Sleepless in Midland

NY cop: "Hey, look at this cool laser on my Glock." BAM! "Oops, sorry."

First the good news: handgun accidents are on the decline. The bad news: they still happen, often with tragic consequences.

 An off duty cop in Eastchester, NY, was showing a friend the laser sight on his Glock 9mm handgun, and he accidentally shot the friend in the throat. The friend was pronounced dead at the hospital. Link.

Police department armorers like Glocks because, among other reasons, they have fewer parts than some other brands, and many people believe they are more reliable. But, they have a light trigger pull and no manual safety. In the Eastchester case the police officer was pointing the gun at his friend, and the police officer's finger must have been on the trigger. A Glock is very unforgiving of carelessness. So adherence to gun safety rules is a must.

Let's review Richard Fairburn's Causes and cures for the negligent discharge:

1. All guns are always loaded. (Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.)

2 Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist “this particular gun is unloaded,” see Rule 1.)

3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. (This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.)

4. Identify your target, and what is behind it. (Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.) What I mean by the term negligent discharge (ND) is, a round fired from an officer’s weapon that they didn’t intend to fire. Several factors can enter into the causation of a ND, but they almost invariably involve mishandling on the officer’s part.

Finally, the photo of the handgun you see above was borrowed from lohud.com because of the neat way their CSI crew packed up that handgun. Looks like a very efficient way to store a handgun for evidence.

Thanks to Clif Sikes, CHL instructor and MPD Crime Analysis Supervisor, for the pointer.

Gun Accident Rate Declining

I started writing about gun accidents (negligent discharges) some years ago at this blog for the purpose of highlighting aspects of a certain brand of handgun and its potential for careless discharge. It turns out that while many of the accidental discharge that get reported have involved the Glock brand, Glock has no monopoly -- plenty of other brands get shot unintentionally. And as Glock fans have drilled home, the gun doesn't go off by itself, someone has to pull the trigger.

But here's something that really caught me off guard. From Howard Nemerov, it's How common are accidental firearms injuries?. His conclusion, accidental firearm deaths have declined steadily from 1984 through 2006. The chart you see here was cribbed from that article, and in fact, I had to spot check some of the CDC data to believe my own eyes. I didn't double check each year, but the few I did appeared to be accurately reflected in the chart.

The graph reflects the ratio of the number of unintentional firearm deaths to the total population for each year.

This decline was happening as gun ownership has grown substantially. There's no chart for it, but the years for which non-fatal firearm accidents were tracked show a decline also.

Therefore, we have to conclude that having more guns around has not resulted in more gun related accidents. Why would that be so? I have to conclude that people are more safety conscious around guns than they were in the past. Maybe all the gun training courses available these days, especially the concealed carry classes, have helped make people more aware. And maybe the stricter laws regarding juveniles' access to guns had some part to play, too, at least as to that age group.

Anyway, gun safety is always a good thing.

Post Script: I still think that Glock has a some features that in combination make it very unforgiving for the careless -- a light trigger pull, a hidden striker, no manual safety plus the requirement that the trigger be pulled in order to remove the slide.

Gun safety lesson from the Courts: Don't sue the manufacturer if your handgun injures you

Remember that guy who sued Smith & Wesson after he injured his finger while firing a .460 caliber revolver? It was a powerful handgun with a strong recoil, so he tried to hold on to it with both hands. However, he had his left fingers too close to the gap between the barrel and the cylinder. The gas pressure sliced his left index finger, and two surgeries later, he ended up with a short index finger.

What made this one big news was that he sued Smith & Wesson. However, in August the court tossed out the case by granting S&W's motion for summary judgment. Anyone interested in it can click here to read the opinion.

But here are some interesting aspects of the case and the court's opinion. It seems that the defendant had burned his hand once before doing the same thing with a smaller caliber revolver. So he should have had a sense of the danger. However, he contended that he didn't realize how much more pressure the bigger caliber gun would produce.

The manual that came with the handgun warned about keeping the fingers away from the area between the barrel and the cylinder and explained why. But the shooter hadn't read the manual. There's your problem.

S&W won the motion, and the case was tossed.

The federal court judge in Dallas seemed to believe that state court law holds that handgun dangers are common and obviously known, and the opinion contained this,

"Cases applying Texas law have been unanimous in holding that there is no duty to warn of the obvious dangers of owning or selling a handgun. ... Defendant has no duty to warn of the dangers associated with the revolver, thus, summary judgment is appropriate."

Hmm, interesting observation. Maybe the dangers were known to this particular plaintiff, anyway. But, the plaintiff hadn't provided any evidence that the warning in the manual was inadequate, and surely that had to have been the deciding factor.

I question how commonly known the danger was in 2006 when the accident occurred. But it made the news when the fellow filed suit. And there was another instance which got thorough internet play in which a shooter's thumb was injured. (Some gruesome photos are still online for anyone interested in seeing them.) And helping to bring attention to this problem, Mythbusters even did a segment on it confirming that the expelled gasses could sever a hotdog. Actually, the fact that Mythbusters did a feature on it suggests that it might not have been such common knowledge after all.

In any event, with all that has transpired, at least we might be able to say now that the dangers are commonly known.

The case was Foltz vs. Smith & Wesson Corp. No. 3:08-cv-00858-K, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas.

Guns for classic movie fans

Went to the gun show this weekend and fell in love with a beautiful nickel plated Colt Detective Special. Didn't buy it, though -- I could cross two or three items off my wish list for what it would have cost. Maybe next time.

Anyone who has watched a dozen or so classic cops & robbers movies will know what the Detective Special is and may even want one of his own. (Women might want one too, but the movie femme fatales seemed to prefer another model, stay tuned.)

So I was talking about it with an old friend, and he had already formed a mental list of guns that gun collectors who were old movie fans would want to have in their collections. And as luck would have it the popular Internet Movie Database has a fan inspired sub-site about guns in movies which turns out to be a pretty good resource.

Back to my friend's list of top guns for classic movie fans. The Detective Special is one of them. This was the good guy gun. Movie detectives used them of course, and another movie mystery staple used them too, the P.I. Occasionally one would fall into the hands of a bad guy, but that was inevitable and shouldn't mar its reputation as the good guy gun. There were three or four versions of the Detective Special made by Colt between 1927 and 1995, and the old ones can be costly today.

