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McCook Gazette
Editorial

Do you really need a concealed weapon?

Monday, July 13, 2009

Ever drop your cell phone in the toilet? If not, you probably will.

It's an embarrassing and expensive accident, as you scramble to save the phone (probably impossible) and recover your list of contacts.

Now just imagine it was not a small piece of electronic equipment, but a handgun that you dropped in the loo.

A Florida woman found out last week.

Debra Monce, who has a concealed weapons permit, was using a Tampa hotel restroom when her gun fell out of its holster, hit the floor, went off and shot the woman in the next stall in the leg.

Monce helped stop the other woman's bleeding and had the front desk call 911, but didn't want to talk to reporters who wanted to ask about the incident.

Police said the woman was using a holster without a strap to secure the weapon, which allowed it to fall out and hit the floor.

Nebraska has allowed concealed weapons, with a permit, for a couple of years, and, through the efforts of Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial, recently clarified the law to keep cities from going beyond the state law.

But the Florida incident should at least cause those considering carrying a concealed weapon to ask themselves: Do I really need this gun? Am I willing to increase the risk of accidentally shooting myself or someone else?

If the answer is no, perhaps you'd be better off putting the money into another cell phone.

Official Nebraska State Patrol information on obtaining a concealed weapon permit is available here.

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  • One incident with a gun, it seems, is cited as more than sufficient to claim something is wrong with the system that would allow such a thing to happen. Where are these same people, and their protests about the Thousands killed (by accident) by automobiles, or falling off ladders, or choking to death on a piece of jewelery? The list of the ridiculous could be cited way beyond need to make this point.

    If we were to outlaw every item to have been accidentally the cause of injury, or death, from the market, we would be living in the stone ages again, if even there. Remember clubs, and trees, and storms, kill, and injure. I cite the ridiculous, to address the ridiculousness of a selective condemnation.

    The question is: "...Do I really need this gun? Am I willing to increase the risk of accidentally shooting myself or someone else?..." My answer's are: Yes, as long as there are people who would deliberately murder their fellow-man, and Yes, as I would much more be able to defend your life with a gun, than with-out a gun.

    The right to bare arms is there for every citizen in this country. We all have the right to choose if we will, or will-not carry a weapon. Either choice should be respected, but also made by the individual, not another.

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 3:16 PM

  • Do we "need" to carry a concealed weapon? Maybe not. But do you want to live in a country that will NOT allow you to make that decision yourself? I know I don't!

    You cannot legislate common sense, and while it's a fine line for the government to walk between providing the freedoms we're used to and protecting the general public from avoidable danger, the concealed weapon issue (in my opinion) is a "non-issue". The Constitution guarantees our right to have & bear arms. That should put the debate to a stop...though I'm sure there are plenty of Lefties who'd rather argue.

    -- Posted by Justin Case on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 5:43 PM

  • I have to question why you chose to print this story, when I don't see mention of the Carter Lake Iowa Police Chief (right next to Omaha NEBRASKA) who shot one of his Officers this past Wednesday?

    Why? Well because the news media likes to bury their head in the sand when something like this happens, because it proves that the average citizen (Concealed Carry permit holder) is no worse than Police Officers. There are some on both sides that make stupid mistakes and are negligent.

    There are many average citizens who have much better firearms handling skills and training than law enforcement officers, especially the ones in smaller towns, however everyone automatically gives the police officers a free pass to carry a gun to protect themselves, but the average citizen who just wants to be able to protect themselves is crazy?

    Want to tell a good story about someone accidentally shooting their gun? How about former Omaha Police Chief James Skinner, after moving to Coral Gables Florida, negligently discharged his duty weapon TWICE within a year. Once in the restroom, once in the locker room.

    Guns don't discharge when they are dropped, obviously the person in the story you printed either tried to catch their falling gun, or they grabbed it and pressed the trigger. Pistols do not discharge when they are dropped, the trigger HAS TO BE PULLED.

    -- Posted by cmzneb on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 7:31 PM

  • I have personally dropped my gun into a toilet when I had a holster attachment fail. And what do you know -- the gun did not go off. Maybe that is because there is a difference between a cheap gun and a good gun, same as there is a difference between a cheap cell phone and a good cell phone. This is a product safety issue, not a personal rights issue. If you wanted to do your readers a real service, instead of just stirring up [insert inappropriate term here], why don't you research and print a list of gun models people should avoid carrying because they fail drop tests?

    -- Posted by Calpurnia on Tue, Jul 14, 2009, at 2:11 PM

  • In response to your inane question,"Do you really need a concealed weapon?" . . . It's really NONE of your business !

    -- Posted by gjdagis on Fri, Jul 17, 2009, at 8:35 PM
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