Man accidentally kills self in front of children

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Banjo

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A 45-year-old man died after he accidentally shot himself while sitting in his minivan with his four children, waiting for his wife to return a DVD to a video store in Harrison Crossing, Va., Sunday night.

The man's wife had stepped out to return the DVD and said she heard a pop, the local CBS outlet reported. When she ran back to the minivan, her husband told her he thought he'd shot himself, she told police.

The initial investigation found that when the man tried to unbuckle his seat belt, he hit the trigger of his .40 caliber Glock and shot himself in the hip. He died in hospital.

It is not clear whether the man carried his gun in a holster or in his pocket or whether he was a licensed gun owner.
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Source: Man accidentally kills self in front of children | World | News | Toronto Sun
 
DeafBadger said:
Very sad. :( Some of these semi-auto pistols have a hair trigger. I've tried a few at a gun range and I'm not comfortable with them, because sometimes the triggers have such an easy draw. I wonder if that's what happened here. Gun in holster, easy trigger draw, fumbling for seat belt, .... pop.
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What I don't understand is, why wear it while you are driving? It said that it went off while he was unbuckling.
 
Banjo said:
What I don't understand is, why wear it while you are driving? It said that it went off while he was unbuckling.
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If he was right-handed and it was a belt or pocket holster, it probably would have been on his right side. As the driver, that's where the seat belt buckle would have been too.

Most holsters have a flap that covers the trigger area, but some don't.

Some people carry pistols in a coat pocket, which is really stupid, IMO.

And who knows if the safety was in the ON position or not.

And why did he have a pistol with him? People have their reasons. Maybe his family lived in a tough neighborhood and he meant to protect his family. Who knows?
 
Don't these guns have a safety lock on them?...Very unfortunate and perhaps careless accident...and to think of the horror his children have seen and the consequences of this accident. Very sad inded.
 
rockin'robin said:
Don't these guns have a safety lock on them?...Very unfortunate and perhaps careless accident...and to think of the horror his children have seen and the consequences of this accident. Very sad inded.
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Yes, usually. They're called a "safety." They are manually operated. So if you want to fire the gun, you switch it off. On, if you want to turn it on. It's a switch, usually. Sometimes a push button on the side.

Vulnerable to human error.
 
What a moron. Let's hope his children turn out better.
 
i feel uneasy around guns almost everyday. Ugh.

very sad about the father. :( kids have long roads to recovery from the freeak accident.
 
rockin'robin said:
Don't these guns have a safety lock on them?...Very unfortunate and perhaps careless accident...and to think of the horror his children have seen and the consequences of this accident. Very sad inded.
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whether or not if the gun has safety lock is not a question... it does not matter. the only "safety" feature is your finger.

apparently, he was killed by his own finger.
 
Jiro said:
whether or not if the gun has safety lock is not a question... it does not matter. the only "safety" feature is your finger.

apparently, he was killed by his own finger.
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and mental issues when they own guns. ahhh.
 
DeafBadger said:
Yes, usually. They're called a "safety." They are manually operated. So if you want to fire the gun, you switch it off. On, if you want to turn it on. It's a switch, usually. Sometimes a push button on the side.

Vulnerable to human error.
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Perhaps so...but gotta wonder why he had the safety off when his kids were in the Van?....so, if it were an accident, it was ready to happen...if not to him, then his kids....
 
DeafBadger said:
If he was right-handed and it was a belt or pocket holster, it probably would have been on his right side. As the driver, that's where the seat belt buckle would have been too.

Most holsters have a flap that covers the trigger area, but some don't.

Some people carry pistols in a coat pocket, which is really stupid, IMO.

And who knows if the safety was in the ON position or not.
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whether or not if safety was on is not a guarantee. a gun can still go off even with safety lock on. that's why Glock and Springfield invented hammer-less guns. and that's why Ruger and Taurus invented hammer-less revolver. For gun with hammer, safety lock only prevents trigger pull but if the hammer is cocked.... accidental discharge can still happen.

Glock and Springfield are so safe that you can literally put your gun in your purse or bag and rock it all day long without any accidental discharge.

DeafBadger said:
And why did he have a pistol with him? People have their reasons. Maybe his family lived in a tough neighborhood and he meant to protect his family. Who knows?
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does it matter why he was carrying it?

the most important question here is... was he a licensed gun owner? and was he legally allowed to carry gun in public?
 
rockin'robin said:
Perhaps so...but gotta wonder why he had the safety off when his kids were in the Van?....so, if it were an accident, it was ready to happen...if not to him, then his kids....
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there's no safety lock in Glock guns. The only way this can happen is if he pulled the trigger himself... with whole finger on the trigger.
 
Banjo said:
Right. Pretty irresponsible and a pity that the man had to die for his mistakes.
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That's an understatement. They will have to live with his fatal mistake for the rest of thier lives.
 
some gun forum
My main argument regarding Glock pistols is the requirement to pull the trigger to disassemble the firearm.

What happened here was an unfortunate mistake which had nothing to do with the make of the pistol or its disassembling requirements.

I do not have anything against Glocks except the disassembling trigger pull.

I do not blame Glock for what happened here and assuming I jump at any misfortune that has to do with Glocks is blatant ignorance.

There are certainly people who have improper/unsafe gun habits based on unfounded beliefs in certain makes and do not use or store their guns safely.

Hardly Glock's fault any more than hitting the gas instead of the brakes is a Buick's fault
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