An employee at the gun store, Mark Smith, 43, was unloading a customer’s .45 caliber handgun inside the store. Smith said he was clearing the loaded firearm when he pulled the slide back and emptied the chamber round from inside the firearm, and when he sent the slide forward on the handgun, there was a magazine with ammunition still inside and the gun accidentally discharged.

Source: 19-year-old accidentally shot at nail salon from neighboring gun store

And a young lady getting a pedicure next door was injured.

Gilbert was transported to Bayfront Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. She was released late Friday night.

We can agree that all Four Rules were not obeyed. But besides that, this reminds me of a pet peeve and  complain I have with gun stores: Most of them do not have a secure zone or object where a gun can be aimed while rendered secure or testing.  From a simple bucket filled with sand and/or clay to specialized devices like Safe Direction Pads, there is simply no excuse for a Gun Shop not to have a dedicated safe point (better yet POINTS) for a customer or worker to aim at.

Both items are just above $200 each. But imagine the money that will be spent on the upcoming lawsuit compared to maybe spending $1,000 for 5 of these items to be placed around the store.

Some money-saving solutions are just too damned expensive in the long run.