• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Driver handling gun shoots himself

longwatch

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
4,327
Location
Virginia, USA
imported post

I don't have the words. It doesn't say if he was a NH permit holder, even if he wasn't he could have open carried in a restaurant there although he would have been illegal in his car.

A 22-year-old Webster man accidentally shot himself yesterday as he dismantled his gun while driving down Loudon Road, the police said. In the process, Robert Drown also hit a minivan and toppled the sign at the 7-Eleven, according to a witness. Drown was trying to place his gun in a safety mode when it went off, the police said. He was rushed to Concord Hospital with a serious gunshot wound to his thigh. He was listed in fair condition yesterday evening. The police said Drown was fortunate that he injured himself near a fire station and with an off-duty paramedic nearby.
The accident happened just before noon as Drown was headed west on Loudon Road, according to Maj. Robert Barry. When his gun went off, Drown veered off Loudon Road and over the lawn of the nearby 7-Eleven. Drown stopped only when he hit the store's sign, according to a witness. The impact toppled the sign onto Drown's vehicle.
"He never touched the brakes," said Jeremy Murphy, who witnessed the incident from the D'Angelo Sandwich Shop across the street, where he had just finished lunch with two friends.
[align=left]While veering off Loudon Road, Drown also glanced a mini-van, Murphy said. Murphy and his friends initially thought the bang they heard was Drown hitting the minivan, but they realized later it was Drown's gun firing.
[/align][align=right][align=left]
After hitting the sign, Drown got out of his SUV and ran for the fire station next door. Murphy and his friends noticed Drown's jeans were saturated with blood. About 20 feet from the station, Murphy saw the man collapse. "He had lost a lot of blood," Murphy said. [/align][align=left]Justin Putzel of Sullivan, an off-duty paramedic, saw Drown and stopped to help, Barry said. Staff from the Loudon Road fire station also responded. They were able to treat Drown quickly and get him to the hospital quickly. [/align][align=left]Murphy stayed behind to give the police an account of what he saw. The victim "told them he was dismantling his gun while driving and didn't know it was loaded," Murphy said. Barry said Drown told them that he was trying to secure the gun in a safe mode because he was going to leave it in his vehicle while he went to lunch. [/align][align=left]There was no one else in Drown's vehicle. No one else was injured, including the occupant of the minivan that Drown hit, the police said. Drown's family could not be reached yesterday. [/align][align=left] ------ End of article

[/align][align=left]Concord Monitor
[/align][align=left]
[/align]
[/align]
 

Tomahawk

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
5,117
Location
4 hours south of HankT, ,
imported post

What this guy did was certainly not very smart, but you have to wonder why he did it.

"...he was trying to secure the gun in a safe mode because he was going to leave it in his vehicle while he went to lunch. "

How many times every day do people do stupid things like needlessly handle firearms while driving either because they are required by law to do this (VA restaurant ban, national park ban, etc.), or because they don't know of, or aren't comfortable with, carrying a firearm in certain public places.

If this guy was more comfortable carrying,and knew more folks who were comfortable, he might not have made this mistake.

I have a theory that anti-gun attitudes in society makespeople more prone to doing stupid things with guns.
 

longwatch

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
4,327
Location
Virginia, USA
imported post

Not that I know of. It's almost hard to call this an accident because this guy made errors on so many levels. I hope he was a permit holder because if he wasn't he was illegally carrying a loaded weapon in his car then. There is also unneccessary handling of his gun, doing that while he was driving, trying to dissassemble it without checking that it was loaded, not keeping it pointed in a safe direction. Darwin almost strikes again.
 

PaulB

Opt-Out Members
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
28
Location
, ,
imported post

I never heard of a NH restaurant ban, but maybe he was going to a courthouse or some other prohibited place (usually govt. buildings). Yeah, he was stupid, but think of what drives such behavior. If he waited till he parked, then someone might see him fiddling with his gun and sticking it under the seat. He might not have a gun there when he comes back.

All gun laws are counterproductive, even the "reasonable" ones. Any place, like a courthouse, that requires people to go unarmed, should also provide a place for people to check their guns in (with a receipt) just like people used to be able to check their hats.
 

longwatch

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
4,327
Location
Virginia, USA
imported post

In a way I agree with you, incidents like this one are unintended consequences of gun laws. I recently met a man who had unintentionally shot himself doing very nearly the same thing as the man in the story, and he was doing it to comply with the law as well. He was lucky and wasn't as severely wounded as this man.

