the trigger guard and can pull the trigger.

        • Because the retention release is your trigger finger pushing toward the trigger. If you don’t remove the tension from your trigger finger as you draw, you get this. It is much more likely to happen if you draw fast.

        • Strange, Thats not how mine works at all the. The release is right where my trigger finger should be normally on the side of the frame above the trigger.

      • It’s not the holster’s fault that guy didn’t practice trigger discipline. As an owner of a 1911 and the Serpa holster for it, depressing the button to release the gun naturally places your finger on the top of the frame where it should be until you’re ready to fire. Blackhawk doesn’t make very good holsters, and the Serpa holster is not a very good holster, but the action of removing the gun from the holster is not unsafe. Anyone who actually owns one can demonstrate that to you.

      • If you watch the video he explains that he had been practicing earlier with a Glock in a holster that used a thumb-released retention mechanism. This resulted in a little bit of muscle memory issue when he switched later to his Kimber 1911 with a different release mechanism. On his draw he mistakenly pressed down with his thumb forgetting that he no longer had a thumb-break retention holster and this motion released the 1911 slide safety instead. This caused the unsafe condition and the ND when he put his finger on the trigger too early believing that the slide safety was still engaged. BANG!

        Failure of two safety rules – muzzle not pointed in a safe direction and finger on the trigger before he was on target. Expensive lesson. Not the holster’s fault.

  23. Isn’t anyone curious about how high up the tear in the holster goes?

    From the photo, the guy looks to be left handed. So the wound and car impact make sense if he was IWB carrying on the left

    I’m wondering if the gun rode up in the holster before getting pushed back in?–if that happened it would mean the trigger could have caught on the lip of the holster (or anything really). Importantly, if it fired while half-in/half-out of the holster that would explain the extent of the holster damage too.

    • If you’re not familiar with the Serpa, the release on the Serpa is a push button on the holster face that is released by the trigger finger as you pull the weapon. The finger, pushing down slides across the release as the pistol comes up and the trigger finger, if you’re not really carefull, is already exerting pressure as it slides right into the trigger guard of the pistol and up against the trigger.

      http://www.blackhawk.com/CmsPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=bfb79063-219f-42b8-b068-ac88c25d57e7

      • A. This wasn’t a Serpa holster
        B. Every retention holster that isn’t one of the ones that has a strap across the back of the gun locks into the trigger guard. This is not unsafe.
        C. The only unsafe thing about the Serpa unlocking mechanism is that debris can get caught in it and prevent you from drawing the gun when you need to.
        D. The Serpa locking mechanism doesn’t touch the trigger at any point in time when drawing or holstering.

        I know these things because I own a Serpa holster.

        • B is incorrect. Safariland ALS locks into the ejection port and is much easier to use than the serpa. I know this because I used to use the serpa. Safariland ALS is far superior.

  24. Wow. Glad my EDC’s have a thumb safety.

    Curious why no stitches. An open wound like that would take longer to heal, I think.

    • I’m sure it got stitched up right after the pics were taken. I think it’s pretty standard for ER’s to take pictures of gunshot wounds…especially funny ones!

      • They just put a bandaid on my gunshot wound. The incision in my butt knee where they inserted and bolted the metal rod that replaced my femur got stitches.

      • I’m sure it did NOT get stitched up, at least not right away. That’s a huge hole that needs to drain and heal from the inside out. Stitching it up would just create a pocket for infection to set in.

  25. At least the police were pretty cool about it. Even with the carry permit, there are some places where Matt would have gone for “discharging a firearm within the city limits”.

  26. Hard to call shooting yourself lucky but it couldn’t have been in a better spot to put your stupid on bright.

    Looking at the holster, my guess is that the gun was half way falling out the holster when it discharged. I don’t get the cheap nylon holster routine. Come on people spend money on good holsters.

  27. The problem is obvious and if the guy who shot himself cant figure it out, he’s got more problems than just some extra holes in his butt.

    It’s a soft holster. Soft holsters without a retention strap can allow the gun to be pushed up OUT of the holster in a way that a rigid holster wouldn’t. It wasn’t that the holster material got “bunched up”, it was that somehting(S) he did prior to getting shot put pressure on the muzzle and, instead of the whole holster riding up, the gun itself got pushed partially out of the holster as the bottom of the holster got pushed/squeezed like a tube of toothpaste.

    With the trigger now exposed, anything could have caught on it as he sat down–for instance, the lip of the holster could have then been pushed up into the exposed trigger guard (maybe the gun was simultaneously wedged against the car seat) .

    • Very much agreed on this thought. He bent over, the tension on his pants and shirt squeezed the gun up, then when he started straitening up in the seat there went the trigger. It would also explain how high the hole is in his rear end.

    • Appendix is a very secure, quick, comfortable place to carry. Guys have to get past the fact that the gun is pointed at their nuts. After you get past that, it’s a cinch.

