Missouri Man Dies During CCW Class
After seeing it all over the firearm blogs I figured I better address the issue of the Missouri man who shot himself while taking a CCW course on March 5, 2011.
Lesson #1: Don’t have live ammunition in the classroom during a CCW class!
In Vanzant, Missouri, 63-year-old Glenn Seymour, during a concealed carry class, was working on a drill to draw his firearm with his non-dominant hand. He apparently was more familiar with revolvers, but was using a 9mm Browning semi-automatic for this drill for some reason.
Lesson #2: Don’t try to perform advanced firing techniques with an unfamiliar firearm – While Loaded!
While trying to disengage the safety, he pointed the firearm at his body and it fired, striking him in the chest!
Lesson #3: NEVER point a firearm at your chest, or anything else you wouldn’t want to destroy!
While investigators are looking into the incident, the instructor, Paul Richard Williams (70 years old) is also being investigated. The technique that Seymour was trying to do is NOT Required to obtain a CCW permit, and is usually only done in advanced levels of handgun training.
Possible Lesson #4: Choose an instructor that is well versed in safety!
While I personally like that instructors like Williams try to give their students their money’s worth, I can now easily see why they should stick to the basic routine of only giving the info needed to pass the class. While criminal charges against Williams don’t look possible, the future will tell if a civil trial will be brought upon by Seymour’s family.
