Timothy Phonisay via Facebook.
Timothy Phonisay via Facebook.

by John Boch

I’m no fan of appendix-style carry.

Yeah, it’s fast to draw from.  Yeah, it conceals well.  It’s a great place to have the gun if you’re sitting down and need it in a hurry.  It’s even comfortable for some.

pic via America's First Freedom.

It can also be fatal with a momentary lapse of judgement.  And that’s why we’ve banned it at GSL Defense Training classes.

Furthermore, I explain to the enrollees why we recommend against practicing appendix carry in their everyday lives:  If you’re reholstering and you’re momentarily distracted you can have a negligent discharge.  Look at where you are pointing the gun while re-holstering…  Everyone thinks “jewels” but a more significant anatomical feature is the femoral artery.

Yeah, some people say, “Well, I take the holster out to re-holster.”  Yeah, I’ve never – not once – seen that happen in a practical application (translation for those in Rio Linda: real life) in my nearly 20 years of firearms training.

Your dog might be peeing in the corner, your spouse could be annoying you, your kid could be getting in trouble, or you could simply be tired, distracted or upset.

Photo by Yojimbo at M4carbine.net
Appendix Carry. Photo by Yojimbo at M4carbine.net
Double down.  Photo by DEAHeat at FloridaConcealedCarry.com.
Double down on potential disaster. Photo by DEAHeat at FloridaConcealedCarry.com.

The bottom line is the distraction doesn’t matter  If you make a mistake, you’re likely to blow your femoral and die.  Do you think someone will be handy to apply a tourniquet promptly and get you to an emergency room PDQ if that happens, even if you’re at home?  What if you’re at the range in he middle of Egypt where there’s lousy cellular coverage?

What if you just shot someone in defense of innocent life and the sirens are approaching.  You’re body is addled with all sorts of adrenaline.  You’re scared.  You’re nervous.  You’re freaked the heck out.  You going to try to reholster now?  It would be a damn shame to survive a violent, predatory attack only to do yourself in trying to holster your gun before cops arrive with guns drawn and their own adrenaline rush.

I know I’m not going to win a lot of love from some guys whose confidence isn’t their short suit.  I’ve seen time and time again how a lot of peeps vastly overestimate their shooting skill sets.  Those skills might have been sharp back in the Spanish American War era, or they might never have been there at all.  It doesn’t matter if you’re Chris Costa.  You screw up and you’ll have the rest of your life to regret your choice in carry positions before it’s lights out for you.

In the end, it’s just not worth it and today’s story is a case in point why…  A young man paid a high price for his final selfie.

MILWAUKEE (Fox) — A 22-year-old Milwaukee man died during surgery at Froedtert Hospital after he shot himself in the thigh Friday morning, August 21st.

Timothy Phonisay was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. Officials say he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh in his home near 44th and Keefe.

According to the Medical Examiner’s report,  Phonisay was apparently posing with a handgun and when he went to holster it, a round was fired and entered his right groin area.

Bob Owens at Bearing Arms sums it up nicely:

Mr. Phonisay shot himself while reholstering his pistol, and the fact that he shot his femoral artery on the right side of his groin confirms he was attempting to reholster a gun carried in the appendix position.

We do not know, and are likely to never know, is if Mr. Phonisay still had his finger inside the triggerguard of his pistol and accidentally depressed the trigger with his finger, or if the firearm’s trigger snagged on an article of clothing or the holster itself causing it to fire. What is known is that something depressed the trigger while he was reholstering, causing the gun to discharge.

Mr. Phonisay had only owned this hand gun for three months. It is probable that he did not have much training beyond that mandated to obtain a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin, and he almost certainly had no formal instruction in how to use an appendix carry holster.

Use of a proper appendix carry holster and proper technique ensures that you will not point the firearm at your femoral artery. Unfortunately, it is obvious that Mr. Phonisay didn’t follow correct technique, and the gun pointed towards his body, ensuring this negligent discharge would become a fatal one.

AIWB is a wonderful carry position. It is very comfortable and secure, and fast to draw when needed. Like every carry technique, however, it requires some training and practice to do safely.