Another movie regular was the Colt 1911, a sturdy semi-automatic that could be used by both good guy and bad buy, although in my opinion an ordinary bad guy was more likely to use one than a good guy.

We need to distinguish the ordinary bad guy from the very bad guy, and here we must remember that during a certain period of American movie history some really evil movie characters came from abroad. So foreign made handguns might be more to their liking, and the German Luger was popular in that regard. Any good Nazi would have one, Neo-Nazis, too. But they were also enjoyed by some American bad guys.

Now if the bad guy is really, really bad he might use a Mauser C-96, sometimes known as the "Broomhandle." For example, if an evil villain were to dispatch an evil underling to kill Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising, the henchman might be expected to use a Broomhandle. An assassination attempt on James Bond might involve one, too.

Many classic movie women needed guns, too. Maybe she was a good girl who got caught up in a bad situation. Maybe she was a bad guy's girlfriend, or she may have been an entrepreneurial bad girl in her own right. In any event, the Colt 1903 hammerless semi-automatic fit nicely in her purse, ready to be drawn if the deal went sour.

There were good guy guns, bad guy guns and lady's guns. And after watching a few old movies a fan could probably predict what kind of weapon a character might pull. Those guns are collectibles now, and one can imagine a "Maltese Falcon" type movie in which that valuable object of desire is a gun from that old movie.

Thanks to Jimmie McD for the input. I'm still a fan of the old movie guns but not yet a collector.

Finally, a nod to the western movies, but just a nod. There were a variety of guns used in the westerns, but two stand out: the single action Colt Army revolver, AKA the Peacemaker, and the Winchester lever action rifle. There were two rifle versions which look very much alike, the Winchester Models 1892 or 1894. But to most movie viewers they were indistinguishable.

Have fun at the movies, keep your head down, and save up for that collectible when it pops up at the gun show.

Today's gun safety lesson -- Never play Russian roulette with a semi-automatic

Actually, one shouldn't play Russian roulette with any type of firearm.

This gun mishap would be funny if it weren't so tragic. It happened in Missouri, the "show me" state, and James Looney was showing his girlfriend his handguns and teaching her about gun safety. Here's the rundown from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Police say James Looney of the 4300 block of Rock Valley court was teaching his girlfriend about firearm safety when he put a gun to his head and asked her if it would go off. Police say he did this with two other weapons and varied safety mechanisms before the last one went off, said Lt. Dave Marshak.

Police also believe alcohol was involved.

That alcohol and guns don't mix is widely known, but maybe it should be added to the list of gun safety rules. Let's review them with the new addition:

1. Assume all guns are always loaded;

2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy;

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target;

4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond; and

5. Don't handle firearms unless sober.

A tip of the hat goes to Clif Sikes, hand gun instructor, who noted Mr. Looney's unfortunate name. Maybe he was just trying to live up to it, Clif.

You would have thought it was Bonnie Parker posing with that gun

A law enforcement officer is held to a higher standard than the rest of us. And that became abundantly clear when the citizens of Round Rock were mortified by the image of a good looking gal posing with a deputy's rifle on his Midland County car at Twin Peaks in Round Rock.

One head rolled, and Sheriff Painter did the right thing. Our deputies can't be scaring people in the big cities like that. But criminal charges? Good grief. Surely the people of Round Rock weren't injured that much. What next? A civil lawsuit by traumatized bystanders?

Maybe there's at least a Playboy centerfold in the waitress's future.

Links:
MyWestTexas.com;
Statesman.com;
Statesman.com w/ sarcasm;
and prepare yourself for the
Twin Peaks photo album.

Updated: Apparently cooler heads prevailed, and they won't face criminal charges.

Further, put a gold star on his pink slip if the Deputy unloaded the rifle before handing it over to the waitress. However, the rifle appears to have a magazine in it, so isn't clear whether it was loaded.

New training mantra:
This is my rifle,
this is my gun,
this is for shooting,
this is for ... getting fired!

His home protection plan included a .45

A homeowner armed with a gun confronted a burglar armed with a tire iron. Guess which one ended up in the morgue. Thug Report alerts us to this incident of citizen prevailing over burglar.

It happened in Channelview, Texas, near Houston the other day, and here's an excerpt from the Chron.com article:

On Tuesday, the homeowner saw a car about 3:30 p.m. as it pulled into the driveway leading to the home in the 100 block of Cedar Lane in Channelview.

After checking with his father-in-law, who lives in another home on the same property, the man took his .45-caliber pistol and went outside to confront the man he had seen in the car, investigators said.

The man was carrying empty cases used to hold crossbows when the homeowner confronted him in the driveway.

"He pulled out his gun and ordered the suspect to stop," Rivera said. "The suspect threw the cases down and produced the tire iron."

The homeowner fired once with the pistol. He fired a second time when the man continued moving toward him.

The man got into his car then began grabbing for the pistol, Rivera said.

"They struggled for the gun and he (the homeowner) fires two or three more shots," Rivera said.

The man tried to drive away, but struck a support column for a large covered car port, causing it to partially collapse.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, Rivera said.

The sequence in the article is a little confusing. If the burglar began grabbing for the pistol only after he got into his car then the homeowner must have walked right up to him.

In any event, it proves once again that crime doesn't pay. Burglary, fun and profitable, but the retirement plan sucks.

We can't let this one go without a link to a must-see video titled home alone. It's a commercial for a shooting range but it's also a spoof of an alarm company commercial. It serves as a good reminder that each of us is our own first line of defense.

Gun recoil doesn't slap you in the face, people slap you in the ... oh wait

Any rational person can learn from his/her own mistakes, but the smart person will learn from other's mistakes. The lesson the fellow in this video teaches us is not to hold a rifle out at arms length and shoot it.

Click to watch it.

For the gun collector who has everything, a Dillinger soap gun

It's a Dillinger escape gun -- a bar of soap in the shape of a revolver reminiscent of the fake gun John Dillinger used in a jail break.

Buy it at Etsy: "The refreshing scents of eucalyptus and mint help you fight Public Enemy Number One, bad body odor."

