Sad news from North Richland Hills

[Trainman]

This article was in the Star Telegram this morning. It is just a reminder to everyone to stay safe!
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Man accidentally shoots himself, dies

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- A man died Monday after he accidentally shot himself while removing a handgun from its holster at his home, police said Tuesday. No other injuries were reported in the shooting, which occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 6900 block of Lincolnshire Lane. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office identified the victim as Robert Chapman, 45, who died Monday night at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Chapman's wife told police she heard a gunshot in their home and discovered her husband with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police reports. Chapman told his wife that he was removing a .45-caliber handgun from a holster when it went off, reports state.

-- Domingo Ramirez Jr.

[txinvestigator]

This article was in the Star Telegram this morning. It is just a reminder to everyone to stay safe!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Man accidentally shoots himself, dies

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- A man died Monday after he accidentally shot himself while removing a handgun from its holster at his home, police said Tuesday. No other injuries were reported in the shooting, which occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 6900 block of Lincolnshire Lane. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office identified the victim as Robert Chapman, 45, who died Monday night at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Chapman's wife told police she heard a gunshot in their home and discovered her husband with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to police reports. Chapman told his wife that he was removing a .45-caliber handgun from a holster whenhe pressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire, reports state.



-- Domingo Ramirez Jr.

FIxed it

[Trainman]

he pressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire

Is that what the police report said or are those words your own personal assesment of the circumstances of the tragedy?

[txinvestigator]

he pressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire

Is that what the police report said or are those words your own personal assesment of the circumstances of the tragedy?

It is a fact that guns don't "go off" without some outside intervention like PRESSING THE TRIGGER, nor ar they evil objects capable of causing death and destruction all by themsleves; thereby, being evil and dangerous in and of themselves as the media wants people to believe.

The media loves to paint firearms as they did in this piece. They never report that the person had to actually press the trigger to make the gun fire.

In this case I see 2 of the 4 Cardinal Safety rules violated.

[John]

wow! sorry to hear that this happened. I can only imagine that it must have been a shoulder holster since he was shot in the chest when removing the gun from a holster. Could have been a belly band i suppose. It could also have been that he dropped the gun and was trying to catch it in mid air. Bad thing to do with loaded gun. Let it fall, they have drop safeties you know.

I just don't understand why people do not index their trigger finger when handling a gun. Its such a simple and intuitive thing to do.

[stevie_d_64]

he pressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire

Is that what the police report said or are those words your own personal assesment of the circumstances of the tragedy?

It is a fact that guns don't "go off" without some outside intervention like PRESSING THE TRIGGER, nor ar they evil objects capable of causing death and destruction all by themsleves; thereby, being evil and dangerous in and of themselves as the media wants people to believe.

The media loves to paint firearms as they did in this piece. They never report that the person had to actually press the trigger to make the gun fire.

In this case I see 2 of the 4 Cardinal Safety rules violated.

We assume and discuss these types of obvious ommissions from the media all the time...Its sad when the causes are so obvious...

But in this case most of these types of un-necessary, and tragic, incidents need to be tucked away in the knowledge locker between yer ears, and kept mindful whenever we handle the things...

I have noticed though that some holster manufacturers have created those "indexing" features into ther designs...And that some firearms manufacturers are doing the same on their frames...

For me keeping that finger out and off the trigger has become second nature, and is pretty much not even an afterthought, that it's so automatic...

Its tragic all the same though for this guy...

[HighVelocity]

I live in NRH and don't know the man but the name sounds very familiar. Regardless of the fact that poor gun handling caused his death, it's still a tragedy.
Everybody makes mistakes, does stupid things etc. Unfortunately sometimes these mistakes kill.
I'm not making excuses for Mr Chapman but unless it comes out that the shot was fired intentionally then it's a tragic accident. Luckily his negligence didn't hurt anyone else.

