A ton of people will carry their firearms inside the waistband of their pants near the appendix area. I, for one, have always been terrified of doing so. Why? Because there are a few cases where someone does something stupid and shoots themselves.

You know, cases like this one.

A man was taken to a hospital in Arizona this week after shooting himself in the groin area inside a Walmart in Buckeye, Maricopa County. The local police department tweeted on Tuesday officers were working with what appeared to be a “self-inflicted accidental shooting” inside the Watson and Yuma Walmart. Buckeye PD later confirmed in an update: “Adult male accidentally shot himself in the groin area inside the Walmart Watson & Yuma. Being transported to hospital. No other injuries.” The Arizona Republic newspaper reported the incident occurred at around 6:30 p.m. after a semiautomatic handgun that was being held in the man’s waistband began to slip. The gun, which was not in a holster, discharged as he attempted to reposition it, the man told cops. The Arizona Republic reported when police officers responded to the gun shot the man was found in the meat section of the Walmart store with “survivable injuries.” Officers said they filed a report for the unlawful discharge of a firearm but it was believed to be accidental.

After I got done laughing over the irony of someone shooting themselves in the groin while in the meat department (yes, I shouldn’t laugh, but since the guy was not at risk of losing his life, I couldn’t help myself), I had to shake my head.

Now, I’ve already admitted to why I tend not to carry in that position, but the truth is that where he was carrying probably had far less to do with what happened than what he was carrying in.

The firearm shifted and required adjustment. Then, when he tried to move it to a more comfortable position (presumably), it discharged.

In other words, it was a crap holster, and this is the kind of thing that can happen when you carry in a crap holster. A good holster will keep your firearm in position and protect the trigger, so you don’t have these kinds of discharges happening in Walmart meat departments.

[Edit: I screwed up. It turns out he was even dumber than to have a crappy holster. He had no holster at all. Folks, don’t do this. Ever.]

Yes, good holsters often cost a good bit of money. This is a sad fact of life.

But you know what else costs a good bit of money? Medical bills from shooting yourself in the groin because your holster was a piece of crap.

Further, nonsense like this gives concealed carriers a bad name. If you can afford a firearm, you should be able to save your nickles enough to get a quality holster that won’t do that sort of thing. It’ll generally stay put and, even if it doesn’t work for some reason, you’re unlikely to shoot your McNuggets off.

Look, I know this will spark more discussions over appendix carry, but the problem wasn’t the carry position. While I have hangups over carrying there, the truth is that this could have happened if he carried in the small of the back, three o’clock, or much anywhere else. Gun shifts, the guy tries to reposition it, and bang.

Get good holsters.