Another gun goes off in a guy's pants

Ananova reported that the fellow had his gun in his pocket, and oh my, that accidental discharge had to hurt.

He told paramedics that a masked mugger had blasted him in the crutch in a bungled robbery. But police found a hole in his statement when they saw that the gunshot had miraculously left his trousers intact.

(Maybe a German "crutch" is an American "crotch.")

The photo accompanying the article shows what appears to be a Beretta with an adjustable rear sight and a non-factory grip. And it has a manual safety. I'm a strong proponent of manual safeties on firearms, and they should make guns safer. But the theory goes out the window if gun owners ignore them. And this episode demonstrates once again that proper handling is crucial in all instances involving firearms.

There are those who contend that a manual safety might slow them down too much, and to them I recommend watching some videos of guys drawing, cocking and firing a single action revolver like the old cowboy actors did. Here are a few video links to get started.

Chris Gordan demonstrates technique. He mentions "Gunsmoke" star James Arness, so here's Mr. Arness. And don't miss Howard Darby's fast draw demonstration.

These guys were probably naturally quick, but it took plenty of practice to develop the fast draw you see in the videos. And the point is that a manual safety is going to slow someone down only if he/she is not willing to put forth some effort and practice.

Finally, a note to DIY gunsmiths -- use the proper screwdriver. The person who changed the grip on this handgun probably used a standard hardware screwdriver with a tapered point, and you can see how it messed up the screw head. Most gun screws have deep slots, and a tapered screwdriver will slip and mar the screw head and maybe even the gun surface itself. The proper screwdriver would have parallel, not tapered, sides. These can be bought, or the true do-it-yourselfer might use a grinder to modify a standard screwdriver.

There are people looking for excuses to take guns away from citizens, so let's not give them any ammo. Be safe out there now, hear?

Man with 30,000 bullets arrested in Massachusetts

He said he planned to use them for target practice, but cops arrested him anyway, and bail was set at $100,000, according to the news. It goes on to say he was a native of the Dominican Republic and had planned to become a U.S. citizen on the day after he was arrested. Welcome to the U.S.A. (Early report via Madville.)

Maybe there is Massachusetts law prohibiting possession of that many bullets, but it appears that the authorities merely suspect that he planned to sell the bullets in the Dominican Republic.

They seemed astonished that someone would have that many bullets, but shooters would disagree. It isn't unusual for someone serious about handgun competition to shoot as many as a couple of thousand rounds a week. So to imply some nefarious intent merely because he had a bunch of bullets seems overly aggressive on the enforcement side.

Handgun ammo is in short supply right now, and both brick and mortar stores as well as online selers are sold out. Factories are running full bore to meet the demand, but they can't keep up. Shooters are hoarding what they have, and even reloaders can't restock their supplies. Shooting ranges are probably very quiet these days. Ammo has become a rare commodity, and no one wants to use those precious bullets.

So my question is this: Where the heck did he buy that much ammo?

In any event, it certainly seems risky to be a gun owner in a community with high anti-gun sentiment and which, by the way, is not exactly crime free.

"Weaponizers" on Discovery channel

This show on Discovery channel certainly looks interesting. "Weaponizers" -- see a promo on Youtube:

Each team has one week to turn ordinary vehicles into remote control machines of destruction to face off in battle until only one team is left standing.

Premiers on May 11 at 8:00 Central. See schedule.

Via Neatorama.

Who benefits from Gun control? Answer in video.

The theme has been around for a long time but it has never been presented in such a funny manner. It's a satirical mini-documentary shining a light on those poor unfortunate criminals who have been deprived of their means of making a living by the fear of citizens owning guns.

Here's the link to the video at liveleak.com.

Via Nalert.

Careless with other people's personal info

I cringe every time some business or association asks me for personal information. It will go into a computer database, and there is no telling what will happen to it. It's not so much a lack of trust as it is a lack of faith in their ability to keep it private. There are hackers, identity thieves and spy ware all seemingly trying to get at our personal information, so prudent people attempt to secure their computers. But there's always plain old fashioned carelessness.

All too frequently we read about some careless person losing some digital data, for example just other day there was the story about the British MI6 agent having lost a memory stick containing information sensitive enough to put undercover agents at risk. The ones we hear about are the ones in which the loss had an obvious effect, but there must be countless instances in which carelessness with personal data never make the news.

Here's one of those instances. The other day members of a local shooting club received an email with an Excel document attached containing names, membership status, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and birthdays of over 3,000 other members.

There were no state secrets in there, but it was personal information voluntarily submitted, and few people expected it to be distributed so freely. At this point in the political history of this great country many gun owners are a little jumpy as government leaders sound as if they are looking for ways to disarm or at least stigmatize gun owners. So distributing a list of likely gun owners so freely seems a little bit irresponsible.

Not to worry, though. The email was promptly followed by another email asking recipients to please delete that previous email. So all is well. The toothpaste is back in the tube.

P.S. Thought I would copy this from their website to compare it with any future amendments: "To receive the monthly email newsletter if you are not already getting it, or to update your email address, please subscribe via this link. (Note: Your email address will not be made public, nor is it viewable by other list members.)"

Updated: Association director John Krenik emailed an explanation. (Published with permission.)

I saw on your blog your comments on the recent email that MSA sent with the member's roster.

You should realize that it was sent in error, what happened was that our Secretary sends an email at the end of each week to all directors and orientation instructors. This email contains the latest membership information so that the orientation instructors can verify membership at orientation. This procedure has worked quite well for a long time until last week. When our Secretary sent the email she unfortunately sent it to MSA members instead of MSA officers. She immediately contacted our webmaster to try to stop it, but of course that didn't work. While this is unfortunate, please keep in mind that she has been one of the best Secretaries that we have ever had. She was deeply upset by this and was in tears by the time she talked to our President. While it was indeed a mistake, it was an honest mistake by a person that has contributed mightily to making MSA a much better organization. I hope everybody will remember that and realize that we all make mistakes, sometimes they are just harder to correct. If you know of anybody who wants more info and wants to discuss this, please have them contact me.

John Krenik

Thanks John, accidents will happen. Anyone wishing to discuss this with John Krenik can reach him through the association contact information.