  28. I use a sticky holster and I love it.
    I insist on a thumb safety.
    I tell everyone I introduce to guns “no Glocks for Docs”!
    (or nurses, or techs or orderlies)
    Flicking a safety off takes less than one tenth of one second.
    I carry my gun every day and always have the safety on.
    It prevents a negligent discharge if any object pulls on the trigger.

  29. “This is not reason to stop carrying with a round in the chamber,”

    Uh… Well actually IT IS.

    Maybe not enough of a reason for YOU, but most people might give serious thought to a scenario in which they greviously wound themself or someone else… as a nice prelude for a prosecution or lawsuit.

    Does this make you 10% less effective in a one in a million scenario where you get into some old west quick draw battle with an assailant also with a firearm? You better calculate your odds carefully.

    That’s assuming I carried that way already though. Stories like this plus the presence of toddlers with me is enough of a reason for me to rule out carrying with a round chambered.

    I get that some people prefer to and great for them… I do wish more people would quit being so weirdly militant and dogmatic that everyone needs to do the same thing though.

    • I have to agree. I know my reaction time is seriously impacted, but I live in a very safe area and have three kids under twelve who roughhouse with me all the time.

      Risk/reward. YMMV.

    • It’s an endorsement for quality support gear. Nothing more. ND’s happen due to shooter negligence, nothing more. He neglected to buy a quality holster.

    • ummmm, carrying Israeli is definitely a disadvantage. As someone who has had to use a weapon in a fire fight every split second counts and having to rack a slide under pressure is a lot harder than you think. you’re shaking a bit, tension is high and your muscle memory has to do something else to be prepared. Carry a good holster and you’re good to go. a slip in nylon holster is not an all day carry holster IMO. I use one for my wife’s gun in her purse and as a jacket pocket BUG, but not your regular EDC…

  30. This has me seriously reconsidering my decision to appendix carry. I have a very nice, well made holster for my carry piece that was literally injection molded to an aluminum blank of the gun I carry, but still what if? That guy is lucky he just took it in the padding on the back side and not somewhere else.

    Makes me cringe.

    • Yeah I hear you . I carry appendix in a Sticky Holster, but it’s a Sig P229 DA/SA You’d be hard pressed to force the trigger on that with a shirt. Of course, that guy was sitting on his damn gun because he was apparently carrying in the six o’clock position.
      Yeah that’s a cringe moment. I sure cringed.

    • Meh. His was a crappy holster and the gun obviously moved up and out at some point. If you have a REAL holster that is rigid, that cannot happen. So long as any movement of the holster moves only the holster and not the gun inside you’re fine.

      I respect the guy’s willingness to share, but his situation was entirely preventable by using something better than a cheap nylon holster.

  31. This is why I’ll never wear a holster that I can’t see into while I’m holstering my weapon. Nearly had that same accident trying to holster it behind my back when I felt my shirt tail bunch up through the trigger guard. Since then it has been either OWB or holstering the weapon off body, then clipping the holster on.

    Gives me shivers just thinking about it.

  32. I had one of these nylon holsters that I wore for a few months when I first started carrying a couple of years ago. I’m glad nothing like this ever happened, although, I never carried with a round in the pipe while using that holster. The holster had terrible (zero) retention. I’m guessing in this guy’s case, the gun rode up out of the holster an inch or two, far enough to expose the trigger, as he was getting in the car. It could have come in contact with the seat as he sat down, got pulled up, then pushed back down at some point, with the lip of the holster on the trigger, and BAM. Ouch. Those are some nasty pics.

    Another reason to carry a Springfield. I have both an XDs 9mm and XD Mod 2 4″ service model also in 9mm. As others have, I have practiced and grown accustom to putting the gun in my molded leather Aker OWB holster by gripping the gun just low enough to prevent activating the grip safety. I carry between 2 and 3 o’clock (or 4-ish if I’m playing guitar).

    • “I’m guessing in this guy’s case, the gun rode up out of the holster an inch or two, far enough to expose the trigger, as he was getting in the car. ”

      That is likely EXACTLY what happened. Not sure why he couldn’t even figure this out for himself.

      Use a solid holster (or at the very least one with a retention strap) and this hazard goes away

  33. It might not seem like it now, but Matt dodge a bullet, so to speak….in far worse places than his butt. Had he managed to hit a femoral artery in the incident, he could have bled out in minutes, long before the cops, or help arrived. I was told by a nurse that if you hit the femoral artery close to the groin, it can snap up inside your body, to the point that no tourniquet will work. Matt is very lucky to still be above ground. Count them blessings Matt.

  34. AHAHAHAHAHA. Get well soon, buddy. Thank you for sharing your lesson learned so we don’t have to learn it the hard way.

  35. OW…sorry but I vote Israeli carry for you buddy. Yeah-I echo the “one size fits all” sentiment that you “have to” carry with one in the chamber. You don’t have to. Are there ANY reliable statistics that flipping on a safety “loses” a gunfight??? And I’ve carried with and without. Rectum-killed ’em…

  36. One minor observation. He has TWO extra holes, entry and exit.

    “The man with the extra hole in the photos below is named Matt.”

