Last Friday, a man had a negligent discharge while in a Food Lion Grocery store in North Carolina. We don’t have many details to go on other than:
According to police, a 46-year-old man was inside the store in the bread aisle when something caused a handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants to fire. via WBTV
One witness said he saw the man grab his crotch and run out of the store and that people started running for the exit. We don’t have any word about the extent of the man’s injuries or how he was carrying.
From the only details we have to go on, it sounds like there may have been no holster at all, and it was tucked in the appendix carry position. And no holster means nothing covering the trigger to prevent “something causing it to fire.”
Now before all the appendix carry haters comment, appendix carry is safe with a proper holster and gun handling (drawing, reholstering, etc.) I switched to appendix carry about three years ago and haven’t looked back.
So, what do I mean about a proper holster? I recommend a quality kydex holster that fully covers the trigger guard and will keep the gun and holster in position when wearing it. You can read our article Five Tips for Being Better at Appendix Carry to dive into more details about appendix carry holsters.
Here’s my go-to list of holster makers I recommend when asked. I personally use holsters from these companies and am not paid by any of them to recommend them.
I don’t gamble, but I’d be willing to be the man who had the negligent discharge in the grocery store did not have a proper holster. If you are going to carry concealed, do your research and then get the proper quality gear. Don’t make your decision based on shiny Facebook ads.
Appendix carry is never safe.
I must beg to differ with you, Sir. I have the advantage of having been gun educated by my father who was a master marksman, competition shooter, Gunsmith, and rifle maker. So I had far more education about how to use guns safely than your average bear. I was shooting at the range at the age of 5 and began shooting prone long range at the age of 8 which is also when Daddy let me start packing reloads. All that being said because I am 5/4 and weigh 105 pounds my options for where to carry are limited. Appendix carry is my very best option and since I wear a back brace it provides even more security for my side arm than a regular holster so appendix carry can be as safe as any other method depending on the operator which is what everything eventually comes down to, the operator. The trigger pull on my pistol is so heavy that the trigger pull itself acts as a safety and you would have to put conscious effort into any kind of discharge carrying a pistol with such a heavy trigger pull.