Texas firearm freedom law tiptoeing through Texas Legislature

Montana lawmakers did it first with the Montana Firearms Freedom Act which was recently signed into law. Here are the guts of the Montana law:

A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Montana and that remains within the borders of Montana is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce.

Leo Berman of the Texas House of Representatives has introduced one in Texas, and H.B. No. 1863 is creeping along. Here's a link for the text, and here's the key part:

Sec. 2003.003. NOT SUBJECT TO FEDERAL REGULATION. (a) A firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in this state and remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

A cursory look suggests that the entire bill is very similar to the Montana law as both laws exclude guns too big for one person to carry, a gun with a barrel bore larger then 1.5 inch, exploding bullets, and fully automatic weapons. Lawmakers in both states must be concerned about keeping down the noise as sound suppressors are included in the definition of "firearm accessory." (Would that be silencers?)

The Montana law passed muster with legal scholars, but no one can safely predict what the U.S. Supreme Court would do with it especially with the upcoming change in personnel.

In any event, H.B. No. 1863 may be one to watch.

Obama vs. gun owners & ammo reloaders

Gun Owners of America tells us that President Obama promised Mexican President Felipe Calderon that he would urge the Senate to pass the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials treaty of 1997, the treaty that if implemented in the U.S. could require hobby shooters who reload their own bullets to obtain a license from the government or else be guilty of "illicit manufacturing." Here's the definition from the treaty:

1. "Illicit manufacturing": the manufacture or assembly of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials: ...

b. without a license from a competent governmental authority of the State Party where the manufacture or assembly takes place;

Gun groups are mobilizing opposition. For example, here's an excerpt from President Obama Continues Assault on the Second Amendment:

President Obama is hoping to capitalize on an increased Democrat majority and push its quick ratification. The U.S. is one of four nations that have not ratified the treaty.

If ratified and the U.S. is found not to be in compliance with any provisions of the treaty -- such as a provision that would outlaw reloading ammunition without a government license -- President Obama would be empowered to implement regulations without Congressional approval. ...

Actually, gun control proposals such as reinstating the ban on semi-automatic firearms will make Americans less safe, especially if violence spills over to this side of the border. ...

President Obama disagrees and he continues to spread the myth about how many guns recovered in Mexico come from the U.S. "More than 90% of the guns found in Mexico are not bought [in Mexico], but in the United States," he said.

This would be a concern for gun owners and reloaders if we were to take Mr. Obama at his word. However, during the campaign we saw Mr. Obama say one thing to one group and contradict himself to another. Obama's supporters were pretty good at spotting the "tells," but the rest of are playing catch up. In this instance he may be simply trying to appease President Calderon with an empty promise. Surely the Senate would balk at this treaty, and Mr. Obama could tell Mr. Calderon, "Hey, don't blame me, I tried."

Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on this thing anyway.

Thanks to John Krenik for the heads up.

T-shirt launcher as WMD

The other day Schneier on Security was chiding lawmakers in Definition of Weapon of Mass Destruction for making an over broad definition, and while some of the law makes sense, there do seem to be parts of it that require too much discretion on the part of the law enforcers.

Take, for example, this definition of a destructive devise:

(B) any type of weapon (other than a shotgun or a shotgun shell which the Attorney General finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes) by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter;

/.../

The term "destructive device" shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; ... or any other device which the Attorney General finds is not likely to be used as a weapon...

Thankfully the lawmakers added a human element in there so that the toy stores wouldn't have to relabel some toys as WMD. But it still requires an Attorney General with common sense, and that just confirms Schneier's point.

I started this blog post last week and was going to suggest that those T-shirt guns used at ball games to project T-shirts into the crowd could be considered WMD due to the barrel bore size of greater than 1/2 inch. Lo and behold, along comes this:

David Babusiak suffered a permanent back injury when he was shoved to the ground at a June 8, 2007 game, when members of the Chevrolet Pride Team fired a T-shirt from a "launcher cannon" into Babusiak's section of the stands between innings, said his attorney, David Holub.

The suit filed in federal court this week also names U.S. Cellular Field and the Pride Team as defendants.

Hopefully the Atty Gen won't be asked to weigh in on whether it was a weapon of mass destruction.

Provo -- Gun fire at the Olive Garden

Keen eyed Joe Hathaway sends us two reports of accidental handgun discharges that took place in Utah restaurants in the past few months.

First up, he pulled the trigger when he pulled up his britches -- This one took place in men's room at a Centerville, Utah, burger joint. According to the Centerville police press release, the handgun was a Kahr P40. Here's more from the press release:

While pulling his pants up the gun fell out of the holster, striking the tile floor. When the gun hit the floor it went off and the bullet struck the toilet, shattering it and sending sharp pieces of porcelain flying. The man was hit in the arm by some of the porcelain causing some small lacerations.

(...)

In this case it appears that the accident would have been prevented if the man had used a secure holster. A good quality firearm also should not fire if it is dropped. No charges were brought against the man but the firearm was taken for safe keeping.

Yeah, probabilities would suggest the cause was an inadvertent trigger pull and not the gun striking the floor. Maybe they should put a sign in the stalls:

"Caution: Don't pull your trigger when you pull up your pants. And wash your hands!"

Next up, this chair has a hole in it -- This one was in an Olive Garden in Provo. KSL tells us what happened:

Lt. John Geyerman, with the Provo Police Department, said, "An individual had a concealed weapons permit. The gun was in its holster on its side. He was sitting down in a chair and reached down to do something to the gun, and it went off and discharged one round into the chair."

Police took the gun's owner into custody, and he was questioned at the police station until officers decided the gun was accidentally discharged.

It's hard to tell what brand it was from the photo, however this commenter at Utahconcealedcarry.com says it looks like a Kel Tec P-11. And if that's correct, it must have the grip extension.

In any event, when in public it's more polite not to scratch that itch.

Open Records Results -- police officers have handgun accidents too

This one happened on April 10, 2008, at the Midland Police Department shooting range and was first addressed on these pages in Who Shot J.R.

An open records request provided the facts surrounding this mishap. But first, here's a question.  Should the details about a police officer accidentally firing his weapon and injuring another police officer be public information?

