Shot & a beer

Man convicted for gun discharge in Lynchburg restaurant
The Forest man who accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Lynchburg restaurant on Sept. 11 was convicted Monday of recklessly handling a firearm.Wayne Meredith Latham was ordered to pay a $500 fine and give up his concealed carry permit for a year. Judge Edwin Burnette also ordered Latham’s .45-caliber Glock 36 surrendered to police to be destroyed. Burnette suspended a 30-day jail sentence so long as Latham remains on good behavior.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeff Bennett told the judge Latham came into Waterstone Pizza on Jefferson Street about 6:30 p.m. and ordered a beer. As the bartender was handing over the beer, the gun went off. Latham left the bar and fled toward Percival’s Island, Bennett said, where police found him talking on his cell phone.
Tiller told the court Latham reached in his pocket to pay the bartender when either his hand or something else in his pocket set off the unholstered gun.

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2010/nov/01/forest-man-who-shot-self-leg-pleads-no-contest-ar-621948/

and I'm also very glad they took his gun away from him. There are way too many like him.

Bennett told the court that carrying a pistol as Latham did, without a holster and with other items in his pocket possibly jammed into the trigger guard, was reckless.

Obviously a bad idea.

Plaxico Burress is in jail for essentially the same stupidity

Latham at least had a concealed carry permit.

Assuming that they both had a class on concealed carry, they should have learned some basic rules about gun safety. A holstered firearm is considered safe. A Glock in the pocket with a round in the chamber is asking for a hole in your pants.

The judge was smart when he ordered the Glock 36 to be turned over to the police, the sad part is that he ruled the weapon had be destroyed. It wasn't the guns fault that it bit Latham. At least Latham will not make the same mistake twice with the same handgun.

The standard trigger in the Glock 36 has a 5.5 pound pull. (ref http://www.remtek.com/arms/glock/model/45/36/)

Many shooters replace the standard trigger with a lighter trigger which is designed for competitive shooting. It drops the trigger pull down to 3.5 pounds. That may be great for the pistol range but maybe not a real great idea for situations where the adrenaline may be flowing or when carrying without a holster.

My S&W Model 642 38 special +P is designed for pocket carry. It's double action only (the lack of a hammer prevents snagging on your pocket when you draw it) and the long trigger pull weighs in at approximately 12 pounds. It's hard to make this weapon fire when you want to, let alone when you don't. I still carry it in a pocket holster so that it does move around in my pocket or get pocket crud in the mechanism.


S&W Model 642

Welcome to DU.

today was one of the bad ones.

Oh well.

It's one thing to carry without a holster, but to carry a GLOCK without a holster? Say it with me: no manual safety. Yet another reason I have no desire to ever work with a Glock.

Seems to me that simply selling it to a FFL would be sufficient.

Reuse is better than recycling!

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