A few days ago the USA Today reported, a young woman in a Wyoming Starbucks had her pistol go off in her purse.   Fortunately nobody was hurt, other than the purse itself and a wall of the cofee shop.

The young woman was carrying a derringer style handgun in her purse that was given to her by her father for protection.  Too bad she was only 17 and therefore underage to be carrying around a loaded gun, it is also too bad that her father didn't teach her about gun safety when he gave her the pistol.  Although some Derringer style guns do have a trigger guard, most like the one pictured here, do not.  Imagine something like that flopping around in your purse?  Now you understand why this accident happened.  Although such a gun isn't a great defensive weapon, it is better than nothing, as long as it is stored and carried properly, in a holster!

Women should be free to arm themselves for protection but you have to do it right or the consequences can be horrific.  First, carrying in your purse is fine, but you must carry the gun in a compartment that doesn't contain ANYTHING else at all.  Nothing can share the space with the gun, not keys, not lipstick, nothing.  A double action revolver in it's own compartment isn't going to just go off on its own.  However, it would be best to also place the firearm into a holster that holds it in position and keeps the trigger covered.

If you can't carry your gun on your person, which is the best place for it to be, then check out some purses that were specifically made to support a concealed pistol.  Here are a couple of sites to check out:

• GunTotenMamas.com
• MyGunPurses.com
• Galco Gun Leather

Originaly posted on the BagIdiot.com blog.