Anthony Cunningham, Colorado Springs Man, Accidentally Fires Gun Through Floor While Surfing The Web In His Apartment

Colorado Springs police have arrested a man who accidentally fired a loaded handgun that was in his lap while he was surfing the web in his apartment, Wednesday night.

7News reports that 25-year-old Anthony Cunningham was holding a loaded and cocked .45-caliber handgun while he was on his computer and tried to lower the hammer while his finger was on the trigger causing the gun to discharge.

Cunningham told police that he thought the safety was on the gun, but apparently it was not. The gun fired into his floor and the bullet came in through his downstairs neighbor's ceiling, according to KRDO. Fortunately for the neighbor, the bullet only damaged his patio door.

KKTV reports that Cunningham immediately went to check on his neighbor to make sure that no one was accidentally hurt.

Why Cunningham, an active duty soldier from Fort Carson, was holding a loaded and cocked .45 caliber handgun while using his computer was unclear. He's being held on a $2,000 bond.

Comments

[OdinsEye]

01:39 PM on 01/08/2012

I am not saying that what he did was OK, but once again:

For firearms without a special decocking mechanism (most firearms have no decocker), the only way to decock is to switch off any safeties, put your thumb on the hammer, pull the trigger, and slowly lower the hammer.

When doing this, one should have the firearm pointed in a safe direction, use a clearing barrel or simlar device, etc.

See the discussion at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Rooster_Coburn/anthony-cunningham-colora_n_1186719_127479912.html

and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/OdinsEye/anthony-cunningham-colora_n_1186719_127478286.html

[Jasonperkins]

01:09 PM on 01/08/2012

soldier that does not know gun safety makes sense?

[ProfessorBIGWUN]

08:45 AM on 01/08/2012

stupid

[Rooster Coburn]

06:21 PM on 01/07/2012

undefined (Tried to post from my my Samsung Galaxy Pad and that's what I got.). What I wanted to add was that while we don't really know that we are talking about a Colt Model 1911 style .45 ACP single-action semi-automatic pistol that seems to be the assumption. If one absolutely must de-cock a loaded pistol of that type you should place a finger of your other hand between the hammer and the back of the slide before attempting to de-cock. That way if the hammer were to slip out from under your thumb your finger will block the hammer's fall before it can contact the firing pin and cause a negligent discharge of the firearm. Worst case scenario - a pinched finger will occur and not a "BANG!"

[OdinsEye]

10:26 PM on 01/07/2012

That is a common method used to prevent NDs if the firearm does not have a decocker (which the 1911s usually do not).

[Rooster Coburn]

12:09 AM on 01/08/2012

According to some reports I've read the German P-38 would sometimes fire when the de-cocker was activated if there was a round in the chamber. I personally dislike seeing and hearing a hammer fall by means of the de-cocker if their is a live round in the chamber as I feel as if I don't know if the automatic safety mechanism will work as it should each and every time. Personally, for civilians like myself I like the double-action-only type of handgun as defensive use will almost certainly be at very close distances so that a carefully aimed single-action shot will not be needed or even possible.

[ProfessorBIGWUN]

08:46 AM on 01/08/2012

The point is -- why did he have it in his lap in the first place?

[OdinsEye]

06:10 PM on 01/07/2012

For those unfamiliar with semi-auto handguns, I will walk you through some things and since they said it was a .45, we will assume that the pistol is a 1911 style.

You have the empty pistol, hammer down, loaded magazine next to it. We call this "Condition 4".

To go to Condition 3, you simply insert the magazine. The hammer remains down. No cartridge is in the chamber. Note that the safety often does not function in this condition as the firearm is not co.cked.

The next step takes you straight to Condition 0. You pull back on the slide and release it, chambering a cartridge. At this point the hammer is co.cked and the safety is off. The firearm is ready for immediate use.

Now, we put the safety on. This takes us back one step to Condition 1. The 1911 is designed to be carried this way.

To get to Condition 2, you must take the safety off, put your thumb on the hammer and finger on the trigger and after pulling on the trigger, ride the hammer down, lowering it to the uncocked position. The pistol then remains with a cartridge chambered, hammer down/uncocked, and safety is not functional.

[JimInHouston]

09:47 AM on 01/08/2012

Fantastic description.

[OdinsEye]

01:24 PM on 01/08/2012

Thanks

[G D]

02:14 PM on 01/07/2012

Well there's an interesting way to please one self. I think I'll just stick with lotion! lol

[enlightened45]

01:29 PM on 01/07/2012

Anthony, a vasectomy is much more effective and efficient. Substitution neurosis, notwithstanding.

[Rooster Coburn]

12:16 AM on 01/08/2012

If anyone here hasn't seen the famous "D.E.A. Agents Shoots Self In Foot In Front Of Students" video here it is.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeGD7r6s-zU  It happens.

