Posted on 06/06/2006 10:20:48 AM PDT by real saxophonist
May 24, 2006
Gun's holster is blamed for officer wounding himself
Richmond officer sues two Chesterfield gun shops seeking $1.2 million over accident
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER
A sergeant in the Richmond Sheriff's office is suing two Chesterfield gun shops for an accidental shooting two years ago when he shot himself in the hand. He alleges the holster is to blame.
According to the court filing, on May 9, 2004, while Sergeant Naitraj David was getting ready for a family trip to Kings Dominion, the gun discharged, hitting him in the left hand, "causing serious injury." He alleges a "5 1/2 inch strap became wedged between the trigger and the trigger guard and subsequently caused the firearm to fire."
According to the court filings, the gun shops were to "use reasonable care in assembling, marketing, selling, shipping and/or distributing the holster and had a duty to provide adequate instructions, training, and warnings to those in the chain of distribution."
From the gunshot wound, David "suffered physical pain, discomfort, mental anguish substantial expenses for doctors [and] lost earnings from employment" and is not able to perform his job as before.
The suit was filed against Town Police Supply on Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County while the suit against Southern Gun World on Midlothian Turnpike was filed in Richmond.
According to David's Charlottesville attorney, Bryan Slaughter of Michie Hamlett Lowry Rasmussen & Tweel, David was unsure of where he bought the pancake-style holster, thus requiring two lawsuits.
"There is a slight chance the holster was purchased at Town Police, but I think the suit with Southern Gun will be the one that goes forward," said Slaughter. "Sergeant David is 95 percent sure he bought it at Southern Gun. It's ongoing litigation so I don't want to comment further."
When contacted, David said, "It's in my attorney's hands, so I have to follow his instructions."
"Our records indicate he didn't buy that holster from us," responded Karen Allen, owner of Southern Gun. She said David was also suing the manufacturer. "He'd better have a lot of money because G&G [Gould & Goodrich Leather, the manufacturer in Lillington, N.C.] has never lost a lawsuit."
Both suits against the retailers are similar and seek $1.2 million in damages with interest from two years ago plus legal costs. David, who is licensed to carry a weapon off duty and resides on Kentwood Forest Drive in Chester, wants a jury trial.
The owner of Town Police did not return a call from the newspaper.
Roscoe P Coaltrain...
:)
So if I rely on 911 to save my life, jokers like this may respond? Think I'll stick with my current program - if you try to harm my family or me, I will do all I can to kill you.
May I see your receipt, sir?
You've heard of "Big Business"...
You loved "Big Tobacco"...
You thrilled to "Big Oil"...
Now we bring you..........BIG HOLSTER!
Yep - he's too stupid to carry a firearm...I guess if he was trying to put a gun in a jacket pocket and he had a pen or other object in the pocket that hit the trigger and caused the gun to fire, he would have to sue both the maker of the coat and the pen manufacturer.
Sounds like he may have reached around with his left hand (if he carries on his right side)
to hold the holster in order to 'horse' the gun out, then shot his hand.
`Never let your muzzle cross anything you don't intend to shoot.' Jeff Cooper
Is his name Deputy Barney Fife?
Any cop that shoots himself should be placed in the 'school crossing guard' division, till retirement.
Any judge that lets this go forward should be removed from the bench and given a job at the local McDonald's, as a trainee.
My inlaws wonder why I say 'The hell with 911, I've got my 1911".
i don't see it in the article, but let me make a guess. cop had a glock right? have these cops *still* not learned that its a very bad idea to carry a DA pistol with a round chambered?
Nothing wrong with carrying one in the pipe with a DA.
IMO, it comes down to a matter of competency. This idiot would have shot himself with a 1911 cocked and locked.
I can see it now, known as the "Barney Fife" label.....
Always Take The Gun Out Of The Holster Before Firing The Gun!
Nice tag line - most people don't realize Jesus was speaking to Jews when he said it. shalom
DA or not, there is no reason his hand was in front of the muzzle. That is just natural selection in action.
I worked in cop shops a long time, and periodically something like this would happen back in the good old revolver days. A guy would "dress up" his revolver by putting one of those gawd awful ugly trigger shoes on because a gun magazine writer said it would solve all his shooting problems. The trigger shoes were wider than the trigger guard on most revolvers, so the trigger was no longer shielded or guarded on the sides. The trigger shoes would sometimes hang up on the lip of certain kinds of holsters and blow a hole in the guy's leg.
I would probably be banned if I said what ought to be done to this cop & his lawyer.
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