There are some basic rules to firearm safety every gun owner should endeavor to understand. One of those is that you don’t point the gun at anything you don’t want to shoot. Another is to assume every firearm is loaded.

If you do those two things, most accidents are avoided right then and there. Those that say to ignore those rules are typically idiots who are just asking for a negligent discharge.

I’m not sure which school this gentleman subscribed to, but either way, it was a gun safety fail.

The incident occurred about 10:30 p.m. Saturday while the man was sitting in a car in a parking lot near 90th and Maple Streets. The 26-year-old called 911 after he shot himself just above his left ankle.

The man said he was sitting in his 2011 Chevrolet Malibu, preparing to meet friends for drinks, when he decided to make sure his gun was safe. He said he removed the magazine from the gun and pointed it “in a safe direction” toward his feet before pulling the trigger.

This happened in Omaha, Nebraska. A local police officer noted that most firearms will still fire if a round is in the chamber, regardless of whether the magazine has been removed or not.

This is a feature, not a bug.

It’s also why you check to see if the chamber is empty.

Honestly, the whole pulling the trigger thing makes no sense in this context. It doesn’t make the weapon safer, not as described. Maybe it was single-action and lacked a decocking function. Then, rather than carefully lower the hammer, he figured he’d just dry-fire it, only it wasn’t really dry.

If so, that was stupid.

If not, well, then just what the hell really happened? My guess is that he was playing around with the damn thing and shot himself, then concocted the story about trying to make it safe so he wouldn’t look like a total moron. Maybe stupid, but not a complete idiot.

Of course, that’s just idle speculation on my part.

The first officer on the scene applied a tourniquet–yet another reason you should probably have on as part of your everyday carry. Even if you’re not stupid enough to do something like this, there may be someone else who is–and the man was transported to the hospital for treatment. The report doesn’t mention anything about his prognosis for recovery.

Personally, while I hope he suffers no lasting harm, I do hope he becomes an object lesson in the importance of basic firearm safety. While it’s important to train with your weapon and become comfortable with it, that can all be done without shooting yourself in the leg because you were likely playing with the damn thing in your car apparently before carrying it into a bar so you could drink while carrying.

Yeah, nothing about this sounds like a good idea in the making. The upside is that he only hurt himself. That’s not always a guarantee when talking about negligent discharges.