We’ve heard a lot of debate about Florida’s “Docs with GLOCKs” law, prohibiting physicians from asking patients about their firearms. While that law remains stuck in the courts, it’s also true that some conversations between doctor and patient go better than others. abc7ny.com reports on a tete-a-tete that went seriously awry: “It happened at about 10:30 a.m. inside the office of Dr. Matthew Nester, a podiatrist, on Long Beach Road in Oceanside. According to Nassau County police, the 77-year-old retired officer had removed his licensed .10-mm semi-automatic pistol from a leather briefcase to show to the doctor.” Yes, .10mm. And here’s what happened . . .
The weapon accidentally discharged a round, which struck the owner in the thigh and continued through his leg and into doctor’s right foot.
“They both came out on a stretcher,” witness Hope Pearlstein said. “They were very alert, and then I heard that he was showing the doctor his gun, and he accidentally shot him in the foot.”
Business people next door and patients were rattled when they heard the shot, and that another doctor had to rush in and apply a tourniquet.
Both victims were taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
There is no criminality suspected at this time, and the investigation is ongoing.
The weapon “discharged” all on its own. Right. As for “no criminality is suspected,” The Empire State has a law against reckless endangerment (New York Penal Law 120.2). new-york-lawyers.org:
Recklessly Engaging in Conduct Which Creates a Grave Risk of Death to Another Person: In order for prosecutors to prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt they must establish that you were engaged in conduct that created a grave and unjustifiable risk of death, you were aware of and consciously disregarded this risk and this was a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that of a reasonable person in the particular situation. It is critical to recognize that no matter how reckless the conduct, the evidence must also show that you acted in a manner evincing a depraved indifference to human life.
Not that they’d use it against a cop, but it’s there.