The type or brand of firearm hasn't come to light, has it? It could have been a derringer or who knows. I personally know of a case where a fellow had just cleaned his derringer and had wiped it down with an oily rag. He was putting it on the top shelf of a closet. It slipped from his grasp and put a .357 mag. up between his legs. I had a revolver come out of an upside down shoulder holster. The hammer block on the S&W model 36 saved my bacon. It landed so hard the hammer spur broke off. My point is that there are gun accidents. I also know of a case of a robbery of a jewelry store where the owner liked the empty chamber for a semi-auto. When he went to the back to retrieve some merchandise, he also retrieved his .380. He tried to quietly rack the slide, so as to not alert the armed robber. He didn't manipulate the slide with enough force to fully chamber the round and when he pointed it at the robber, the pistol wouldn't fire. The jeweler paid with his life.