Parker County Blog

A recent incident involving an individual with many years experience in both the U.S. Army and in law enforcement reminds us that if not handled properly, firearms can be deadly!  The subject of the Incident Report shown here fired approx 3000 rds of ammunition last year in practice both from the holster and concealed.  He reminds us that “all the training in the world will not make up for one mistake”.  The individual’s injuries were serious but not life threatening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Incident Report, Accidental Discharge                                                 February 7, 2010

On Friday, February 5 at approx 7:15 p.m. I entered a restaurant for a take home dinner.

I ordered my food and paid the cashier with a $20 bill, which she rang up and gave me change.  I put the change in my right front pants pocket; there would have been about $1.50 in assorted coins in that pocket.  My off duty concealed handgun, a Kahr PM9, model 9093, 9mm, loaded with Winchester SXT ammunition was in that same pocket.  The clerk then realized she had charged me too much so she reran the bill and it came to $7.03.  I told her that I have the three cents.  Immediately after reaching into my pocket the pistol discharged one round.

There was an off duty Police Officer with his family that rushed to my aid.  I removed the handgun and laid it on the counter, which he then took possession of. One customer that was standing behind me at the time of the discharge said he felt a stinging sensation on one leg but no injury was noted.  I ask the owner of the restaurant to call 911 for the Police and EMS.

I then went to the rest room and assessed my injuries.  I had a straight line, grazing type wound on my right thigh and another below my left kneecap.

My left middle finger had a deep laceration.

I noted the bullet jacket was protruding from my lower left pants leg.

I went back to the service area and waited for emergency services.  When the responding officers arrived I gave them my identification and a brief explanation of what happened.  The EMS arrived and assessed my injuries which were not life threatening so I called my son in law who lives near the location to give me a ride to the emergency room.  Investigation determined the round had not struck the floor or ricochet.  The Police Officer found the lead portion of the bullet on the floor; I believe it fell from the bottom of my pants.

The finger required six stitches and the cut on my right thigh needed seven.  The bullet scrape below my left knee was very superficial so a bandage was applied to it.

On Saturday, February 6^th I took the Kahr handgun to a local gunsmith for evaluation.  He determined smoothing and reduction of the trigger pull to five pounds had altered the trigger.  He stated they are typically eight to ten pounds.

I have tried to reproduce what occurred during the discharge and found the only way I can get the muzzle to point down and to the left is by pushing on the gun.  If I put my hand under it, get change and hook my finger in the trigger on the way up it points forward or down and to the right.

I have come to the following conclusions:

1. Somehow some lose change lodged below the trigger or in the trigger well.
2. When I put my hand in my pocket I then placed my left hand below the pocket to facilitate removing the coins, by “tightening” my pocket area.
3. Considering the light trigger pull the gun discharged when pushed down.

Conclusion:

Fortunately no innocent bystander was injured.

My injuries were not severe.

It is best to carry your firearm in a good holster that is designed specifically for that gun.

If you do carry in your pocket, don’t carry anything else in that pocket and don’t have a chambered round.

name withheld