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“[Alaska State] Troopers say the family was leaving a pickup when the woman’s .357-caliber handgun fell out of its holster, struck the pavement on its hammer and fired,” cbsnews.com reports. “The shot hit the 4-year-old just above the knee. The bullet went through the boy’s leg and lodged in a building.” Holy caliber wars Batman! I’m surprised there’s much leg left. I’m also highly skeptical . . .

that a .357 revolver would discharge if it was dropped on its hammer, even if the hammer was somehow cocked. And I wonder how this handgun “fell” out of its holster. Maybe the woman was playing catch a falling gun.

One thing’s for sure: the gun-ignorant (or disinterested) reporter needs to attend former Mayor Bloomberg’s upcoming media class on firearms. Or not. Oh, and that’s the UK Daily Mail’s accompanying photograph to illustrate the story.

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40 COMMENTS

    • Old model Ruger Blackhawk. Keep the hammer down on an empty chamber or risk an nd. Old school single actions were famous for carrying 5 in a 6 shot cylinder for safeties sake.

      • Those old model Blackhawks and single sixes actually had a third “saftey” position the hammer could be placed in to drop safe them if you loaded all 6 rounds.

        • True. If the current owner is familiar enough with the weapon and if the half cock notch isn’t worn or otherwises defective. Most people that used them simply carried them with 5.

        • Ruger recalled all those revolvers to correct the problem, and I doubt any woman was interested in carrying a Ruger Blackhawk in her purse anyway. I smell a situation where a knowledgeable reporter would have actually asked what POS gun do you own, that such a thing is possible? Instead, butt-ignorant and anti-gun in the first place, the reporter just lets it go.

      • to this day Ruger will install a transfer bar safety in your old model Blackhawk or single six, I had pamphlets included in the case my SR-762 came in almost begging me to send mine in. I have a 1964 model single six convertible and an early 70s Blackhawk .45 Colt

        • And many of us, myself included will never ever send our classic old Rugers in to be converted. Use some common sense and its perfectly safe.

          Back to the story at hand. I think we will find that the revolver inquestion was a modern revolver with either a rebounding hammer or a transfer bar system that make it virtually impossible for the gun to discharge if struck on the hammer.

          I am very confident that when the truth does come out, we will find that the owner of the gun grabbed at it and caused the discharge.

          Don

  1. I recall watching a video on how to buy a used revolver, and being cautioned that you needed to check for a “drop safe” revolver by pushing firmly on the hammer spur while it was cocked. Many home trigger jobs to “lighten” the single action create an unsafe weapon that could discharge if dropped. Applying pressure while cocked in SA might not reveal ALL unsafe trigger jobs, but it will reveal an obviously unsafe/damaged/defective revolver. If you still desire to purchase, be responsible and convert it to DAO by having the external hammer spur removed.

    So perhaps this ND of the day isn’t as far fetched as it might seem at first blush. A home trigger job gone awry is far from unheard of. The Gun Owner might not even have been the one to do the amateur gunsmithing. Maybe it was second-hand, and the silky smooth and light SA trigger pull was a selling point.

    All that to say; while most ND’s of the day are obviously due to someone putting their finger where they oughtn’t, this one is seems like it could have very well been extremely bad luck, not necessarily due to willful negligence.

    • But your suggested scenario is that the gun was cocked! In her holster? Such a trigger job would not affect double action or drop problems. I still smell something rotten here.

    • Not really news, just a chance to chuckle with condescending tone at those ignorant Americans whose guns shoot innocent babies on a daily basis.

      • Indeed,I fail to understand the preoccupation foreigners have with our gun rights,jealousy I suppose but I have this sick obsession with why the British have such nasty teeth and won’t do anything to alleviate the problem.I also spend a lot of time wondering why Aussies spend so much time bothering the indigenous wildlife,especially the crocodiles and kangaroos.

  2. There are a fair number of 50+ year old firearms that are in fine condition. The woman may very well have had a 1960s vintage .357 Magnum revolver … which I assume were not drop-safe. Being that it was Alaska and all, I am thankful to hear that it wasn’t a .44 Magnum or .454 Casull!

    And now for the public service announcement: everyone please keep your handguns in properly fitting holsters! A properly fitting holster is tight and completely covers the trigger guard to prevent unintentional discharges. And tight means the handgun will NOT fall out of the holster!

    • hope the kid can walk after reconstructive surgery. Young kids can rebound a hell of a lot more then us old guys, still, my sympathies for him.

    • This. My summer carry weapon is a S&W Model 36 that was handed down from my grandfather. The original parts list in the box has a registered trademark from 1956. If you’re keeping track, the gun is almost 60 years old, and I definitely don’t want to test its drop safeness the hard way.

    • The first firearm I bought was in 1962, I have been around guns for a while. The ONLY handguns I have ever heard of that were not drop safe were the early Ruger single-action revolvers, and the company stood (and stands) ready to repair or replace all those guns to this day. Next time you buy a new Ruger, ANY Ruger, the notification of that recall is in the box with your new gun. If you have not had it done, your bad, but I still doubt that’s what happened here. I’d like to hear about any S&W double action revolver, or any semi-auto from anywhere which was not delivered new completely drop safe (heaven knows how many have been screwed up after delivery).

      • Colt SAA revolvers are not drop safe. Many of the replica “wild west” guns are not drop safe as they are basically copies of old colts, S&W’s, Remingtons, etc.

        Double action service revolvers made by S&W were not drop safe right up thru ww2. The .357 mag went into production in 1935. There are plenty of guns in that caliber that would not be considered drop safe still in the wild.

      • It goes without saying that if a gun goes off,it’s automatically the guns fault.According to anyone on the left,the gun had actually planned for this to happen.

  3. wait, revolvers have clips now? i can clearly see it sticking out of the handle! OMG! blarghle blah media firestorm!
    we need to immediately ban all revolvers in which you can reload the bullets! Nobody needs more then 6 shots EVER, for the entire life of the pistol! they should be shipped welded up, with only whats in them when you buy it!

  4. Probably a case of “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it”. Amazingly unlikely that events actually transpired
    as stated.

  5. Just a couple things to clear up. First, the incident happened outside a gun store in Wasilla. I was at a different store in Anchorage and they were on the phone with the Wasilla store while I was there. Second, the boy is fine. In fact he was discharged the next day. By noon the next day he was up and about and the docs were trying to keep him calm… what can you do, 4 yr olds. Third, pistol was a newer model Rossi, don’t know the model. According to people close to the family, she (5’4″ lady) was climbing in and out of a lifted truck (lift plus 33″ tires) and the gun fell out of the holster while she was doing that.

    Moral is, don’t buy lifted trucks! (Just kidding).

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