Veterans’ firearm injuries

Mickie

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Growing up in the South, Mickie says “hunting was big. You always got a gun in the house.” Although he was around firearms when he was younger, “firearm training occurred mostly in the military.” For Mickie, firearms are a means of protection. “You’ve got to protect yourself and you’ve got to protect your family.” 

Mickie ended up getting shot while he “and a guy got into it and we started struggling for the firearm.” During the altercation, Mickie “pulled the trigger and was shot in the leg.” Afterwards, he spent five days in jail and “ended up getting charged.” As a result of his injury, Mickie says “that [his] leg is really weak as a result of damage to the ligaments and the calf muscle.” In addition to the physical impacts, he experiences a great deal of stress related to the legal charges against him from the altercation. “It is stressful wondering how much time I’m going to get…It’s all going down the drain over just a little small incident.”

For friends and family of someone who has experienced a firearm injury, Mickie emphasizes the importance of “trying to be there to support them as much as you can, mentally and physically.” Reflecting on his own injury he says that even with support from loved ones, “it was a mistake that I made and so I’ve got to kind of live with it…it’s something I’ve got to deal with.”

 

Mickie talks about being shot when, during an altercation, he and the other person “started struggling for the firearm.”

Mickie talks about being shot when, during an altercation, he and the other person “started struggling for the firearm.”

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Being in the service, I do know how to properly store it and how to handle a firearm, but I’ve had three different incidents with firearms. And my early incident with a firearm is the last one where I ended up getting shot where me and a guy ended up getting into it and we started struggling for the firearm. And I was able to get the magazine out and we fell on the ground, wrestling around a little bit. And then, I know the magazine was out, but he was about to get it from me and so, I ended up pulling the trigger. And it happened he was pointing at my leg so, I ended up getting shot in the leg and ended up doing like, I think, seventy-five days in jail. Cost me probably about $15,000 in fines and jail time. And I walked around for about a week with the bullet wound, maybe two weeks or something, before I went and got any help for it. And the gunshot wound, I think I probably still have a problem with it because of how it hit this leg, and I have neuropathy in that leg. So, I think that contributes to probably the downfall of, you know, I have weakness in my one leg – my left leg.

 

Mickie describes ongoing neuropathy and how his “leg gets really cold.”

Mickie describes ongoing neuropathy and how his “leg gets really cold.”

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I think, like I said, where it went into my leg, it didn’t hit the bone but it tore up a lot of ligament and they never did take the bullet out; it’s still in there, you know, shrapnel from the bullet, it’s still in the leg. And, you know, you can feel it because they said they didn’t want to go in and tear up all the muscle in there. They wanted to – it’d come out by itself. And so, it’s been since 2013, 2014. So, you know, I can touch my leg and I can feel it. My leg, it’s the left leg, and even though I had neuropathy in there, this leg really gets cold. You know, if I’m laying back, it can be summertime and my leg – the other leg gets really cold. So, I guess that might’ve damaged something in there.

 

Mickie worries about the legal and financial ramifications of the altercation in which he was shot in the leg.

Mickie worries about the legal and financial ramifications of the altercation in which he was shot in the leg.

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But it is stressful, you know, wondering how much time I’m going to get. You know, I’m fifty-four years old and, you know, got a gunshot wound and just thinking about your future when, you know, I guess I didn’t quite retire but, you know, I’m on Disability from Social Security and the VA. And so, I’m thinking now – and I got a couple houses I need to pay for. It’s like; okay, well, I could lose both - if I go to jail for a long time, I could lose my property and I lost Social Security and VA money and all that stuff I done worked for. It’s all going down the drain over just a little small incident and even thinking that you could’ve – I could’ve lost my life in that situation.

 

Mickie reflects on his choice to continue to own a firearm despite the risks.

Mickie reflects on his choice to continue to own a firearm despite the risks.

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You know, I did sit back and analyze, you know, ever since I had different firearms, and the incidents that I’ve been in with them, you know, I said to myself, “Hey, you know, you have been a lot of places.” I was raised in, you know, Miami and I used to walk and, you know, Miami was really high in crime. Been in North Carolina, New York, different places like that, traveling, you know, across town, mass transit, and never had a problem with anyone.  

But then, when I get a couple of firearms, here I am, two or three different times. Well, it’s best for you to leave it at home. You know, even though the one incident was at home. You know, like I said, I was jumped up, it was a different type. It was a revolver .357 where you don’t just pull the trigger; you have to cock it, and then fire it. And I was trying to show her how to do that but then, it slipped. And so, what it did, you know, when it went off, it went through the door, the wall, the door, and through all my kid’s clothes. You know, it was like, “Okay, maybe I’d better not have another firearm,” you know, because it could’ve got serious. You know, somebody could’ve got hurt or something like that. But, been pretty fortunate since those three incidents. Other than that, you know, even though I’m not supposed to have it, I still got to have it. You know, that’s just the American way, I guess.

 

Mickie talks about the increase in crime in his community and his thoughts about owning a firearm for protection.

Mickie talks about the increase in crime in his community and his thoughts about owning a firearm for protection.

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I was raised in Miami. A lot of violence, you know, a lot of people getting shot, beat up, cut. And I just know that my life is really, well, it’s half of one because I always seem to find trouble somehow. But I still believe everybody should be able to own a firearm. Not the assault weapon, but something in their house to protect their home. But then, again, I feel, also, it’s really not nothing in here to take somebody’s life for. I mean, like here, I’m in the country, there’s – we got a high crime rate here, too. We just had maybe two or three murders here just in the last week. And you know, it’s real dangerous. People out there are really dangerous these days. But I think it should be, you know, mainly for, if you’re going hunting or for protection for your home. But a lot of people carry them around looking for trouble.  

 

Mickie talks about his ambivalence towards carrying a firearm for protection.

Mickie talks about his ambivalence towards carrying a firearm for protection.

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I mean, when you’ve got one, it makes you a little brave, I guess I could say. You know, you get in a fight with somebody and, if you don’t have it, you might, “Okay, well, I’m going home.” But if you’ve got one, then, they’re going to escalate to another level and, you know, now you’ve got a problem. Somebody got shot and, you know, both families lose.   

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