Wednesday, August 14, 2013

23-year-old woman unintentionally shot and killed with gun she bought earlier in the day for protection

23-year-old Kylie Sage, of Connellsville, Pennsylvania had just purchased a new handgun. According to a friend, Kylie "believed in self-protection" and had a concealed weapons permit.
Kylie was sitting in a pickup truck with her cousin, 24-year-old Jeremy Hamborsky, and his girlfriend. She was showing Jeremy her new gun.
According to police, Kylie handed Jeremy the gun, who removed it from its holster and asked her it is was loaded. Kylie said no, the gun was not loaded. Jeremy then "worked the action of the firearm by holding it in his right hand and racking the slide back with his left hand." When the slide returned, the gun discharged one round.
Kylie was hit underneath her right armpit. She died of her injuries.
Jeremy was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.

45 comments:

Baldr Odinson said...

A simple round indicator would have stopped this tragedy, along with a great many others, but the gun industry considers a few cents more per gun to implement it too excessive.

Anonymous said...

Simply not playing with guns would have prevented this tragedy.

Anonymous said...

Simply banning guns would have prevented this tragedy.

Anonymous said...

Simply practicing gun safety could have prevented this tragedy.

Anonymous said...

treating every gun as if it was loaded would have prevented this accident

Frank said...

A loaded chamber indicator would have done nothing to prevent this tragedy. According to the article the gun fired as soon as the round was chambered. Likely because the guy holding it was not practicing safe trigger discipline and was resting his finger on the trigger when the slide closed.

Also, a lot of new guns do have the LCI. It's mandated in at least one state, and it wouldn't be cost effective to just make them for one state.

Anonymous said...

What other objects do we have in our daily lives that are portable, fit nicely in the hand, and at a slight touch can instantly murder someone across the room? But no, no, let's not regulate guns.

Anonymous said...

The only thing that stops a good person with a gun is....is.......ugh.......is......???
Help me out here, LaPeer.

Anonymous said...

Did you know the reason we have expiration dates on water (which does not expire) is because it was required in one state and it was more cost effective to just stamp a date on all bottles instead of making a separate batch for that single state.

A little bit extra spent on each gun by the manufacturers to add an LCI would go a long way in saving lives, especially with all the irresponsible gun owners we have. The problem is that gun manufacturers don't want to admit that their product is produced to kill nor do they want to admit that more steps are needed in the safety department.

Anonymous said...

he was arrested for what? dumb tw@t gave him a laoded weapon inside of a vehicle and told him it wasn't loaded! thinning of the gene pool...............

Anonymous said...

The simplest and safest solution, based on data, studies and logic, CONTINUES to be - DONT own guns.

Anonymous said...

If she hadn't bought the gun, she wouldn't be dead.

Anonymous said...

What sort of gun regulation (other than a total ban) would have prevented this? She had gone to the trouble of getting a concealed carry permit. It is already illegal for her "friend" to have killed her through his stupidity.

Anonymous said...

This underscores why there is such ferocity in this debate. Many people are justifiably proud to always practice good gun safety and resent being punished for the (admittedly tragic) ridiculous and stupid misbehavior of those who do not.

Anonymous said...

They were both "Responsible law abiding gun owners" according to LaPierre and the NRA along with their conservative buddies RIGHT UP until the SECOND that he accidentally pulled the trigger and killed her. Now, according to LaPierre and the NRA, that handgun MUST have been bought "on the black market" and is "untraceable" and "more regs/rules will never work because they're criminals that got it illegally". Convenient.

Anonymous said...

