Today’s winner is from Snohomish, WA.
Darrel Elam, 52, was preparing to go hiking on Blewett Pass and had moved his 40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun from its holster to his back pocket to see if that position would be more comfortable for walking, said Jerry Moore, chief of administration for the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
The gun discharged and shot down his left buttock and left leg, coming to rest just above his knee.
There’s more at the link.
And that, boys and girls, is why you shouldn’t carry a loaded gun in your pocket unless it’s in a properly-designed pocket holster that covers (and safeguards) the trigger mechanism. Without that, anything inside your pocket, or anything pressing on your pocket from the outside, might activate the trigger mechanism, with results that are both noisy and painful (sometimes terminally so).
Mr. Elam was extremely fortunate that his injuries were relatively light. I bet he won’t do that again in a hurry!
Peter
What always bothers me about incidents like this is that people who don't know anything about guns will assume that the gun is at fault here, when in reality it is the doofus carrying the gun with no understanding of the care he should be taking with the firearm.
35 years ago, or so, there was a primitive, indoor range in S.E. Phoenix. No presentations were allowed, muzzles always downrange.
A local sheriff's deputy, insisted, as he was 'trained', he be allowed to draw. The well-canted Bill Jordan holster held a S&W .357. A one-handed draw, and a single .357 round entered the deputy just behind the hipbone, and exited lower down the right cheek. He didn't even know he had shot himself.