GARY, INDIANA — In what is being touted by Concealed Nation as a runner-up to the Darwin Award, the stupidest gun owner award goes to a Gary, Indiana woman who attempted to conceal her loaded handgun from police. This was after she and an unidentified male followed the repo man who had repossessed her car. After reporting shots were fired at him, the repo man called the police.
When Gary Police arrived, they discovered the woman and unidentified driver but did not immediately find the weapon. That was until one of them reportedly saw her holding a hand in her waistline. As the Chicago Tribune reported,
After a search of the white Pontiac, police did not immediately locate a weapon, but Cook noticed the woman had her hand inside her pants and called Lt. Dawn Westerfield to the scene. Westerfield discovered the barrel of a loaded .38-caliber Colt revolver protruding from the woman’s vagina and removed the handgun, which had three spent rounds, the report states.
That’s pretty damning evidence if we’ve ever seen it. It’s a good thing that improvised holster didn’t have higher retention. Not only does that sound like the most uncomfortable way to conceal any object – let alone a loaded firearm – it belays this person’s absolute ignorance of firearm safety.
Thankfully, police were able to arrest the woman and secure her firearm so she couldn’t present a danger to herself or others – mostly herself.
There is no mention at this time whether she was licensed to carry a concealed firearm. We’ll update when we know. If she was, she could benefit from a holster lesson.
Should Repo Men Carry Concealed Firearms?
Nobody likes seeing the repo man. He’s right up there with the IRS in terms of people no one wants to ever see. That said, repo men are simply reclaiming property from one party to another. Unlike bounty hunters who go out of their way to invade another’s home or place of livelihood, repo men are never looking for a fight but always have to be prepared for one.
Regardless of the conditions of a loan – be it car, boat, motorcycle or mobile home – the repo man is given the unpleasant task of reclaiming the bank’s goods. And in doing so, he usually puts himself at risk.
In which case, would it have been more advisable for a repo man whom is a concealed carrier to return fire or do what he did – call the police? Thankfully, the woman in question is obviously oblivious to how firearms function, but how often can anyone depend on that sort of ignorance?
We’re pretty sure in addition to giving quite a few police officers something to recount at the bar, this woman hopefully gave that repo man cause to reconsider his idea on whether or not he needs to keep a concealed firearm on him.
Why Learning About Firearms Is So Essential
Firearms safety and basic use isn’t just for smart or dumb people – it’s for everyone that carries a firearm. Concealed or otherwise, there’s no excuse to endanger yourself or others due to ignorance.
We here at Concealed Nation, we never want to issue a Darwin Award (or runner-ups, for that matter). It’s far more preferable that those who own and carry firearms do so in a legal manner, with full knowledge of what’s in theirs and others’ best interest.
Does this change the definition of an inside the waistband holster? If your concealed carry instructors taught this technique in their curriculum, notify your state’s concealed carry authority and then tell us about it in the comments section below.