The city delivers email news releases to anyone who wishes to susbscribe, and it's a good way to keep up with city government news. However, there was no email news alert about this accident. I learned about it from a report on CBS 7 and sent a query to through their contact page asking how they learned about it. But they didn't respond. A tv news department has to shield its sources from those bothersome bloggers, I suppose.

Fortunately, the state of Texas has an Open Records Act requiring government bodies to disclose information in their possession provided the information doesn't fall within one of the several exceptions. So I hand delivered an Open Records Request to the city information officer.

The city circled the wagons and appealed the request to the Texas Attorney General on the basis that it would be too embarrassing to let the public see it. And even after the AG declared that the public had the right to this information the city still dragged its feet, and it was over a month after the AG ruling until the information finally arrived at my P.O. box.

I wasn't really sure what to do with it once I received it. It was just another Glock accidental discharge, but at least with this one there was a lot of detail about how it happened. The AG said the people have a right to know, and given the way the city reacted, then maybe this really should be given public exposure. And given that the shooter holds himself out to be an educator he will surely appreciate the educational benefit this provides and agree that the opportunity to educate the public on gun safety will override any of his personal concerns.

It happened on April 10, 2008, as Sgt. William Dale Seago was about to clean his .40 caliber Glock 22 in the gun cleaning room at the Midland Police Department Shooting Range. He was taking the gun apart in order to clean it, but there was a bullet in the chamber -- a big rule violation. He pulled the trigger sending a bullet into the legs of another police officer.

Check out the Case Report PDF. It's fascinating reading for those interesting in that sort of thing.

Unintentional Glock discharges seem to fall in two categories. First, the handgun has a light trigger pull and no manual safety. So many of the accidents involving this particular handgun happen when someone pulls the trigger when they didn't want to. The second is during the break-down procedure for cleaning. For some reason the Glock was designed so that the trigger has to be pulled in order to remove the slide. If there's a bullet in the chamber, then BLAM! The owners' manual advises against that, of course.

There may be others, but the Glock and the Springfield XD are two handguns that require the trigger pull in the disassembly process. When I first started writing about handgun mishaps I was ready to pin the blame on a design flaw. But comment after comment left on these pages have drilled home the concept that the flaw is between the ears of the people who fire off these things by accident. It's tempting to chide Sgt. Seago about this, but instead let's just take it from an expert at PoliceOne.com:

Of course, I’ve left out the most common cause of a Negligent Discharge, the ever popular “while cleaning the gun,” excuse. This is a rule #1 stupidity issue, pure and simple. You must clear the thing fully and carefully before pulling the trigger or attempting disassembly for cleaning. An aggravating factor here is the need to pull the trigger before disassembly with some brands of pistol.

Finally, something about open records. Search engine queries about open records frequently land on these posts, so for anyone interested in the process, Correspondence PDF consists of the letters involved with this one, including the AG's ruling.

A loaded handgun + a messy trunk + a careless deputy = KABLEWY!

This one happened in Waukegan, Ill., late last month when a deputy sheriff showed up for work as courthouse security and attempted to remove her handgun from the car trunk. The gun discharged, and the bullet passed through her right hand and into her belly. (She had surgery and survived.)

The Daily Herald says the gun was a .40 caliber semi-automatic Sig Sauer and that the "police department determined an object became lodged in the trigger guard ... causing it to fire when [Karen] Harris lifted the weapon." The Lake County News Sun says it was a hanger that hung on the trigger.

Waukegan, is a suburb of Chicago, and here are some interesting remarks from the Lake County News Sun which raise the question, is Waukegan close enough to Chicago to say "that's the Chicago way?"  To wit:

"It's an accident. It could absolutely happen to anyone," Sheriff Mark Curran said.

And,

Harris is the daughter of former Waukegan 5th Ward Ald. Frank Harris.

Hmmm.

Anyway, thanks to Clif Sikes for the pointer about this and the link to the article at Police One which is preceded by this note:

Editor's note: Law Enforcement Firearms columnist Richard Fairburn says, "If you handle guns long enough, you will probably get a bang when you didn’t expect one. Good, stressful training can eliminate most of your officer’s negligent discharge problems, but not all of them." Read his article Causes and cures for the negligent discharge for more information on gun safety. [Emphasis added.]

"Probably?" Not very optimistic. But click that last link and get a pretty good set of gun safety rules:

1. All guns are always loaded.  (Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.)
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist  “this particular gun is unloaded,” see Rule 1.)
3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the  target. (This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.)
4. Identify your target, and what is behind it. (Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.) What I mean by the term negligent discharge (ND) is, a round fired from an officer’s weapon that they didn’t intend to fire. Several factors can enter into the causation of a ND, but they almost invariably involve mishandling on the officer’s part.

And for Deputy Harris, clean out that trunk! And keep the gun in a holster.

He reached for his money and shot himself in the leg -- citizens with guns, let's all be safe now, hear?

I don't intend to dwell on every accidental discharge, but this latest accident in Colorado popped up right on the front webpage of MyWestTexas.com in the "weird news" category. ColoradoDaily.com tells us how it happened as well as the make, model and caliber of the handgun in this guy's pocket. More:

A man visiting his family at Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center accidentally shot himself in the leg at the hospital cafeteria around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. No one else was injured. ...

Steve M. Tapp, 59, of Thornton, accidentally pulled the trigger on his .32-caliber semi-automatic Kel-Tel pistol in his right front pants pocket as he stood in a line at the cafeteria, officials said.

Here's what the Kel-Tec website says about the gun:

The P-32 is mainly intended for plainclothes police officers as a secondary weapon, or for concealed carry by licensed citizens. The small grip size and light trigger pull make the P-32 ideal for female shooters. [Emphasis mine.]

They forget to mention that it has no manual safety. A light trigger pull and no manual safety is a dangerous enough, but to stash it in a pocket where he would be groping for money seems like an accident waiting to happen. For just a few dollars more he could have bought a little Taurus Millennium Pro with a manual safety. Oh well, maybe next time.

With more and more citizens taking advantage of their civil rights and arming themselves there seem to be more and more accidents. And with many in our government likely to be looking for excuses to clamp down on gun owners let's not give them one.

