The danger of appendix carry

Holstered Weapon Fires, Almost Creates Instant ‘Diversity’

Posted at 2:00 pm on June 4, 2018 by Tom Knighton

Many of us like to think of our holsters as a “safe space.” In other words, once our weapon is holstered, we tend to think of it as safe and sound.

In theory, that’s exactly what’s supposed to happen. However, as one man in Nevada can attest today, that’s not always the case.

First reported by The Truth About Guns‘ Kat Ainsworth, it shows a man holstering his weapon in an inside the waistband holster at about the 11 o’clock position.

From there, it gets interesting.

You’ll need to go over to TTAG to check out the actual video, but you should do that. Talk about ouch.

As Kat noted over there, this doesn’t seem to be cheap equipment, either.

We’re told that the gun in question was a GLOCK 43. The holster was a GCode INCOG. The bullet penetrated the carrier’s groin in a through-and-through wound and he is reported to be in stable condition.

From what I’ve been told, the man didn’t hit anything…vital, which is good news for him, obviously. Otherwise, he might have become some instant diversity, if you know what I mean.

Luckily for him, it missed that particular part. Unluckily for him, he still got shot with his own weapon.

There’s a lot of discussions that will follow a case like this, of course, and most of it will be based on incomplete information. Even more of it will probably be the result of knee-jerk reactions.

None of which is overly helpful.

For example, my knee-jerk reaction was that this was part of there reason why I don’t appendix carry at all. Seriously, I’m worried something just like this will happen to me…only the bullet will hit something important, at least to me.

That, however, isn’t a rational reaction. After all, how many other people carry appendix each and every day with nary an issue? Hundreds of thousands, at a minimum. Possibly millions.

Also, absent complete information on just what happened, it’s difficult to divine any useful information over what happened. Did his shirt get caught up in the holster with the weapon? It looks like that from the video, which would explain the discharge, but I can’t say anything for certain.

What I can say is that the man in the video is fortunate. Not only for not suffering the more obvious injuries I’ve alluded to already, but for not striking anything like a femoral artery.

The one takeaway we can all grasp is that holstering a weapon needs to be done carefully and to make sure everything sit as it should sit. You rarely, if ever, need to holster in a hurry so take your blasted time and make sure it’s done correctly. Make sure you have a quality holster that is durable for long-term use. If it shows any signs of distress, replace it immediately.

Did any of these contribute to what happened? No clue.

That said, I feel it’s good advice none the less. However, I’m also not the end-all, be-all expert by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. Even my own personal delusions tell me differently, so what about you? What’s your advice to help prevent something like this?