Texas Gal Shoots Self in Hand

Setup- Sometimes, unloaded guns are the most dangerous? A police officer in a Texas town was called to meet a woman at the hospital. She told him she’d been shot, and her landlord drove her to the hospital. As the officer questioned the woman, he discovered she had wounded herself. She said she’d been handling an unloaded .380 caliber pistol and shot herself in the hand.

Safety Violations-To shoot yourself in the hand you would have to break several safety rules at the same time. First #1 All Guns Are Always Loaded. The handgun was not checked and unloaded properly. #2 Muzzle Direction was at her hand not at a safe backstop. Putting your hand in front of the muzzle is always a safety violation. #3 Finger Off the Trigger until it’s time to shoot. Guns don’t fire themselves. Someone or something must have touched the trigger for this gun to fire.

Remedy- Use the proper gun safety training techniques for unloading and making a handgun safe to handle.

Conclusion- A handgun should be checked every time it is handled outside of a holster. Had proper checking and unloading procedure been followed this accident would not have happened. Administrative handling of firearms is where most accidents happen. You must learn to check every gun you handle with the proper technique. Keep your finger off the trigger when handling firearms. Micro training is a good way to learn some of these techniques, so they become habits. Take one part of any technique and do it over and over until it becomes second nature or basically a habit. Make sure you have the proper technique to load and unload handguns. Get professional gun safety training to avoid these accidents.