My father, a licensed gun dealer, a police officer, and a avid gun safety person - almost shot me once, handing me a coworkers gun, that had been given to him to clean (which he was passing off to me to clean - he paid me to do what other officers were to lazy, or to stupid to do themselves) It turns out the reason the officer gave him the gun, was that he had used the wrong ammo in the gun, and a round had lodged in the barrel. He practiced gun safety, removed the clip, pulled the slide to check if there was a round, and after checking both, started to turn to twards with me and let the slide go. It went off and he missed me by inches. Now if trained professionals, with federal firearms licenses, or officers can't be trusted with such - why are we surprised by things like this. Why exactly do we need handguns again? How are they part of the 2nd amendment? there are 3 firearms in this country for every citizen, why do we need to produce more? Believe it or not I'm all for gun ownership, and the right to arms - I am however, also for the complete ban of production of new firearms to be given to the public. You want a gun, you PAY for it. If a firearm and ammo cost more than the coke the drug dealers are fighting over...they won't have them. More people are hurt or killed by their own guns, than them saving themselves from the "intruder"....why not fall in line with the rest of the first world USA, and just get rid of them.

Anonymous said...

Is gun ownership a necessity? How many people actually "need" to hunt for their food? How many people "need" a gun for protection, outside of their own imagination? Basically, gun ownership is a hobby. Fine. But when your hobby endangers the public, maybe it should be heavily regulated or banned. I think it would be a neat hobby to keep Bengal tigers in my back yard. What could go wrong? For some reason, people think this is a bad idea. If your "right" to own a gun puts the public in danger, then the mature, sane, rational, public-spirited, responsible, intelligent, common-sense thing to do is find another hobby.

Anonymous said...

When your speech threatens my liberty, maybe it should be heavily regulated or banned. My owning a gun puts no body in danger. Your owning a mouth is putting my Constitutional rights at risk.

Anonymous said...

You are awesome my friend. I will be stealing this saying.

Anonymous said...

funny how people who bash guns hide via Anonymous

Anonymous said...

My Ruger LC9 is equipped with a round indicator above the slide. Along with owning a gun said owner should take at least one safety course prior to handling or allowing someone else to handle their firearm. Basic safety, assume every firearm is loaded at all times

Anonymous said...

actually, if jeremy had followed standard safety protocol it would not have happened. always assume a gun is loaded. the basic firearms safety rules are centered around this: check, physically & visually for yourself. keep your finger off the trigger, dont point the gun at anything or anyone you dont intend to shoot. almost all semi-autos have loaded chamber indicaters. jeremy was not familiar enough with firearms or the safety thereof, and so wouldnt have noticed the loaded chamber indicator, which even the cheap "saturday night specials" are equipped with. 98% of new semi-auto pistols today are equipped with such feature. get your facts correct then come back.

Blkwdw86 said...

I teach my kids what I learned....when receiving a gun, the very first thing you do is point it in a safe direction and check to see if it's loaded - secure the weapon. Even if you watched the person handing it to you clear it, even if they tell you it's unloaded, no matter what, do it again. When a gun is in your control, YOU are responsible for everything it does. No guesswork, KNOW it's condition, and even THEN still TREAT it like it's loaded. I wonder why people aren't teaching that any more?

Brian Fesko said...

Okay folks... let's get down to it... one should NEVER assume a gun is unloaded simply because they asked someone else if it was or not. NEVER give your firearm over to an IDIOT who doesn't know this cardinal rule.

Pretty simple.

stephen said...

Anonymous coward, simple gun safety is all it would have taken.

Ian said...

Sounds like My Darwin is doing a little cleaning.

1. It's a gun, not an iPod. No need to show it to your friends.
2. The proper way to hand a firearm to somebody else is by opening the action, VERIFYING that it is empty, and SHOWING them that the chamber is empty.

It sounds to me like she had an empty chamber but a loaded mag. When she handed it to him he assumed (which you should never do) that she meant it was completely empty (when she actually meant just that the chamber was empty). He exercised Poor trigger discipline by having his finger on the trigger.

Every weapon has a loaded chamber indicator, it's called Physically checking the chamber yourself. Relying on any other "indicator" only breeds bad habits.

Anonymous said...

"You want a gun, you PAY for it. If a firearm and ammo cost more than the coke the drug dealers are fighting over...they won't have them. More people are hurt or killed by their own guns, than them saving themselves from the "intruder"....why not fall in line with the rest of the first world USA, and just get rid of them."