[kareemachan]

02:27 PM on 01/06/2012

Fondling his gun while on the nets. Hmmmm.....

[ScorpioTop]

02:47 AM on 01/07/2012

Yep, having a gun fetish is dangerous.

[Michael Steaphens]

10:37 PM on 01/07/2012

Appears that the car fetish is even more dangerous.Go ahead and get ready to hit your repeat button.

[rikilii]

10:16 AM on 01/07/2012

Maybe he was searching the internet to find out how to unload it.

[InfantryNerd]

02:09 PM on 01/06/2012

I love guns, but they are to be treated with respect at all times to prevent dumb stuff like this from happening.

Enjoy you stay in prison genius.

[Roadrun]

11:24 AM on 01/06/2012

The story is that this guy had a gun in his house that was loaded and cocked. If somebody was in the process of breaking down his door then maybe, but if that wasn't the case he simply asked for what happened.

[rikilii]

04:40 PM on 01/06/2012

It's pretty common to carry a 1911 with a round in the chamber, hammer back, with the safety on.  What he should have done if he wanted to drop the hammer is drop the magazine, lock back the slide, ensure that there was no round in the chamber, release the slide, and THEN release the hammer.  The only exception would be if he had a place he could safely aim the firearm while dropping the hammer with a round in the chamber in case of a slip up, like this one.

[ScorpioTop]

02:49 AM on 01/07/2012

You don't have to be bright to own a gun

[OCerInTN]

05:30 PM on 01/07/2012

The 1911 was designed to be carried in a "cocked and locked" manner. To carry in any other method is the wrong way, by design.

It appears that this person was attempting to place the hammer down without decocking the firearm. This is inherently unsafe as the gun can and (eventually) will go off. Especially if you have your finger on the trigger.

[OdinsEye]

05:46 PM on 01/07/2012

"was attempting to place the hammer down without decocking "

Ehhem... placing the hammer down IS decocking.

Further, mmany if not most firearms do not allow the hammer to be lowered without putting tension on the trigger unless they have a specific decocking mechanism.

[cheechazteca]

10:17 AM on 01/06/2012

Now they will try to make a law that says "No internet use while holding a pistol"

[ScorpioTop]

02:50 AM on 01/07/2012

Good idea. Sounds reasonable.

[RevJimIII]

08:25 PM on 01/07/2012

Too bad that is un enforceable.

[stymie500r]

09:21 AM on 01/06/2012

One has to wonder why an active duty soldier would be holding a loaded .45 and looking at the computer...I have a few ideas about why, and also why he accidentally discharged the weapon... Her's one possibility, anyone hear about Iran and Chavez yet?

[mericart]

02:52 AM on 01/06/2012

Gun is not a toy. He should have kept it locked up. He was lucky it went through the floor instead of through his foot.

[ScorpioTop]

02:51 AM on 01/07/2012

You can't expect gun owners to be responsible.

[RevJimIII]

08:27 PM on 01/07/2012

Yet most are, weird eh?

[Michael Steaphens]

10:39 PM on 01/07/2012

And yet the vast majority are.Things that make you go,"Hmmm..."

[William Blomberg]

12:26 AM on 01/06/2012

Are we going to find this incident on You-tube any time soon, from his recording his gun handling skills via his computer??

[Kimovsky]

11:54 PM on 01/05/2012

Hold on...you can be arrested and held on $2000 bond for accidentally firing a handgun through the floor of your apartment? I'm not a pro-gun advocate but that seems a bit harsh. Granted it was stupid, but no one was hurt and there was minimal property damage. I mean what's next, warrant-less indefinite detentions for being suspected of terrorist activities? Oh wait...

[okim5150]

12:56 PM on 01/06/2012

How about if you fire a gun through another person's ceiling? What if it was your ceiling that the bullet went through?

[Kimovsky]

02:21 PM on 01/06/2012

Assuming it was an accident and my ceiling was the only casualty, I might sue him for damages or expect him to pay some kind of fine. But I certainly wouldn't want him hauled off to prison for such a minor offense. I guess I'm just the forgiving type.

[rikilii]

04:36 PM on 01/06/2012

It's almost certainly illegal to discharge a firearm inside a dwelling in Colorado Springs.  It's up to the police and the prosecutors to decide whether to press charges against him, and the investigation will likely determine whether he gets prosecuted.  Most likely, he'll plea guilty to a low-level misdemeanor, or even summary offense, pay a fine, and maybe have 3 months probation.

[Kimovsky]

04:34 AM on 01/07/2012

What's interesting is that a few weeks ago an Amish girl was killed in Ohio by a stray shot fired by a man who was cleaning his gun and accidentally fired it into the air. But guess what? No charges were filed!

So here we have a case where a guy shoots through his floor (accidentally) and goes to jail, and another where a guy shoots a girl in the head (accidentally) and doesn't get charged. Seems a bit unfair, to say the least.