Devner Police are investigating an accidental shooting that sent a bystander to the hospital. The incident happened just before 12:45 a.m. at a club in the 2200 block of Lawrence Street in the Lower Downtown neighborhood of Denver. It was captured on video and immediately posted to social media.
Something I have been told over and over again, something I have taught: if you drop a gun, don’t catch it. Humans have a reflex to catch things. The unconscious ability of the startle flinch can work faster than a human can think.
If you drop anything, you may reach out to catch it without thinking. If your finger goes into the trigger guard and you catch the trigger, you have about a a 50% chance of being in front of the muzzle. Your range buddies get the other 50% of the muzzle.
Knowing that modern guns are drop safe is a good start to avoiding this. Letting a loaded gun hit the floor is not dangerous, but if you spent over $1000 on a pretty new gun you might not be able to help your self.
I had a buddy who used to throw his new (unloaded) guns across the parking before he shot them. It was weird, but his way of getting over the first scratch. Once the gun had a scratch he was ready to go to work with his new tool.
A corollary to this rule is that if your concealed carry gun falls out of the holster, do not be in such a hurry to scoop it up that you grab the gun by the trigger. You might want to practice safely picking up your gun. I have been in matches which required you to pick up a gun to begin a stage. It has always been expected that you wouldn’t shoot until you muzzled the target.
If you are carrying a concealed handgun, you can never forget that you are carrying a concealed handgun. The right and authority to carry concealed comes with a heavy responsibility to behave in a reasonable manner. Many normal activities are unwise when you are carrying. Consuming alcohol may have been a key factor in this incident.
Learn from the mistakes of others. Gymnastics and concealed carry are a poor combination. I have a feeling this guy has had his gun removed and have more time for dancing.
