We see articles like THIS (Warning: Link shows a gnarly wound on a bloke’s arse) from time to time. Where a fellow was wearing his gun in his holster and there was an Accidental Discharge. I’m not calling in Negligent, because the people were generally not doing anything wrong…. Accidents CAN happen, though they are Rare. 99% of the time it is Negligence, but not here. More on this in a moment…
This sort of an accident almost always involve two things:
1. A striker fired pistol.
2. A generic fit soft holster. Most of the time made of Neoprene or Nylon, but also sometimes of some form of softer leather.
This is a bad combination, a Striker in a Soft Holster. If this is your carry combo – I would recommend you change it because I believe that it’s dangerous. Flat out dangerous. Also dangerous are the use of Minimalist Holsters… any holster that covers only the trigger guard, or strives to be as small and light as possible. Some of these holsters can break during use, some can let objects get into the trigger guard…. and none of them protect the gun in any way, shape, or form.
There was one guy getting into a car wearing his Striker in a softer type leather holster where the holster its self rolled into the guard so when he sat down, it discharged. Another guy just leaned against a counter and it went off. So yes – these guns can “Just Go Off” when you are packing a Striker in a Soft Holster and you are not paying attention.
Really I’m coming to the opinion that if you do pack a Striker fired gun in a Soft Holster – or a Minimalist Type Holster – You are being Negligent. There is no valid reason in my mind to do so. You are either too cheap to buy a decent holster, too ignorant to look for something better, or you are packing something different enough that there are no other holster options out there. Which makes me think maybe you shouldn’t be packing it yet.
GET GOOD GEAR. A Holster is a crucial part of your Weapon System and if you don’t have a good holster – then yeah – Your ass is Negligent.