Richard Holbrooke and the dangerous handgun

Years ago Richard Holbrooke was on Terry Gross's NPR show trying to sell his latest book, and he said something in that interview that has stuck with me all these years.

Mr. Holbrooke has held numerous government jobs. There are bios at PBS and wikipedia, for starters, where you can read about Mr. Holbrooke having worked on the John Kerry and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. And most recently he's been tagged by President Obama to be a special adviser on Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Back to the Terry Gross interview. Ms. Gross steered the conversation to his activities during the Vietnam war as a Foreign Service Officer. Ms. Gross seemed to be asking questions for which he had ready answers, and one of them concerned whether he carried a weapon in Vietnam. He chuckled and said yes, a handgun, and he almost shot his foot off. Whoa!

Did that really happen? At the time I suspected that he may have made up that story to cement his Democrat bona fides. But I really don't know. The military issue handgun at that time was the Colt M1911A1 .45 caliber ACP. And it has more safety features than you can shake a stick at. There's a manual safety, there's a grip safety, and there's a half-cock safety. The only way to fire one is to release the manual safety, cock it fully with the thumb, depress the grip safety, and pull the trigger.

Here's a Youtube video in which limalife explains the features, and it's a nice review even if you already know all about the 1911. And here's an animation showing a similar gun going through its motions.

So did Richard Holbrooke accidentally discharge a handgun and almost shoot his foot off? All I can find through Google about it is this republication of a 5/10/1999 article by Dorothy Rabinowitz about a "Frontline" show containing this paragraph:

While [Leighton] Snuffy Smith was dealing with bombing runs and debriefers, Richard Holbrooke was learning to avoid handling weapons; shortly after his arrival in Vietnam, he had been given a .45. When the gun went off in his jeep (he had forgotten to put the safety on) and almost shot his foot off, he came to the doubtless wise conclusion that he should give the gun back.

Apparently he has repeated the story whether or not it actually happened. Maybe one of the skills of a diplomat is to make up cutesy stories to endear his audience to him. Or maybe it really did happen. It would take some serious carelessness to accomplish that given all the safety features. But then we're talking about a career Democrat diplomat here, so anything is possible. We can only wish him luck in his new job as adviser to Mr. Obama.

Added later: Quotes --
Osama bin Laden: "People see a strong horse and a weak horse -- they like the strong horse."
Richard Holbrooke: "I almost shot my foot off."

It happened last summer

He had been drinking -- five beers if you're counting -- but he said he wasn't drunk. The party host showed him a handgun then put it up.  But he wanted to show it to another guest, Stephan Kirk, so he retrieved it. The gun went off, and Ms. Kirk, single mom, age 22, fell dead.

It happened on June 22, 2008, in Snyder, Texas, and Jordan Matthew Ortegon was subsequently indicted and charged with manslaughter by the Scurry County D.A. And Mr. Ortegon and the gun owner, Roland Wayne Duke, were sued in civil court by Ms. Kirk's mom, Barbara Richards, and Jarrod Tanner as the next friend of Ms. Kirk's two year old son. If Ms. Kirk's MySpace page is still up you can see the son's photos there. (Previously at this website see Woman Killed by bullet from handgun in Snyder.)

So what happened that night last summer? Here's what we can learn from the court documents. The handgun was a Swiss made Sphinx 380 double action semiautomatic with a manual safety. "Double action" means that a trigger pull cocks the hammer for each shot, so a person could snap an unloaded gun over and over without manually cocking the hammer.

A "Notice of Oral Statements Made by Defendant" was filed by the D.A. in the criminal case on 9/10/08.  (Click for PDF.)  And it contained the following summation of statements allegedly made by Mr. Ortegon about the incident:

1. On or about June 22, 2008, Defendant said the shooting was an accident. He said that he had the gun in his hands when it went off and shot Stephan. He said that he pulled the slide back to show Stephan that the gun was empty. He said that there was no magazine in the gun. He said the slide slipped and he heard a slight bang. He said that he saw Stephan lying on the living room floor. He said that they were in the living room. He said that Travis Stroud saw what happened. He asked for a cigarette. ...

16. On or about June 22, 2009, Defendant said he clicked the gun five times, that it wasn't loaded, and that he didn't understand why it went off. He said the clip wasn't in the gun. He said he was showing the gun to Stephan. He said that as long as the clip isn't in the gun and the safety is on there is no reason to be afraid and that's when the gun went off.

17. On or about June 22, 2009, Defendant said that the clip was empty and there were no rounds in the chamber. ...

The civil file contained a "Reply to Interrogatories" from the co-defendant, Roland Wayne Duke. Click for PDF.  And it contained this:

I Wayne Duke showede Jordan my .380 pistol that was in my bedroom put up. Before I gave Jordan the pistol I pulled clip outand put it in my pocket. Then I pulled the slide back and locked it so Jordan could see that the gun was unloaded. I give Jordan the gun, waved it around, and dry fired it a few times. He then pulled the slide back and locked it then give the gun back to me. After recieving the gun back I unlocked the slide so it would not pick up a shell. I put the clip back into the gun then put the gun away back into my bedroom. Jordans mother and I walked outside on the front porch. We were outside for 3 to 5 minutes and we heard the gun go off. When coming back into the house we seen Stephan Kirk in my living room floor. I called 911 then started giving C.P.R. to Stephan unitill the police officer arrived. The police officer and I continued C.P.R. untill E.M.S. arrived While Jordans mother and were outside Jordan went back into my bedroom and got the pistol with me not knowing it. I never give him permission to go into my bedroom.

A real tragedy, and it could have been so easily prevented by remembering and practicing the gun safety rules. Note these two in particular: Assume all guns are always loaded. And never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. There's double coverage there, but if both fail then disaster strikes.

The criminal case ended last November with a plea bargain by which Mr. Ortegon was fined and placed on probation. A settlement was reached in the civil suit pending the judge's approval at a hearing scheduled on February 26.

Dude Where's My Glock? (Part 2)

The other day we noticed that ad in the Midland Reporter-Telegram Lost and Found section about a lost Glock handgun and wondered what the back story was. See Dude Where's My Glock (Part 1). A commenter speculated that it might belong to a Sheriff's Deputy. Close, but not quite. It belonged to a Sheriff's Department "Basic Reserve Volunteer."

