A Lake County IL. deputy gets a hard lesson in negligent handling of firearms.
"WAUKEGAN -- A Lake County sheriff's deputy was airlifted to a hospital Friday morning after accidentally shooting herself in the County Building parking garage"
"At 8 a.m. Friday, Harris was removing her service weapon from the trunk of her car on the third floor of the parking garage when the weapon fired, sending a single .40-caliber bullet through her right hand and into her abdomen.
Waukegan police investigated the scene and determined that the handgun's trigger was pulled by a hanger that was stuck in the trigger guard, said Waukegan police Cmdr. Wayne Walles.
"It's an accident. It could absolutely happen to anyone," Sheriff Mark Curran said. "We pray for her and we feel terrible for her.""
While I feel bad for her, and hope she recovers fully, the plain fact is that the fault is hers. This is a hard lesson, but the fact remains that this sort of "accident" is the fault of the deputy. She failed to follow several steps, any one of which would have prevented this from happening. Either the firearm should have been unloaded with the slide locked back, OR the firearm should have been secured, either in a case or in the holster (or both). Shot by a coat hanger? Negligence plain and simple. Complacency with safety rules will always catch up to you, be it a firearm or any other tool.
As this was a police oficer, it was most likely a GLOCK pistol, once again showing that the "trigger safety" is not enough. A grip safety and or other safety would also have prevented this.
But the fault lies with the deputy. Leaving a loaded firearm floating around in the trunk of a car, with no case or holster is a "recipie for diaster".
And now she had one. Thus providing more fodder for the anti-gun folks. Making it harder for the rest of us who handle firearms safely.
Best wishes for her recovery. Hopefully she (and the rest of us!) can learn from this to prevent further negligent (not accidental!) discharges.
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