“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.