Maybe the lesson we should take away is that if we should ever find ourselves in a situation where handling a gun is neccessary to remain legal, stop, relax and concentrate solely on handling the firearm safely.
 

DeadCenter

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2006
Messages
718
Location
The Lower End of NoVa, Virginia, USA
imported post

PaulB wrote:
Any place, like a courthouse, that requires people to go unarmed, should also provide a place for people to check their guns in (with a receipt) just like people used to be able to check their hats.
I agree as well -- I find myself taking my paddle holster out and off as I roll to a stop many times if where I am going does not allow OC/CC. Now, it is holstered so the risk of shooting myself is slim. But, someone watching me from the road or a vehicle higher than mine might think I am un-holstering my gun with intent to arm myself which could bring down an unwanted visit or stop from the law.

DC
 

TEX1N

Regular Member
Joined
May 15, 2006
Messages
842
Location
Northern VA, Virginia, USA
imported post

I agree that gun laws force law-abiding citizens to unnecessarily handle firearms. Many times I have pulled into a parking lot a few miles before my destination just to disarm and put my gun in my trunk (where I have a small safe). All because I am prevented by the law from taking my gun into my destination, and because I don't want anyone to see me leaving a $500+ gun in my trunk unattended.
 

Tomahawk

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
5,117
Location
4 hours south of HankT, ,
imported post

Gun laws do more than require unnecessary handling, they intimidate many people into not owning guns, which in turn makes those who do less familiar with firearms and more prone to accidents and mistakes.

Or so my half-brained theory goes.

If, for example, New Jersey was to suddenly adopt VA's gun laws tomorrow, many people would still be afraid of handguns, and even those who started carrying would be too nervous to carry openly and might be more prone to do what the guy in the story did.

Just my thought, no science to back up, I'm afraid.
 

longwatch

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
May 14, 2006
Messages
4,327
Location
Virginia, USA
imported post

I think you are hitting close to the truth, many people have an eroneous impression about the legality of guns and carry, not to mention their safety and functioning.
 

LoveMyCountry

State Researcher
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
590
Location
Ocean Shores, WA
imported post

The last time I went to our Courthouse I left my gun and mags in my car and left my holsters on. Went through the metal detector and while the Deputy noticed my holsters, she never said a word.

I'm considering putting a banana in my holster whenever I am forced to leave my weapon behind - just to show what I think of their silliness.

LoveMyCountry
 

VAopencarry

Regular Member
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
2,151
Location
Berryville-ish, VA
imported post

LoveMyCountry wrote:
The last time I went to our Courthouse I left my gun and mags in my car and left my holsters on. Went through the metal detector and while the Deputy noticed my holsters, she never said a word.

I'm considering putting a banana in my holster whenever I am forced to leave my weapon behind - just to show what I think of their silliness.

LoveMyCountry
Around here you can't bring in food or drink either. :) I have OC'd an empty holster into a courthouse on many occasion.
 

LoveMyCountry

State Researcher
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
590
Location
Ocean Shores, WA
imported post

VAopencarry wrote:
LoveMyCountry wrote:
The last time I went to our Courthouse I left my gun and mags in my car and left my holsters on. Went through the metal detector and while the Deputy noticed my holsters, she never said a word.

I'm considering putting a banana in my holster whenever I am forced to leave my weapon behind - just to show what I think of their silliness.

LoveMyCountry
Around here you can't bring in food or drink either. :) I have OC'd an empty holster into a courthouse on many occasion.

"I've got a banana and I'm not afraid to use it!!"

:p

LoveMyCountry
 

LoveMyCountry

State Researcher
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
590
Location
Ocean Shores, WA
imported post

Well, I did it. The only place in town that has ever told me that I could not carry (and showed it to me in writing) was our local Library. Tonight I took my girls with me to get some books and videos. As our bastion of 1st Amendment supporters doesn't support the 2nd Amendment, I locked up my gun in the car and went in wearing...

096.JPG


My girls thought it was great, but no one else commented on it. I must look like someone who likes to take his banana out for a walk. Oh well, I'll keep doing it until I get to explain it to someone in charge... or the guys with the big butterfly nets come to take me away.:lol:

LoveMyCountry
 

cs9c1

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
548
Location
Mechanicsville, Virginia, USA
imported post

LoveMyCountry wrote:
Oh well, I'll keep doing it until I get to explain it to someone in charge... or the guys with the big butterfly nets come to take me away.:lol:

LoveMyCountry

I am betting on the butterfly nets.:D

I like your style.
 
Top