Expert: Dean Speir - 7/10/2009

Question
In a deep state of depression, I took a bottle of pills. At that moment, not wanting to face another day and faced with the fear of the pills harming me to the point that someone would have to care for me, I took my husband's hand gun, of which I am not familiar with. I have never touched a gun before. Realizing what I was about to do, I quickly made the attempt to return the gun to the case. In the process, it went off, the bullet lodged into a wall stud 8 inches from the floor. No one was harmed. My husband, knowing that I was upset and had taken pills, thought I had slammed the door when the gun went off. He called 911 and the police detained me more than 30 minutes, handcuffed me and took me to jail and charged me with reckless conduct (Georgia) 16-5-60. Only there did they realize that I needed immediate attention instead of being in jail and I was driven in the police car to the hospital where I remained for 3 days. Shouldn't the police, knowing I had taken the pills, had me transported to the hospital first, before arresting me. I am fine, but much time was wasted. I feel that they were in such a hurry to arrest me that they care nothing about my physical state of being because they let the ambulance leave and put me in the police car.
Many thanks!

Answer
At the risk of sending you off the deep end again, how do you imagine that this has anything to do with the Second Amendment???

And your subject header is incorrect! It wasn't an "accidental discharge of a fire arm" {sic}, it was a negligent discharge of a firearm, as the charge of "reckless conduct" suggests.

And your statement that "the gun went off" is incorrect as well. Properly functioning firearms do not discharge of their own volition. People cause them to discharge, and in the instance you cite, that person was you.

You need to find a Mental Health topic and try your pity party there, not here!