Dealing with a concealed carry firearm in a public restroom may seem like a laughing matter—at least at first. In fact, I’m exercising every single iota of willpower I have and can borrow not to stuff this article chock full of puns and juvenile wisecracks. I’ll apologize in advance for any jokes that slip through my admittedly slack screening process.
However, before blowing off the topic as comical and irrelevant, consider these true stories and the gravity and potential consequences of leaving you gun behind in a public place:
A Florida man…yes, I know. A Florida man. Sigh. Anyway, this guy left his Glock in a public restroom at the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier. Apparently, he put it on the rail on the interior wall of his stall where he left it. A drunk homeless guy came in, found the gun, and said to himself (we’re making some assumptions here), “Hey, I’ll bet it’s a good idea to pull the trigger!”
The drunk fired the gun in the bathroom and fortunately did not hit anybody or innocent toilets. While there are no confirmed reports, his actions may have helped others along with their, umm, business.
The Florida man left his gun stuck in the hand rail, where it stayed until a drunk guy found it and pulled the trigger. You can guess the result. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
A school teacher in Taylorsville, Utah was in the bathroom early one school morning before classes started. While details are scarce, she shot herself in the leg while in the restroom. We can only guess as to the specifics of how she was carrying and what lead to the discharge.
A nine-year-old boy in Ybor City, Florida, just outside of downtown Tampa, went into a movie theater restroom. There to see the movie, Man of Steel, the boy found something more. Sitting on the toilet paper dispenser was a loaded Glock 26. Exercising his gun safety training, the boy didn’t touch it and called out to his father who got security involved. No word on who left the gun there.
There are two tempting locations to “temporarily” set your gun in this stall. Don’t use either of them!
At the University of Austin, leaving guns in bathrooms is a problem.
Within two days in February 2018, two different guns were left in women’s bathrooms at two different campuses. Both guns were recovered and claimed by the owners, one a student and the other a campus visitor.
Apparently one of the guns was found on top of the toilet paper dispenser in a holster, just not one connected to a person.
Read the rest: Concealed Carry and Using Public Restrooms | Range365
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