Michelle

Michelle spent two years in the Navy and describes her interaction with firearms during that time as “no guns used at all. No training at all in my service with guns.” For Michelle, “guns didn’t come into my life until I moved here in the South. Down here you see shotguns in the back of pickup trucks. That was kind of a culture shock for me. One of my aunts died and left a few guns and shotguns and stuff like that. And that’s how I got my guns. Family heirlooms. I never bought one. I don’t like them. My brother was murdered by gunshot.”

Michelle described how her “injury occurred with a .22. It jammed and I had my stupid finger in the way and it unjammed, I got a little pellet in my finger. I was showing it [the firearm] to my uncle asking him if he could clean it for me because it hadn’t been cleaned since my brother died because he used to take care of the guns for us and I was showing it to my uncle and it just accidentally went off. Thank God it didn’t hurt anybody than myself.”

Michelle went to her “doctor about it and he suggested that I get the shrapnel or whatever taken out of my hand.”  She ended up having surgery, but the recovery time was minimal. After the accident, Michelle hasn’t “touched it [firearms] since.” 

Regarding firearm safety, Michelle believes “locks and safes and maybe the indicator that would tell you if there’s a gun in the chamber; all of those are good. I think everyone should have training before they’re allowed to buy a gun. I think that would help.” Michelle’s advice to gun owners is to “always check the chamber before you pull the trigger. Always check and check twice.”