Really idiotic logic right there. Only the rich should have the right to defend themselves? Only the really successful and ruthless drug dealers would have the guns to wipe out the others? Why do you not look at the bigger picture and see that bans cause more violence? England and Australia have the bans that most of you want and gun crime has risen, not been reduced. Criminals don't care about your bans, you are doing them a favor by disarming the intended victims. Go after the gangs and criminals rather than the legal right to own firearms. We need less violence, but as studies have shown, gun ownership has increased and violent crime has decreased...except where there are gun bans.

Anonymous said...

My heart goes out to this woman's family and friends. What a shame.

Anonymous said...

Wisdom doesn't need a name.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

While also creating more tragedies. Banning guns will make it so that people like her can't protect herself from rapists and muggers. Look up the Washington D.C. 1974 Draconian act. Armed robberies sky rocketed. Also you give more money to organized crime therefore creating more street violence. In case you prohibitionists haven't figured it out when you make something illegal it doesn't make it disappear it simply puts it into the black market which helps gangs thrive. Gangs create a majority of the violent crime in America.

Anonymous said...

I do not own a gu or have any desire to, but I DO KNOW that you do not ask if a gun is loaded. You also NEVER fucking point it at anyone and always treat it as if it is loaded, kind of like don't run with scissors, morons. He should be charged with manslaughter. It would not have happened if she did not buy it.

1964 said...

two less genius's on the street. maybe i was wrong, everyone should own one, unregistered. at least one, maybe more.

"here, take this deadly weapon from me and point it at me"

guess whit button makes the boom noise!

Anonymous said...

How ironic... She would've been still be alive, if she didn't buy the gun.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for showing some common sense.

Anonymous said...

SO, where does the poster come up with LaPierre saying this gun must be black market? Makes no sense at all.
While I am NOT in support of banning handguns, I DO support mandatory safety training before purchase. We have mandatory training to use a car (at least a safety test), why not a gun?

Anonymous said...

If he removed the magazine and opened the action, any remaining round in the chamber would have been ejected. No other way. Unless the ejector was broken or worn off... (very, very rare... but possible, and also dangerous).

So... Bullcrap on your story, unless he and you got the sequence of events backward. Pulling the slide back, then removing the MAGAZINE, leaves a round in the chamber. But it didn't happen that way according to you.

What you're telling us is your father put the car in park, shut off the engine and removed the key, then nearly ran over you with the car.

I've never had any firearm "given" to me... Where do I sign up for that program? LOL

almixin said...

Where Can I Get A Free Gun And Ammo? Please Disclose That Information.

BTW, That Poor Woman Didn't Follow Safety Procedure And The Mistake Was Pricy. She Should've Removed The Mag, Racked And Locked The Slide Open Before Handing Over That Handgun. IT'S PROCEDURE!

Anonymous said...

No - the most recent comment is NOT true. Although most semi-autos have some sort of way to check if loaded, not all have loaded chamber indicators. (To quote you: Get YOUR facts straight!) Some of my pistols have a very obvious loaded indicator (Ruger SR9) Others have only a tiny non-descript peep hole (SigSauer P238). There are many brands/models that you muust know where and what you are looking at-some are tricky even even when you know where to look) How about learning Gun Safety (and the 4 Basic Rules) PRIOR to EVER handling a firearm?

Anonymous said...

Lucky it killed her and not an innocent bystander. There's this thing called "the internet." She knew the risks.

Anonymous said...

The shooting occurred at 2:30 AM in a pickup truck. That sounds about right.

Anonymous said...

simple firearm safety would have prevented it ,treat every firearm as if it was loaded ,point in a safe direction , finger off the trigger , that has been drilled into me since I was a kid and doing my armed security qualification !

Anonymous said...

Any RESPONSIBLE gun owner will clear a weapon BEFORE handing it to anyone!

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you will ever see this, considering your post is from two years ago. However, Kylie's death lives on and is reality for many, to this day. Not just some blog post, to spout off an opinion. You are truly horrible for speaking such nasty words about the deceased.