Man’s Revolver Goes Off After He Sits Down For Dinner At Restaurant

CLARKSVILLE, TN — A man who was sitting down at a Tennessee restaurant landed in the hospital after his .22 revolver went off upon making contact with the ground.

According to The Leaf Chronicle:

Clarksville Police Department Spokesman Jim Knoll said trying to recreate a situation like the one that happened Monday would be very difficult because everything happened just right — or just wrong.

The 70-year-old Clarksville man entered a restaurant in the 1700 block of Madison Street at about 9:25 a.m. Monday, went to sit down on a stool and dropped a cloth bag on the floor. A .22-caliber revolver was inside the bag, strapped into a holster with the hammer forward. When the hammer of the revolver struck the floor, it discharged, Knoll said. “It was just a sequence of events that created a very bad situation,” Knoll said.

According to Tennessee law, concealed or open carrying of a handgun is allowed with a permit except in certain areas including schools, places where alcohol is served, courtrooms and other places where signs are posted prohibiting them. Knoll said the best way to carry a firearm is in a secure holster or container.

“There are many models of revolver, some of them having a safety bar which would prevent such a discharge,” Knoll said. “Some models do not have that safety feature. In this case, there was a round (bullet) in the chamber where the firing pin could have direct contact. If one round is left out of the chamber that the firing pin rests on, there would not have been a round discharged when it was dropped.”

And here — right here — is why this is still a negligent discharge.

If you’re carrying a revolver — and plenty of folks still do — carry one with a safety bar, or if the hammer’s down, carry it without a round in that chamber.

If you’re carrying a gun that’s not drop safe without taking precautions — that’s still a negligent discharge. We have to avoid them at all costs.

We hope that this man makes a speedy and full recovery.

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