Here's the short version: Driver puts handgun bag on top of car, gets in, drives off. Buh bye handgun.

And here's the long version from the case report, paraphrased somewhat:

7. Date and time offense occurred:
01-11-09 @ 1030 hours ...

18. SYNOPSIS:
On the above date and time, [the responding deputy] was dispatched to the above location in reference to a lost firearm. Upon my Arrival I contact the complainant [named]. [He] advised that on this date at or around 1030 Hours he was leaving his residence to go to church when he placed a Brown nylon zip up bag containing a Glock 22 on top of his vehicle. [He] stated the bag contained a GLOCK 22, spare magazine and a small mag light. [He] told me he drove to [the church]. Once at this location he realized he had left the firearm on top of the vehicle. [He] stated he back tracked his way home looking for the firearm. [He] thinks that it may have fallen off of his vehicles soon as he backed out of his drive way. [He] thinks someone stopped and picked it up. [He] further stated when he could not locate the firearm he contacted dispatch to have an on duty Deputy come to his residence to take a report.

I requested dispatch notify the chain of command on this incident, which they did. I have also completed a stolen firearm entry form and printed to the records division. I contacted records division and they stated they would enter the firearm as a lost firearm into NCIC/TCIC. No further information at this time.

You can download the case report PDF if you want to see it yourself.

I've redacted the man's name, and I really don't want to make fun of the poor guy. But let's face it, this is cartoon territory. Problem is we don't know whether to laugh or cry. Tell ya what, let's put this behind us, learn from it, and make a new safety rule:

The only thing that belongs on top of a vehicle is a super sized soft drink.

That way we can all yuk it up when it goes flying down the road.

In the meantime, if the MCSO records division followed through and entered the information into the NCIC/TCIC database then the serial number is in the system. And if the gun doesn't get turned in but turns up in someone's possession in the future it could cause a big problem.

Business was BOOMING at the gun show this weekend

I've never seen so many cars parked in the Horse Shoe arena parking lot. Even the annual H.E.B. free meal didn't bring together this many people.

It was the Silver Spur gun show, and it certainly brought out the shoppers. One long time gun show vendor said he made more money in the first two hours Saturday as he made in a full weekend at a gun show last year.  Business hasn't been this good since the Brady Bill campaign.

These shoppers weren't the killers and wackos the anti-gun folks might want you to believe. No, they were ordinary flyover country Americans exercising their Constitutional rights and giving our new President Obama a no-confidence vote on his pre-election promises to keep the government's hands off citizens' guns.

We're currently witnessing Mr. Obama's campaign to spend millions on constituents' pet projects in the guise of economic stimulus. And we are basically in the dark about the many promises he may have made to the various factions that supported him. Mr. Obama probably did not draw a lot of votes from gun owners, and he likely feels no obligation to protect them from the Obama supporting anti-gun groups.  We'll see what happens, and in the meantime gun owners aren't taking chances.

There's a bad economic lesson here, too, that hopefully Mr. Obama won't try on other parts of the economy. Create a fear that the government might regulate a popular product out of business, and the customers will flock to it.

If you missed this gun show don't fret,  the next one in Midland is scheduled for April 18 & 19, 2009.

Oh, what did I buy? I bought three ounces of spicy beef jerky made in Gardendale, TX, and a set of U.S. Army camo fatigues with my name on the shirt. Really. It was the only one with a name on it, and the name just happened to be mine -- there it was stitched in all caps. I don't know where I'll wear it, but I had to have it.

Dude, Where's My Glock? (Part 1)

Lost: One Glock handgun. Reward if found.

A friend pointed out this ad. (Thanks Ann.) It's been running in the Lost and Found section of the classified ads in the Midland Reporter-Telegram for the past few days, and it describes a Glock model 22 handgun that has been lost along with a nylon case, a flashlight and a spare magazine.

There might be a pretty good story behind this, and I wish I could relay it, but I'm in the dark. Who knows? Maybe someone found it and will turn it in. You think?

There's probably a lucrative underground market for handguns with dead end ownership trails. So it's not a good practice to lose a handgun. And as everyone knows, anything that can be stored in a vehicle passenger compartment can be stolen.

Dude, hang onto your gun.

Updated 2/7/09: Obtained case report through Open Records request. See Dude Where's My Glock (Part 2) for the story.

So you bought a new rifle, now what are you going to do?

Gun sellers have been buzzing with activity lately as people have been stocking up in anticipation of what our new president might try to do to their right to own guns. One wag even named Obama Gun salesman of the year. (Dang, I wish I had thought of that.)

Mr. Obama generated a great deal of anxiety as he tried to convince gun owners to believe what he said not what he did.

Anyway, there were a lot of new guns under the Christmas tree last year. And if you got a new rifle, or even if you've had one a while, there's a program touring the country that looks interesting. It's the Appleseed Project, and here's what their website says:

The Appleseed Program is designed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to being a true rifleman. All throughout American history, the rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away — no ifs, ands or buts about it. This 500-yard range is traditionally known as "the rifleman's quarter-mile;" a rifleman can hit just about any target he can see. This skill was particularly evident in the birth of our country, and was the difference in winning the Revolutionary War.

The program is coming to West Texas, and the first one is in just a few weeks. Here's a link to the PDF Flier for the event on February 21-22, 2009, at the Midland Shooters Association rifle range. And here's the price list. (Women, military and kids free!) More detailed information can be found here.

Actually, there are things going on at the range almost every weekend. For example, the learned and likable John Krenik puts on a High Power Rifle Match on the first Saturday of each month. Check out the photos. Many of the participants use AR-15s, and it's a great way to practice and compete with friends.

So unwrap that new gun or clean up the old one and head for the range. Don't be like me and let your shooting skills depreciate. You have to practice to get good, and you have to practice to stay good.

