This is a sad story, and it is 100% preventable:
as retrieving a candle holder from the top shelf of a closet when she inadvertently knocked a 22-caliber revolver off the shelf. When the pistol struck the ground, it accidentally fired one shot, striking the woman in the chest, police said.
Now generally when you hear about a gun dropping and discharging I toss up my bullshit flag, as most modern guns are 100% incapable of firing unless the trigger is pulled. I suspect most of these cases either a person was fiddling with the gun and pulled the trigger and made up a story, or the gun DID drop, but they attempted to catch it and ended up pulling the trigger.
Most guns are drop-safe. Certainly if you have a modern Semi-auto or double-action revolver made in the last 20 years or so, it should be drop-safe, but by all means verify this. If your gun is NOT drop-safe, DO NOT CARRY IT! Also DO NOT LOAD IT UNTIL IT IS READY TO FIRE (there are some exceptions we’ll get into later). No matter what if a gun drops, let it drop, and get out of its way, you’re looking at a LOT more risk trying to catch it than letting it fall.
Still the fact that this is a revolver and a .22, there’s a good chance it very well may not be a drop-safe revolver. There were a TON of cheap .22s made in the late 19th, and early 20th Century that weren’t designed to be drop safe. Also the NAA Mini-Revolver is drop safe, but you need to bring the gun to half-cock, align the cylinder just right and ease the hammer into the notch. This is a good design and perfectly safe, but it takes some skill and practice to get the notch aligned and also if you bring the hammer back too far, it will go to full-cock and you will NOT be able to put the hammer into the safety notch without first lowering the hammer and starting over. If the hammer isn’t properly rested the gun might discharge if dropped.
A better illustration of this:
Now Hickok doesn’t show clearly how to properly load one of these non-drop-safe guns. Ryan from Handgun Radio Shows it very clearly here:
Now if you load a single-action or double-action revolver in this way, its TECHNICALLY not loaded in its resting state, but the moment you ready the gun to fire a loaded chamber will swing into position. In these instances the gun is not only drop-safe, but safer than any really any other gun out there. If you carry a revolver in this way, that is safe. Still I prefer modern revolvers with hammer blocks or transfer bars to allow me to make best use of a revolvers limited ammo.
There is also this practice of stashing loaded guns around your home in the event of a home invasion or other defensive need. I don’t like it. It leaves guns unsupervised where they could be improperly handled, accidentally dropped or moved, or stolen. There’s an easy way to have a gun close at hand, CARRY it. Right now I’m sitting at my computer typing this post with a loaded .357 in my pocket. Done and done. The gun is always within arms reach if I need it, but it is always under my direct supervision. Its the best of both worlds! You can keep loaded guns close at hand around the house if you really want, but why not tuck them in a quick-access safe? They can be quickly locked and opened, preventing theft and accidental interactions, but be ready. If you don’t have kids in your home I don’t see anything wrong with putting a gun in your night-stand or near your bed while you sleep. Still consider keeping it unloaded, either with a loaded magazine in the gun and and empty chamber, or with a speed loaded beside it. It won’t add much to your access time, but it will add a degree of safety. And certainly that gun in your night stand isn’t going to do you much good if you’re not in that room or not at home, so when you wake up, lock it away. Its just smart.
Accidents happen, and while the “Common Sense” cries to disassemble all guns, lock the components in separate locations, and lock ammo in a different location nearly completely negates the value of owning a gun, there are some simple steps to take to prevent accidents like this from happening..
Be Safe out there!
