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May 15, 2001 By Aspen C. Emmett A Cortez man who accidentally shot himself Friday night is lucky to have escaped more serious injury, law officers said. Fifty-five-year-old Elmer Birk was cleaning his .40-caliber Glock handgun when it accidentally discharged, sending a bullet through his elbow and grazing his side, said Montezuma County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs. Birk was able to call 911 and was subsequently transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital, where he was held overnight and released on Saturday. "He was lucky — very lucky," Boggs said. Birk was reportedly at his place of employment, Great Cut Dike, attempting to dislodge a bullet from the chamber when it went off around 9 p.m. Boggs said that the unusual dynamics of the Glock handgun make it dangerous for people who do not handle it properly. "To take (the gun) apart, you have to squeeze the trigger, and if you have a bullet in the gun, it will shoot. That’s probably what he got himself into," Boggs said. "That’s the drawback to the gun. You really have to pay attention. "It’s a safe firearm as far as firearms go. It’s not the gun that’s unsafe, it’s the people that aren’t safe." |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
All rights reserved. |
