A Palm Coast woman who was accidentally shot by her son said she’s fine.

[…]

Her 27-year-old son, Todd Johnston, was cleaning his 9mm Glock handgun at the dining-room table when he inadvertently discharged a round, which traveled through his mother’s hip and lodged in the wall, the report states. Investigators deemed there was no foul play.

[…]

The younger Johnston wouldn’t answer a reporter’s questions but told investigators he assumed the gun was unloaded when he left the shooting range Thursday, according to the report. He said he began “field stripping” the gun, a process that requires the trigger to be pulled to remove the slide, when it discharged.

Full story. (h/t Fark)

• That was not an accident – that was negligence.
• All guns are always loaded. (Cooper Rule #1)
• Yes, some guns require a trigger press to disassemble. There’s nothing wrong with that, so long as you have followed proper procedure (and we should not dumb down designs merely because people are negligent — that solves and improves nothing).
• Before you pack up your gun, verify it is unloaded.
• Whenever you pick up a gun, verify its state. Even if you set it down for just a moment, when you pick it back up you must verify its state.
• The way to unload a semi-automatic handgun? Remove the magazine. Point the muzzle in a safe direction. Pull the slide all the way back, quickly and firmly to eject any round that may be in the chamber; lock the slide back. Visually inspect the magazine well to ensure there’s nothing in there. Visually inspect the chamber to ensure there’s nothing in there. You can also use tactile methods, such as inserting your pinky into the magazine well and chamber (breech end, NOT muzzle end) to feel for anything. Verify again. In fact, verify a third time. Make damn sure there’s nothing in the gun. Once you are certain there’s nothing in the gun, pull the slide to the rear to release/drop it. Point the gun in a safe direction, and you can then press the trigger to do things like release the slide for cleaning, or just drop the hammer/striker to release spring pressure.
• A safe direction? There’s no hard and fast rule, but it basically means you have to consider where if a bullet came out of the gun, where would that bullet come to rest. Minimization of damage by that bullet’s travel and eventual rest is key. Remember, things like drywall and your mom’s hip will not stop bullets… bullets will go through them, they will cause damage. Don’t just consider things based upon what you can and cannot see — bullets may travel through, so what’s beyond?
• Do not clean your firearms in the same places you eat. Cleaning involves strong chemicals, you’re cleaning away things like lead… all sorts of things you don’t want to ingest. Don’t contaminate your eating areas; it’s not good for your health.