“Debra Romedy McQuillen, 58, of Philadelphia, Miss., was at Lakeland Family Medicine Center on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus Thursday when she had the mishap,” usatoday.com reports. The mishap being that she dropped her handbag and her [stolen!] firearm discharged, wounding an innocent bystander (not shown). Wait . . .
How did that happen? While USA Today and its anti-gun ilk are happy to leave readers with the impression that any dropped gun will discharge, you and I know that’s not true. All modern handguns are drop-safe. OK, maybe not all. But certainly most.
There are only two ways this went down. Either Ms. McQuillen (now charged and jailed) was carrying an old/defective firearm or she was carrying it inside her handbag without a holster, where some object rested against the trigger. Gravity provided force on the trigger and…BOOM!
I don’t think I have to tell the majority of our readers that they should carry any and all handguns in a holster. But there are some gun owners who pocket carry revolvers sans holster so they can easily access their gun and shoot through their clothing. And some transport their gun in their car loose in a glovebox.
Don’t. All handguns should be holstered except when they’re in storage. And maybe even then. The risks of an negligent discharge enabled by an uncovered trigger are FAR greater than the “problem” of unholstering in a defensive gun use. You have been warned.
Short version…a felon accidentally shot an innocent bystander…so let’s all be careful out there.
Actually no. The article says nothing about here being a felon, and the three charges she was hit with were all misdemeanors.
“She was charged with possession of a stolen firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and simple assault — all misdemeanors — according to the jail website.”
Yeah, you’re right…not a felon, but with that list, she would be well on her way any where else. The one that really gets me is the possession of a stolen firearm…it seems felonious, though I guess there could be an (unlikely) innocent explanation.
I hope she has a good looking bill of sale to put the theft elsewhere.
In KY, theft of any firearm -regardless of value- is a felony. Mileage may vary by state.
AD, possession of stolen property doesn’t necessarily equate to the actual theft of such property.
Maybe not a felony, but conviction would still make her a prohibited person.
From
http://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2010/title-97/37/97-37-35
“For the first conviction, punishment by commitment to the Department of Corrections for five (5) years”
Any conviction that carries a term of more than one year makes one a prohibited person, as I understand it.
If you asked me, I’d say use a holster. I’d never recommend against it. But if you’re willing to go with an empty chamber, I think a bare gun can be stuffed into pants safely… I know, one of Cooper’s Rules is that it’s always loaded, so there “is” one in the chamber even when there’s not. But you know…
At the end of the video, im impressed with the MD’s general knowledge of firearms, bullet types etc. Doctors for Obama he is not.
The headline of the video says the owner was hit, but the article says a bystander was hit. Lets have a little consistency here.
Video not related to story.
I’m with you 100% on holster (on body) carry. Frankly, I don’t believe there was a “drop” that caused the gun to discharge. Far more likely is the scenario where she was playing with the gun and pressed the trigger inadvertently.
Not being 100% drop safe doesn’t necessarily equate to being an “old/defective firearm”.
The CZ82/83 can fire upon being dropped, even though it has an internal hammer block (due to it being a blowback action). Likewise, it is my understanding that the Radom P-64 isn’t drop safe if the safety is off.
Ok – both the examples I just gave are slightly older “Communist” guns. Still, I think they both make pretty decent carry guns. I don’t consider them “defective”. You just need to be mindful of the issue, if you choose to carry one.
I’ve carried my CZ82 before, but normally don’t since I like to pocket carry.
In this case, I’d bet that the trigger actually got pulled by something. I always holster my carry guns, even the J-Frame in the pocket always gets a pocket holster.
I was wondering why she was charged with assault because I was always under the impression that the crime required the element of “intent”. However I looked up Mississippi’s assault and battery statutes and lo and behold (!) it says in part in the definition of aggravated assault “intentionally or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another while acting with extreme indifference to human life
attempts or causes bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon or by other means likely to cause death or serious bodily injury,”
As I read the statute, intent to injure the victim is not a factor, only that the actor acted “recklessly” and/or “causes bodily injury to another person”. BTW, that’s a felony in MS punishable by up to one year in jail or up to sixty years in prison, depending on the victim’s age, victim’s occupation, and the intent of the offender.
so why is possession of a stolen firearm only a misdemeanor???
Very valid question. If “they” truly want to impact gun violence/control/etc… why would you not transition focus to illegal firearm possession?