Yesterday, I wrote that you should always check out a new holster by gently tipping it upside down a few inches above a padded surface (the “tip test”), to be sure the gun will stay inside even when the holster is upside down. This test applies to IWB and OWB holsters, including the ones that allegedly use your clothing for “retention.” Why? Because follow the links below—these things are what happens when you choose to use a dangerous, loosely-fitting gun bucket that does not securely hold the gun in place.

If your soft, inside the waistband holster cannot be trusted to hold the gun upside down when tipped over gently, you put yourself at risk for one of two equally dangerous possibilities whenever you use the facilities.

Guns falling out of insecure holsters in public restrooms:

• Man hurt when gun blasts toilet
• Man could be prosecuted for endangerment after dropping gun in restroom, which fired and narrowly missed another man using the urinal
• Woman hit by stray bullet while sitting on toilet

Note that all of these are just the ones where the gun fired and made the local paper. I have literally dozens more in my files, all equally tragicomic. I have even more stories that I’ve heard personally from talking to people who dropped a gun that did not fire and that did not make the news.

Guns left behind by people who took their guns out of the holster:

• Handgun left in McDonald’s restroom
•  Gun left in airport bathroom
•  Gun left in Panera Bread bathroom — another left in WalMart bathroom
• Gun left in restroom of children’s hospital
• Gun left in grocery store bathroom
• Secret Service agent left gun in Romney’s airplane bathroom
• Gun left in restaurant used to kill someone a few hours later

So yes: if you have an IWB holster that does not hold the gun securely, it’s time to upgrade to one that does. Who wants to be the next headline? Not I!

Oh, as an aside? If you ever do drop a gun, let it fall. Never reach for a falling gun! That’s because modern, quality firearms cannot fire when they strike the ground, despite what the headlines above might imply. All except one of the above shots were almost certainly caused by someone reflexively reaching for the gun as it fell, and unintentionally grabbing the trigger. Let it fall!