The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Myron B. Pitts column

Jan 06, 2013 (The Fayetteville Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Katherine Bryant, a 25-year veteran of the Fayetteville Police Department and the interim police chief, will have to be re-trained on gun safety after shooting herself in the hand Dec. 26.

It's department policy for an officer involved in a "negligent discharge" of a weapon and is part of what has become an embarrassing incident involving Bryant's private handgun, which went off at her home near Hope Mills.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office investigated and has closed the case. But there are still a few questions. Bryant is not talking about the incident, and the Police Department's spokesman referred all questions to the Sheriff's Office.

But Bryant might want to at least consider explaining a little more about what happened.

Already, Sheriff's Office lawyer Ronnie Mitchell has questioned the time it took for deputies to learn of the shooting. Under state law, the hospital that treated Bryant -- Cape Fear Valley Medical Center -- should have reported the shooting immediately. Instead, according to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Tanna, the deputies didn't learn of the incident until Bryant reported it a day later.

Then there's the matter of the shooting itself, which involved an older model Glock handgun, according to Tanna.

The investigation concluded that the gun discharged as Bryant tried to store it away. Tanna said the gun was not defective, to her knowledge, and that at the time of discharge it was "in the box." She later sent a picture of a Glock in a vintage box like the one Bryant has; a notice in the box says the gun should be unloaded when stored.

Glock handguns are not generally known for discharging on their own.

"The only way a Glock can fire is if the trigger is pulled," said Martin Mancuso, manager of Guns Plus in Spring Lake. Mancuso is a certified expert on Glocks. "You can literally throw it against a brick wall, and the round wouldn't fire." Mancuso made clear he was speaking generally and was not making any judgments on the Bryant case.

He said older model Glocks came with a case that could lead to problems, because the design forced the owner to depress the trigger to fit the gun into the case. He said a police officer friend of his in Atlanta shot himself in the thigh using on older case, because he forgot to make sure the gun was unloaded. Those cases have been discontinued, Mancuso said.

Asked if that scenario might have happened with Bryant, Tanna responded: "From my understanding, it was already in the box and she was placing it on the top shelf of the gun safe." Far as I know, Bryant has a sterling record with FPD and is well-liked. She has no reputation for being dishonest. Remember that she herself reported the incident to the sheriff.

But wouldn't we all benefit hearing a fuller account of what happened Current accounts make it seem as if the Glock went off by itself. For people who are mulling the important decision on whether to purchase a gun for personal safety, they deserve to be publicly reassured that the gun did not act in this unusual way -- unless it did.

Columnist Myron B. Pitts can be reached at pittsm@fayobserver.com or 486-3559.

___ (c)2013 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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