Opinion
Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- From Patch.com “DALE CITY, VA — A Springfield woman is facing charges after she shot herself with her own gun while attending a sporting event at a local high school. Violet C. Ross, 37, is charged with reckless handling of a firearm after her gun fired while she was attempting to remove it and its holster from her belt, according to reports.”
Here’s what I think happened from reading the article:
- A VA CHP holder discovers that she has a gun on her as she’s approaching a high school football field.
- Upon realizing her major mistake, she headed back to her car to lock up the gun.
- She was probably unloading the gun to comply with yet another stupid law that applies when on school property, and discharged the gun while doing so. I’m sure she was incredibly nervous and broke a few safety rules. The bullet struck her and she had to go to the hospital.
- She is charged with reckless handling of a firearm and I hope that is the only charge she gets.
My thoughts: If such a thing were to ever happen to me:
- I would Immediately get to my car and drive off school grounds
- Once safely off of school grounds, I would relax and carefully remove my handgun and unload it. At this point there is no hurry, so I would take my time
- I would then place the unloaded handgun in a closed compartment or container, such as the glovebox, console, trunk, etc.
- Finally, I would then drive back onto school property and go about my original business
I would NOT approach an officer and tell him of my mistake. I would just get off the school property ASAP and then unload and store the gun to comply with Virginia law (18.2-308.1)
About Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL):
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
For more information, visit: www.vcdl.org.
The last time I checked, concealed means concealed.
Yup. Carry everyday everywhere.
Several times each week my job requires me to enter a building clearly marked “NO WEAPONS (Pistol and knife illustrated) ALLOWED ON PREMISES”. I have to call security and have an armed guard let me in the locked building. With no opportunity to discreetly disarm and unwilling to leave my pistols unattended in my vehicle in any event, I just go about my rounds in non-compliance. No one has ever asked if I was armed and I am not going to offer that information. If anything happens requiring armed intervention there are staff assigned to that task. No one will… Read more »
in my state, so far, truly enforceable gun free zones MUST have certain standardised signage posted in sertain specified locations. The cute little Glock outline with a red circle/hash does NOT comply, thus is not legally a GFZ. I scrupulously ignore all such signs. State law further mandates that in all places that are to be truly gun free, there WILL be individual security screening, AND a secure storage area where armed individuals can safely store their personal weapons before entering, and retrive them at will upon exit. I don’t mind that… that means I can be CERTAIN no dirtbags… Read more »
In Virginia, “no gun” signs do not carry the weight of law. If you are found carrying, you can be asked to leave. If you do not comply, you could be charged with misdemeanor trespassing, but not a firearm-related charge. Most state and local government buildings are not GFZs – except for the employees by employment policy. Schools, and court buildings, local, state, and federal are GFZs, as well as Post Offices, including PO property, but that is federal law.
So! Accidentally shooting yourself while obeying a STUPID law is not enough PUNISHMENT???
I seem to remember an FBI agent shooting someone else while flip-flopping on the dance floor. What I don’t remember is the agent being charged with any crime or even disciplinary action from his bosses. I was going to say employer, but the fact is We The People are his employer.
How about the moron DEA agent who was giving a gun safety class in a school classroom and shot himself. Never heard about him being charged either.
, or a reserve cop/teacher shoots gun in classroo
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I’m sure this incident was promptly added to that ridiculous list of “school shootings” liberals love to post everywhere.
Gun Free Zones have gotten more people killed than Open Carry Area’s. Time to rethink this stupidity and revoke them.
Gun free zones are there to provide body count to justify more gun laws. They want to label anyone that defends themselves a vigilante.
She’s suffered enough, but some puke of a prosecutor will want another notch on his record and will likely follow up with additional charges. The solution should have been, don’t worry about the gun, it’s not visible, keep it in your purse and no one is the wiser. Complying with a bad law was the problem. Disobeying a bad law would have been a good solution, there wouldn’t have been a negligent discharge, and it would have been the right thing to do. In addition, had there been a “crazed man with an assault rifle” (lefty-Democrat wording) at the school… Read more »
And if she is the assailant then who is the victim? Sounds like a weak case to me.
Do you think that a week case would stop a DA, especially if you can’t afford a good lawyer? What are of chances that the jury will be full of anti gunners?
If she’s so nervous that she has a negligent discharge in a gun-free zone, what would happen if she was confronted by a criminal?
Seems to me she needs to practice a great deal more because she obviously can’t handle firearms safely. Maybe she shouldn’t have a permit to carry at all.
Gotta drop that mag then rack that slide THREE TIMES. Unfortunate, agree she should have driven off campus.
Knowing she was going to a NGZ in the first place should have been a red flag to her.
Hey, I’ve gone, on the spur of the moment, with friends to watch their son play in a high school football game.. never comprehending that the stadium, NOT on the school property where the classrooms etc are, is a gun free zone. No security at the gate, no admission charge, so we just milled right on in with the rest of the tide. No one, not even my friends, knew I was carrying………
You forgot to mention driving yourself to the hospital…
I don’t recall it saying ‘Shall Not Be Infringed’ except on school property… There are NO exceptions, people, NONE!
If ya had any f**king brains you woulda thought about that before going to the school??? Or maybe she’s the type to forget her kids in the backseat of a car on a hot summer day!