This is the kind of story that makes me sometimes feel that I’m banging my head against the wall when I advocate spending the time and money to get good gear and good training. Two children were forced to see a woman—possibly their mother—die right in front of them because of the negligent discharge of her firearm.

Police say a woman has died after accidentally shooting herself while getting inside a car.

Corporal Ashley Jenrette with Hampton Police says the incident happened just before 8 a.m. on March 16 in the 1st block of Regal Way.

The woman was pronounced dead on the scene by the Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman was getting inside the car, when her gun accidentally went off.

Two juveniles were in the car at the time of the shooting.

I spoke with Corporal Jenrette with Hampton Police a short time ago. Investigators are still conducting their investigation into the death, and so they are not yet releasing any information about the location and nature of the woman’s injury, the kind and brand of holster she was using (if any) and at what location the gun was being carried, or even if it was on-body or off-body carried in a purse or bag. They are also not releasing any information about the firearm that discharged the single fatal shot.

All we can tell with any degree of certainty is that she did not have the trigger of a loaded weapon adequately protected, that the weapon was pointed at her body, and something depressed the trigger, causing the fatal shot to break.

I will never recommend the holsterless carry of a handgun, as it leaves the trigger poorly protected. I will never recommend inexpensive soft woven nylon holsters, as they are tend to leave the trigger poorly protected. I will never recommend thin leather or suede holsters, as they can tear easily, and they leave the trigger poorly protected. I would never recommend many of the belly bands and ladies’ holsters or pocket holsters that use neoprene, a material also used in wetsuits and known for its flexibility and stretch, all bad things around the trigger of a gun.

Are you sensing a theme here?

I can only recommend quality, well-designed holsters made of rigid leather or Kydex (living in the South I prefer Kydex to help keep sweat off my gun) to protect the trigger and keep the gun from going off, even if I fall, or slam into a hard surface directly against the holster.

Something pulled the trigger here. Whether it was this woman’s finger due to negligent gun handling, or due to her using no holster, or a poorly designed/maintained/built holster, is really very irrelevant to her family. My friend Reid Henrichs of Valor Ridge often notes that, “the lessons we learn are etched on the tombstones of others.”

Learn from this mistake, and never carry a handgun that isn’t protected by a quality holster that will both retain the weapon and protect the trigger from both fingers and foreign objects.