 

Comments are amusing:

JediAcademy

This type of caliber pistol is known for having a negligent discharge, it’s not uncommon for this type incident to happen. Law enforcement, military personnel all have experience a situation similar with this type of gun,some were lucky, some weren’t. This could’ve happened to ANYONE, no matter how properly you were trained. The gun most likely got snagged on a piece of clothing or the holster itself which caused the discharge. “DO YOUR RESEARCH, BEFORE LEAVING “STUPID” COMMENTS.

 

You’ve got to love the internet:  Giving the mentally infirm an opportunity to open their mouths and remove all doubt of their (lack of) mental prowess and expertise on a given topic.

5 thoughts on “APPENDIX CARRY DANGERS: Milwaukee man NDs while reholstering in Appendix Carry mode”
  1. Appendix carry isn’t for me.

    I’m trying not to let my wife cash in that life insurance.

    Sam

  2. I have been to that town in Egypt several times and had no idea that they had a range. I usually spend my time at the Tire Repairless shop. Having revealed my reoccurring travel status, all I can say is “Keep your booger hook off of the *@#& trigger”

  3. You know, I hear a lot of quality people talking about keeping booger pickers off bang switches, but at ANY trip to the local range, I can just about guarantee seeing a majority of people with those pickers on those switches without being anywhere ready to shoot.

  4. I’ve “solved” the problem in my life by employing a VanGuard II holster. It requires me to snap it over the trigger guard before I can slip it into my waist band – thus, I’m not holstering a gun with an exposed trigger. I carry one gun appendix in this manner. It’s obviously not convenient to practice 100 drawstrokes with out on the range, but for daily carry it might actually be “safer” than normal IWB/open top holster carry anywhere else on the waist.

    That being said, I waiver on the fence with this method of carry when used with an inside the waistband holster. I haven’t banned it, but I strongly encourage new students NOT start there. So far I haven’t had a student not take my advice in their first class with us. We’ve also changed our doctrine to include: There is NO rush to re-holster – take your time, look if you need to.

    One statistic that I’ve never seen compiled is the type of ammo most people shoot themselves with when they experience a negligent discharge. We know that most range accidents with handguns happen on the re-holster, but my guess is that almost 100% of those are with ball ammunition. I’d suggest that if those shooting themselves in the ass were doing so with expanding hollow points, we might be seeing a higher number of fatalities/severe damage, as expanding and fragmenting bullets will take turns and experience odd penetration patterns when they contact meat and bone.

    There are potential problems in life with everything we do – some reach a risk/reward tipping point that results in us choosing not to engage in that activity. On the other hand, sometimes we make adjustments and solve problems in order to reap the benefits of the activity. I don’t want to shoot myself at all, and I especially don’t want to clip an artery, so, I chose a holster that can only go on my body when it has been pre-installed on my pistol.

    As far as the adrenalin/excitement factor with the police arriving, set the pistol on the ground, the car hood, or drop it and step on it. The police are going to disarm you and confiscate your gun anyway.

  5. As I wrote in the related thread:
    Appendix carry violates one of the primary rules: Don’t point the muzzle of a loaded firearm at anything you don’t want to shoot (destroy) – e.g. your femoral artery, groin, knee, foot, etc. This argument should have been over ages ago. Rotate the damn holster to the side. Geez.

    P.S. The quoted article says “Use of a proper appendix carry holster and proper technique ensures that you will not point the firearm at your femoral artery.”

    Perhaps, but appendix carry ALWAYS points the firearm somewhere at your body. Especially if you have to sit down, crouch or bend over – which we do dozens of times a day. Then the muzzle is back pointing at your artery. If not at your femoral artery, then even when standing the muzzle is pointing at the front of your thigh, knee, shin and foot.

    The only people who should ever appendix carry are professionals who have some great need for that carry position that outweighs the high danger. That’s far less than 1% of the gun carrying population. As I saw written one — “If someone made a “head holster” that was especially comfortable, but pointed the muzzle at your temple, would you wear it?” I’ve also actually seen underarm elastic holsters for sale that point the muzzle into your arm pit. Double Geez.

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