One story circling the internet over the weekend came out of Dayton Ohio.
On Saturday, Feb. 6, Anthony Holtvogt, 24, was in a Dayton area Fricker's restaurant with his girlfriend and some other friends. According to reports, as they were leaving his sleeve got tangled in his coat and he looked down and saw the slide on his .32-caliber handgun was pulled back. He reached down for the gun and it went off, the bullet striking his girlfriend in the leg.
Fortunately, she had her Blackberry in her pocket and it stopped the bullet, leaving her with only a bruise and leaving Holtvogt facing charges and revocation of his concealed handgun permit.
"The Blackberry was in the right place at the right time and the bullet hit her in the right spot," said Butler Township Police Captain Carl Bush.
I expect that those who oppose concealed carry will use this incident as a prime example of why lawful citizens should not be permitted to be armed in public places and why Ohio should retain its ban on concealed carry in locations that serve liquor as Fricker's does. It took six years since concealed carry passed for there to finnaly be an accident. If there was one car accident every six years people would be celebrating in the streets.
Holtvogt deserves the punishments he is facing for this preventable accident. A firearm should always be carried in a holster that covers the trigger to prevent accidents like this from happening. A pocket holster would have protected the trigger as well as prevented the slide from retracting when the sleeve got caught. Proper gear is important for proper safety.
Hopefully others will learn from his mistake and we can go another six years without such an incident occurring.
Comments
Just another example that all of us with a Concealed Carry Permit are held to a higher standard. He should be held accountable for improperly carrying his firearms and endangering everyone around him. He should count his blessings that no one was seriously harmed by his carelessness.
I'm sorry, but I can't understand how this "accidental discharge" happened from the description:
"his sleeve got tangled in his coat and he looked down and saw the slide on his .32-caliber handgun was pulled back. He reached down for the gun and it went off,"
Unless it is a slam fire, how would releasing the slide fire a cartridge? How could a tangled piece of clothing pull back a slide? What am I missing here?
Yes i agree unless he could prove in court that the weapon malfunctioned he should pay for what he did i dont have a ccw but even i know safe gun handling you wear a holster and never carry just in your pocket
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