  37. I rarely carry my Glock 19 IWB, because re-holstering it in any IWB holster worries me. Carrying without a round in the camber is no good, because it takes two hands to chamber a round (unless you’re Massad Ayoob). One of your hands might be pushing your attacker way from you, holding your child from harm, opening a car door etc.

    I carry a P239 IWB sometimes. Even with it, my thumb is on the hammer when I re-holster. My other guns are big, so OWB is how I carry them. I’m in Bama, so someone seeing it will not cause panic.

    If you want a minimalist holster for your “safe-action” gun or other striker guns, a MIC is the way to go. Use it with a cheap nylon holster, like Matt’s, with no worries. Or, do what I’ll be doing soon, and add the Cominolli safety. I know…sacrilege, but the safety will only be used to re-holster. I carried a 1911 for years. So, sweeping the safety while coming up to target is no problem. With this, I’ll just sweep to make sure it’s off.

    I don’t carry a gun for a living. I climb radio towers. I use all sorts of safeties that are redundant and unnecessary…until they aren’t. For the crowd that says, “the safety is between your ears”, I agree, and what’s between my ears tells me to use a manual safety if you are carrying a striker gun IWB.
    http://www.themicholster.com/store.php
    http://www.cominolli.com/

    • Here’s my take – remove holster, holster gun, put holstered gun back. There are a couple of aftermarket addons that work also, one is a little plastic plug that goes behind the trigger preventing it from being pushed back. The other is some kind of pin or rod that comes through the back of the slide. You put your thumb on that while holstering and it prevents the striker from moving back while holstering, which prevents an unintended discharge.

  38. If bullet holes could talk mockingly:

    “Yes Mister Gunstore Salesman, I definitely want a gun model without the ‘evil’ frame mounted safety.”

    “Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum. I just bought the new XYZ gun having a 7 pound trigger pull. Way too heavy of a pull. So I polished everything and now the trigger pull is an amazing 3.5 pounds.”

  39. finally a legitimate use for the phrase “butthurt”. man, i wouldn’t want to have gone through that. molded holsters with full coverage of trigger for me.

  40. It’s really important to know the gun involved. For example I have an SR9c which I purchased a few years ago partially based on the TTAG review. However your review said to always use the safety because of the light short trigger. If he had a gun with a safety but carried it hot with the safety off, we have a whole different article.

  41. Nice ass! 😉 I’m sorry to hear of your unfortunate ND. Thank you for sharing your story “Matt.” I hope that you’ll heal quickly. Your story has made me think thru my carry setup. I’ll bet sharing your story will save someone else’s butt (if you know what I mean).

    On a lighter note you might look really badass if you turned your wound into something that looked like a cool kind of piercing. Maybe a segment of chain or a flexible whip through the holes with a stopper on each end to keep it in place. You could also get some tattoos to either emphasize or conceal the wound. Maybe the Dr. could close up the bottom hole and fashion the remainder of the wound into a flesh holster? It would be a great place to carry a spare knife – well at least until you sat down. You could even begin a new career as a drug mule. Load her up, tape the top shut, and take your now lumpy butt right through any checkpoint!

  42. Wow! Just wow!

    I don’t think we can attribute this to any sort of negligence, but I am going to take a hard look at multi-fit holsters. I carry G&G 3-slot pancakes exclusively, but am called upon to sell the multi-fit types at my retail job.

    We carry a shit selection of holsters, but nobody in town is much better. Bass Pro and Barneys have about the same crap. Teeco is better, but by no means comprehensive, After we discuss carry styles what I usually do is recommend that the customer go to Midway and select “Shop by Department: Shooting Gear: Holsters by Make and Model”, and find something comfortable at their price point.

    Murphy’s law: If anything can go wrong it will, at the worst possible moment.

    Finnigan’s corollary: Murphy was an optimist.

    Carry on, y’all. 🙂

  43. I’m calling BS on this one.

    1. The entry wound starts at the top of his ass crack. Unless he pulls his pants up to his nipples, that gun wasn’t in the holster when he shot himself.
    2. The damage to the holster begins 2/3rds from the bottom of the holster. That gun was not in the holster more than 1/3rd when the gun discharged.

    I think this guy shot himself trying to unholster his weapon while entering the car, and he’s made up a story blaming the holster in order to not look like a moron.

  44. This is why a striker fired pistol at a minimum needs a blade safety running down the middle of the trigger like a Glock. At least any foreign object has to intrude all the way to the centerline of the trigger.

    I had almost become comfortable with the lack of such a device and was about to buy a P320, but no thanks after seeing this.

    M&Ps with the hinged trigger also not the safest. Think about it, if something is going to drag against your trigger like the shirt in this incident, the Glock style blade safety is your last line of defense. And that’s not that great a defense either, but would you rather go without this bare minimum.

  45. I may be overly paranoid, but I would only carry a gun without a manual safety, and with a round chambered, in a rigid OWB holster.

  46. Please Please Please show more photos of the holster. Many angles would help… I can’t imagine how
    a t-shirt could bunch up in the trigger guard – unless the trigger guard was exposed outside the holster.
    Harrump.

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