General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShould guns conform to safety standards which require them to not fire when dropped?
This kind of thing does happen quite frequently.
Should they be required to meet safety standards which require them to not discharge when dropped, to avoid situations like or similar to this:
Woman In Starbucks Drops Purse With Forgotten Gun Inside, Shoots Friend In The Leg: St. Pete Police
A Florida woman accidentally shot her friend in the leg while waiting in line at a Starbucks on Saturday.
Police say Pamela Beck and Amie Peterson were getting coffee at the Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg when Beck moved to set her bags down in order to pay for her drink.
Her purse "hit the ground hard," St. Petersburg Police spokesman Mike Puetz told The Huffington Post, and a fully loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun that was in the bottom of the handbag fired, striking Peterson above the knee.
Beck told investigators that her father had given her the gun about a year ago, and she hadn't intended to bring it out in public. "She had forgotten about it," Puetz said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/gun-in-purse-starbucks_n_3268652.html
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Yes, regulate this product for some minimum safety and design, like most products are | |
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No, do not regulate this product as other products are | |
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Megalo_Man
(88 posts)that will fire if it is dropped, unless its like, say, a particular type of 1911. A glock won't fire if its dropped, but they have been known to explode.
Deep13
(39,154 posts)hand guns have internal safeties to prevent that, except for models that are intentionally based on old-fashioned designs. Even if a revolver is dropped on its hammer, it will not fire.
I don't know what happened in that recent example--perhaps she was carrying the pistol cocked, but unlocked.
I'd be interested to know how old the gun was and the make/model. Pretty much every modern firearm already has drop safety built in.