A Florida woman accidentally discharged a firearm that police say she was “unfamiliar” with while at an airport, a most unfortunate venue for this brand of misadventure. While owning and carrying a firearm is a right that must be preserved and defended to remain a free and secure society, it is also a responsibility that Americans need to have a broader understanding of when choosing to exercise it.
The incident unfolded on Thursday morning, December 19, at a United Airlines ticket counter inside the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Brianna Mary Hannah, of Jacksonville, was attempting to transfer the firearm, a North American Arms .22 Magnum, from her purse to a checked bag when the gun went off, according to police.
Hannah told authorities that she had owned the firearm for approximately a year, since Christmas of 2023, and had only fired it once since her husband purchased it. She also noted that her husband loaded the gun for her and that “she was unfamiliar with the firearm and was unsure how to make it safe.”
Luckily, nobody was struck or injured by the bullet, according to police. Hannah was charged with first-degree wanton endangerment, which may complicate life moving forward and could have been easily avoided.
Kentucky online court records show an arraignment scheduled for Jan. 23.
While we don’t know if this is her first firearm, it’s safe to assume she might have joined the ranks of first-time gun owners only recently, like many since the George Floyd riots and the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you remember when we could scarcely find ammunition on the shelves a few years back? That was because of the enormous influx of first-time gun buyers flooding gun shops and squashing not only the availability of popular handguns, rifles, and shotguns but also accompanying ammunition.
It should go without saying, but apparently, it doesn’t, that while owning and carrying a firearm itself gives you a fighting chance, it also introduces some undesirable variables that you could fall prey to if you aren’t better prepared, such as this incident. As with any endeavor, education and training are the keys to avoiding accidents and being successful. If you are going to own a gun, especially if you are going to carry it in public, go out and get some training. With firearms, the stakes can be high, and the cost of a mistake could be far more than one is prepared to bear. Your right is undeniable, but in my opinion, so is your responsibility.
Florida Man undergoes sex-change therapy ?
I have one of those little revolvers. There’s notches in the cylinder between the rounds for the hammer to rest on. It’s pretty simple. She obviously didn’t take any time to familiarize herself with the firearm.
A dman poor choice for a firearm for a chick. The grip is marginal for a guy with hand strength. When she lit off the lil bugger she certainly woke up everyone in the terminal.
I put the boot grips on mine. It’s a fun little range gun.
I have a friend who bought one of those, I had to show him what those notches were for. Nobody had ever told him and he was running around with the damn thing loaded in his pocket. He was lucky he didn’t AD/ND into his leg, or worse.
Gun stores, really need to spend a little bit of time learning about the products they sell. Seems like if it isn’t a mag fed pistol with a red dot or an AR-15. they are sadly pretty clueless.
North American revolvers have a safety notch that makes them quite safe. If her husband loaded the gun for her, he maybe at fault by not putting it on the safety notch..
Or at fault for giving someone a loaded gun that they don’t know how to operate.
Perhaps discharging the firearm was the only way she knew to “unload” it.
Of course, even spent shell casings in a revolver run afoul of TSA’s “firearm must be unloaded” requirement….
RE: “she was unfamiliar with the firearm and was unsure how to make it safe.”
Ignorance is not an excuse.
Ignorance is always an excuse, just not a very good one.
Everyone is commenting on the safety notch and the subjects lack of familiarity. Valid points. How about remembering where your weapon is at all times. Double check your carry on bags. Of course, carrying weapons is why I prefer to drive.
Hannah was charged with first-degree wanton endangerment…
It seems that either the Kentucky legislature, or more likely the charging authority, require remedial parlance training so that they can figure out the meaning of the term “wanton”.
1 a: merciless, inhumane
wanton cruelty
b: having no just foundation or provocation : malicious
a wanton attack
The rest have sexual connotations.
An ND can’t be provoked or unprovoked since it’s not intentional and by definition cannot be malicious. Further, her action was not merciless or inhumane since that would likewise require intent. Nor was it actually violent except perhaps as a rhetorical flourish as part of a description of the chemical reaction that occurred within the case to propel the bullet forward.
So just what was her plan to put this in her checked luggage? Just pull it out of her purse and tuck it in with her clothes? No case, no inspection by the agent or ATFn no ammo in a separate case? Her husband should be arrested for failure to teach her actual care and handling.
She is not a person to be allowed to carry a pistol, but I think that she has found a solution for that.