[KinnyLee]

Even though he has his finger on the trigger while unholstering, how did he shoot himself in the chest? He has turn the gun around to shoot himself like that. Regardless of what happened, it is sad indeed. Each time I see people posting pics of themselves or their friends holding firearms, I crinch seeing their fingers on the trigger. This last one was my friend holding his friend's H&K G3 with his finger on the trigger. I had a little discussion with him about that trigger finger, but sadly his response was, "The clip was empty, otherwise my finger would be way off of it"
The "CLIP" was "EMPTY"?!?!?!? It's very irritating.

[Trainman]

he pressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire

Is that what the police report said or are those words your own personal assesment of the circumstances of the tragedy?

It is a fact that guns don't "go off" without some outside intervention like PRESSING THE TRIGGER, nor ar they evil objects capable of causing death and destruction all by themsleves; thereby, being evil and dangerous in and of themselves as the media wants people to believe.

The media loves to paint firearms as they did in this piece. They never report that the person had to actually press the trigger to make the gun fire.

In this case I see 2 of the 4 Cardinal Safety rules violated.

True, a gun doesn't just "go off" by itself. The fact is this. None of us know what the FACTS of this situation were. To presume that this individual specifically put his finger on the trigger and pulled it accidentally in some manner are PURE CONJECTURE.
Did something overt happen to cause the weapon to unitentionally fire? In the words of Duane Thomas: "Evidently".
The sole purpose of my posting the news item were to remind everyone to maintain a high level of safety awareness.

On a side note, I know some journalists are quick to paint guns and their owners with a unflattering paintbrush. I personally don't think that this occurred in this article.

[KBCraig]

You must always assume that you should assume nothing.

I always try to read between the lines, and ask the questions the reporters should have, but didn't. My first thought was suicide, which the wife wants explained away. My second thought was murder.

Both scenarios are more plausible than shooting oneself in the chest while unholstering.

Kevin

[Trainman]

My first thought was suicide, which the wife wants explained away. My second thought was murder.

Both scenarios are more plausible than shooting oneself in the chest while unholstering.

Kevin

And you say that you assume nothing?

[Greybeard]

+1 to what KB said.

but a tragedy in any event.

[rodnocker1]

+1 KinnyLee.
Even with a shoulder holster, you would sweep your weak side shoulder and arm, but not your chest. Unless using your weak side hand, that is. I just tried this (without a holster or firearm) by just trying a weak side draw from where a shoulder rig (and also a cross draw waist holster) would be and that would definitely cause that to happen. My CHL Instructor said he practices weak side draws in case his strong side is ever incapacitated. Whether shoulder rig or waist, this appears to actually be a bad idea. The way the tendons in the weak hand are stretched to grasp the weapon and the sweep over your own body could actually cause you to shoot yourself and do as much or more damage than the Bad Guy would. Carrying strong side and reaching with the weak hand from behind, you could shoot yourself in the back. I'm going to have to rethink the Instructor's suggestion. Still a tragedy, no matter what.

[stevie_d_64]

My first thought was suicide, which the wife wants explained away. My second thought was murder.

Both scenarios are more plausible than shooting oneself in the chest while unholstering.

Kevin

And you say that you assume nothing?

Lets take a hard long look at the word "assume"...

Lets break it down...

[txinvestigator]

True, a gun doesn't just "go off" by itself. The fact is this. None of us know what the FACTS of this situation were. To presume that this individual specifically put his finger on the trigger and pulled it accidentally in some manner are PURE CONJECTURE.

Conjecture based on knowledge. More plausable indeed than the gun just "went off".

Did something overt happen to cause the weapon to unitentionally fire? In the words of Duane Thomas: "Evidently".

Evidently the trigger was pressed to the rear. ;)

On a side note, I know some journalists are quick to paint guns and their owners with a unflattering paintbrush. I personally don't think that this occurred in this article.

Sure they did. The evil gun "went off" while the poor man was simpy unholstering it. Bad gun.