Concord Cop Handgun Discharge, or the Case of the Dr. Strangelove Trigger Finger

Dr. Strangelove was a movie character whose right arm had a mind of its own. At various times his hand might grab him by the throat and squeeze, or perhaps it might do something benign by comparison like perform a Nazi salute. So if a shooter claimed he must have pulled the trigger, but he didn't have any intent to do it, we might be tempted to call it the "Dr. Strangelove Trigger Finger Defense."

But there will be no jury considering this. The shooter was Sgt. Steven Smagula of the Concord, NH, police department, and the bullet struck another police officer in the protective vest leaving nothing more than a bruise. And the New Hampshire Attorney General said "no" to criminal prosecution.

Here's the story. Sgt. Smagula was on the midnight shift, and he organized an impromptu training session for his crew in an unsecured credit union building that was under construction. They unloaded their handguns and did a practice search. When they finished they reloaded their guns and discussed the training exercise. In answering a question about building searches Sgt. Smagula with gun in hand did a physical demonstration of the foot moves. Remember, they had reloaded their handguns. Then to everybody's surprise, "Ka-BAM," a bullet slams into the vest protected chest of another police officer.

According to his interview, as recounted in the New Hampshire Attorney General's Report, the sergeant had his trigger finger on the rail of the gun outside the trigger guard. Then, the report says, "Sergeant Smagula’s finger came off the frame of the gun onto the trigger and his finger inadvertently pulled the trigger." The handgun was a Sig Sauer P229 .40 caliber semiautomatic. The AG's report says that a test revealed that the single action and double action trigger pull measurements were between 4.25 to 5 lbs and 9 to 9.75 lbs respectfully. The handgun has no manual safety, but it has a conspicuous hammer, yet no one could recall whether the hammer was cocked.

A strange accident, indeed. Was it adrenalin that made him pull the trigger? Or did his physical movement cause his finger to slip?  We'll never know. Surely the gun wasn't cocked while he was conducting the demonstration. And if not, the 9 to 9.75 lbs pressure should have created enough resistance to prevent such an unintentional discharge. When I read the Concord Monitor article about it (linked below), I assumed the handgun was a Glock because of the light Glock trigger pull. But no.  So it looks like even a heavy trigger pull isn't a guarantee against those unintentional discharges. Semiautomatic handgun manufacturers should not have been so quick to discard the manual safety.

Anyway, back to Sgt. Smagula's midnight patrol. The next time they conduct an impromptu training session perhaps they might consider the topic of handgun safety. Here are four basic rules of gun safety to get them started:

1. Assume all guns are always loaded;

2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy;

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target; and

4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond.

Be safe now, OK? And maybe consider resurrecting that old service revolver.

But before signing off, it's time to say "thank you" to a couple of people. First, Clif Sikes. Mr. Sikes, the MPD Crime Analysis Supervisor and very knowledgeable handgun instructor with AegisTactical, forwarded the original newspaper story as it was reproduced at Officer.com. Mr. Sikes remarked that back in the days of the service revolver they didn't discharge unintentionally at the rate of the modern semiautomatic handgun and that users don't seem to be adapting to the change very well.

Second, thank you Annmarie Timmins, reporter for the Concord Monitor, who wrote Report: Shooting left sergeant shaken and who forwarded to me the NH AG's report and the link thereto.

Thanks, Y'all!

Open Carry

Heard a radio ad today asking people to sign a petition favoring the open carrying of handguns and the abolition of laws prohibiting open carry. Here's a link to the Texas petition which starts out like this: "We hold that all citizens who may lawfully purchase a handgun be allowed to carry openly in public in the State of Texas except for those places prohibited by law. We also call for state preemption of all handgun laws concerning open carry in Texas."

In support of that it goes on to make the following arguments, (paraphrased):

• Citizens' have the constitutional right to bear arms and defend themselves;

• Criminals are deterred by citizens carrying guns but not by gun prohibitions;

• It's inconvenient to carry an handgun concealed, and it slows down the quick draw;

• Other states allow it, and people there aren't bothered by it.

I believe that the concealed carry laws have helped prevent crimes, or at the very least, have made people feel safer. But I'm not convinced that open carry is really going to accomplish anything more than the concealed carry laws already do. The loophole isn't whether or not someone has to conceal his/her handgun, it's that there are so many places where carrying handguns is prohibited, i.e., gun free zones. Those are the places where the mass murderers like to strike. And unfortunately, the very first and last sentences of the above mentioned petition seek to preserve the gun free zones.

Then there's the strutting: the novices and gun exhibitionists who will make spectacles of themselves. "Mine's bigger than yours," etc.

People who haven't taken the class and gotten a concealed carry license will probably be more supportive of this than those who did. But if lawmakers do decide open carry is the way to go then they will most likely require a license for open carry, too. So it's not going to be a way to skip class.

Therefore, I'm basically indifferent about this issue. Good luck to them. If it's successful, fine. If not, I'm OK with that, too.

A football player walks into a bar with a Glock in his pocket

Sometimes the jokes write themselves. We've heard of so many Glock accidental discharges -- some call them negligent discharges -- that they practically beg for ridicule. It's Darwin's natural selection.

In the handgun world a Glock must be the macho gun -- real men carry Glocks, only sissies would own a handgun with a manual safety. I've written about this issue so many times I could recycle old posts. A typical Glock has a very light trigger pull and no manual safety. Put it in the hands of a careless person and that's an accident waiting to happen.

The news of the day is about a NY Giants football player named Plaxico Burress and how he can't handle his handgun as well as he handles a football. He fumbled. Here's what the NYT said:

The criminal complaint, released by prosecutors Monday, said that an onlooker then saw Burress near the V.I.P. area of the club holding a drink in his left hand and fidgeting his right hand in the area of the waistline of his pants. The witness then heard a single “pop” sound before hearing Burress say, “Take me to the hospital.”

Burress was on the ground, with his legs shaking, when a bloody gun — a .40-caliber Glock pistol — fell out of his pant leg and onto the floor, the onlooker said. Investigators believe that Pierce was standing next to Burress when the gun went off. The bullet, which broke through the skin of Burress’s right thigh and pierced muscle tissue, traveled through the leg before lodging itself somewhere in the club.

OK, you knew this was coming. Children divert your eyes.

"Hey big boy, there was a pop in your pants. Is that a Glock in your pocket or are were you just glad to see me?"