Man shoots and kills himself in conceal and carry gun class

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.

The sheriff said the accident happened

while an instructor was having the man

manipulate the weapon with his non- dominant hand -- in this case, his left.

Glenn Seymour was 63. He worked as a

part-time emergency 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 Shootin'

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 semiautomatic 9 mm weapon.

Students were working on an exercise in

which they pull a 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 p lans must be approved by the county

sheriff.

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.

A person answering the phone at the

Shootin' Iron said the business had no

comment at this time.

Sgt. Brad Cole of the Christian County

Sheriff's Department was not involved in

the incident involving Seymour, but spoke

to the News-Leader in general terms about

the class he teaches in Nixa for 417

Conceal Carry.

Cole said that as an instructor, he submits

his curriculum to area sheriffs for approval.

When students pass his class, they must

take a certificate saying they passed to the

sheriff in the area where they live.

Law guidelines

State law gives a general outline of what

must be covered in the eight-hour class

students take to qualify for conceal-carry

permits.

A class must teach safe handling of the

firearm, the safe way to clean a firearm,

and the safe way to store a firearm. A

student must also pass a hands-on test,

shooting 50 rounds to demonstrate

proficiency with the handgun. The student

must also shoot 20 rounds into a target.

The law also requires that students in the

class demonstrate marksmanship with both

a pistol and a semiautomatic, said Cole.

That's because even if a student only owns

a pistol, there could always be some kind

of situation where he or she might have to

fire a semiautomatic.

Cole said the law does not say students

must practice drawing and shooting their

weapon with a non-dominant hand, though

that is an exercise taught in police training.

In his classes, Cole does not include

learning to draw and shoot with a non- dominant hand.

"Some instructors do, and that's fine if it is

OK'd by the sheriff of that county," he said. The range of abilities students have who

come to his classes and their familiarity

with fire arms is pretty wide. Cole said a

beginner could find shooting with a non- dominant hand difficult.

"For someone not familiar with safe

handling -- if they've never done it before - - it could be dangerous," said Cole.

In Greene County there were 2,277

applications for new and renewal conceal

and carry permits, said Lt. Deborah Wade

of the Greene County Sheriff's Office. She

said Greene County has never had an

accident during conceal and carry training

or certification.

Submitted on 03/10/2011

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Springfield News Leader 3-9-2011

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