Last week we wrote about Kansas officials debating whether it was ok or not to allow people with concealed carry permits to enter hospitals and mental health clinics with their guns. Well, this could have happened anywhere, like at a playground or at Walmart, not just in a hospital, but we’ve learned of an incident in Mississippi in which a woman dropped her purse that contained a concealed weapon and the weapon discharged.
The shooting happened on the fourth floor of the Lakeland Family Medicine Center in Jackson. Debra McQuillen, the woman with a (apparently loaded and not on safety) gun in her purse entered the building as a visitor at about 11 am on May 25. McQuillen dropped her purse in a waiting room and her 22 caliber Derringer inside went off and struck a patient in the leg. The victim was hospitalized but had a non life-threatening injury. What better place to have an accidental shooting than at a hospital?
All joking aside, McQuillen broke the law by entering the hospital with her gun, because the hospital had posted “no guns allowed” signs. Because she had a permit but was carrying where it was posted, she has been charged with simple negligent assault and felony carrying of a concealed weapon in a non-public area.
We know that “no guns allowed” signs don’t do any good to deter crime, but unfortunately if you take your gun into one of these marked areas and anything happens where it is revealed you have a weapon, you’ll be facing charges like this too.
Image of Lakeland Family Medicine Center from Google Streetview.
