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Bang / Guns Title: Man killed by his own concealed weapon A Spotsylvania County man with a valid concealed-weapon permit died after a semi-automatic pistol without an external safety discharged as he tried to adjust the weapon, which was tucked into his waistband, investigators have concluded. The 45-year-old man was sitting in the front seat of his family's minivan in a shopping center parking lot on Sunday when his .40-caliber Glock discharged, authorities said. "For some reason, maybe for comfort, he reached out and went to adjust it," said Spotsylvania sheriff's Capt. Liz Scott. "The detective thinks that in doing so — in just grabbing it — he inadvertently grabbed the trigger." "This particular weapon does not have an external safety," Scott added. The single shot struck the man in the hip and he bled to death in a matter of minutes, the captain said. The incident is at least the second in Virginia in 15 months in which a concealed-carry permit holder accidentally shot himself in public. On Sept. 11, 2010, a Bedford County man with a permit accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Lynchburg restaurant as he apparently reached into his pants pocket to pay a bartender for a beer. The .45-caliber Glock 36 was unholstered. Permit holders are not permitted to drink alcohol in restaurants while carrying a concealed weapon. The man was later convicted of recklessly handing a firearm, given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and fined $500. He also was ordered to give up his concealed-carry permit for a year. In the Spotsylvania case, police said the victim was sitting inside his family's van with his four children outside the Giant grocery store in the Harrison Crossing shopping center. The man's wife was about halfway out of the van, intending to walk to the store to return a DVD, when she heard a pop, which she and the children, all younger than 10, initially believed was a balloon bursting. There were balloons in the van. The man threw the gun to the floorboard and said, "Oh my God, I think I just shot myself," according to Scott. The man was pronounced dead after being taken to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg. Scott described the man's gun as .40-caliber Glock 27 with a small pistol grip. Police declined to identify him, citing a department policy barring the release of victims' identities in self-inflicted death cases. Glock semi-automatic handguns and other "safe action" pistols have a series of internal safeties, rather than external, that prevent the gun from discharging unless the trigger is pulled, said J.D. McEwan, who runs the firearms department at Southern Police Equipment. Such guns need to be carried in a quality holster that keeps the trigger guard covered, he said. "And unfortunately, this gentleman, as tragic as it is, wasn't following proper safety protocol," McEwan said. The victims in the Spotsylvania and Lynchburg shooting cases represent only a tiny fraction of those holding concealed-carry permits in the Virginia. As of Thursday, 275,428 people held active concealed-handgun permits in the state, according to the Virginia State Police Firearms Transaction Center. mbowes@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6450
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