Man accidentally shoots himself at gun class
10:21 AM, Mar. 9, 2011 |
News-Leader staff
Filed Under
News
Crime & Courts
The Douglas County Sheriff is investigating the death of a man who accidentally shot himself while taking a class to obtain a permit to carry a concealed gun.
Glenn Seymour was 63. He worked as a part-time dispatcher in Mountain Grove, said Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase.
“It was an accident,” said Degase. “It was a tragic event.”
Degase said Seymour was one of multiple students taking the class at the Shooting Iron, a facility located about a mile north of Vanzant when the accident occurred Saturday afternoon.
Degase said in interviewing witnesses, he determined Seymour, who was familiar with a revolver, told others that his revolver was having trouble, so he switched to a Browning semi-automatic 9 mm weapon.
Students were working on an exercise where they pull their concealed weapon with their non-dominant hand, take the safety off, aim and shoot.
Degase said that on the gun Seymour was using, the thumb of the right hand would normally manipulate the safety.
It appeared to him that during the exercise Seymour was manipulating the safety with his left index finger, which got the gun turned around facing Seymour. One round hit him in the chest, Degase said.
“Initially the call came in that the gun had been dropped and went off, but the trajectory of the bullet did not match up,” said the Sheriff.
Degase said that in order to teach a Conceal and Carry class an instructor must pass either an instructor’s course offered by the National Rifle Association, or a law enforcement instructor course. Lesson plans must be approved by him.
Degase said the instructor has been teaching the class for some time.
“We’re going to go over the lesson plan, to be sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Degase.
“I think prior to having them shoot left-handed, they probably should have spent more time on left hand manipulation prior to going live fire,” said Degase. 
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