Sorry, don't have link

wsj.com Small, Cheap Guns Are Back, and Some Question Their Safety

Zusha Elinson

7-9 minutes

More Americans than ever are carrying concealed handguns, but some of these small pistols are coming under scrutiny for accidentally shooting their owners.

Travis Barthel, a 34-year-old elementary school teacher from South Dakota, was setting down his coat with his pistol made by Cobra Enterprises of Utah Inc. in a pocket. The gun fired and hit him in the stomach. The 9mm slug severed an artery, pierced his spleen, broke his ribs, and sent him to the hospital, where it took two surgeries and 11 pints of blood to save his life, he said.

Cobra says its guns are safe if used properly; Mr. Barthel disagrees. “A gun should never fire unless the trigger is pulled,” he said. Mr. Barthel owns about 20 firearms and bought the $200 derringer for personal protection and dispatching “nuisance animals” on his rural property.

Are More Women Buying Guns? Depends on Who You Ask

For decades, reports have been saying that more women than ever are buying guns. But a researcher who's been collecting data about gun ownership for just as long is telling a different story. Photo: Clara Ritger for The Wall Street Journal

The number of Americans with concealed-carry permits soared to 17.2 million this year, almost four times the number in 2007, according to Crime Prevention Research Center, and 12 states now allow it without a permit. One of the beneficiaries has been Utah-based Cobra, whose small guns, some called derringers, are easy to conceal and among the cheapest available, selling for as little as $100.

Cobra has also been sued at least 15 times in the past decade by people who, like Mr. Barthel, allege that flaws in the guns it manufactures have caused injuries or death. Among the plaintiffs: A Texas man shot in the leg in 2017 when a duffle bag with his derringer fell; a Louisiana woman shot in the leg in 2016 when she dropped a purse that held her derringer; an Alabama man killed in 2014 when a Cobra pistol accidentally discharged.

Most of these cases were settled confidentially or are ongoing. The company hasn’t admitted any liability. A Cobra spokeswoman didn’t respond to requests for comment. Cobra’s recently-departed president Wilford Gentry didn’t return repeated calls and emails seeking comment while he was with the company. The company’s lawyers, who declined to comment, have argued in court filings that the guns are safe when used properly, blaming the injuries on misuse by the owners.

Mouse guns are great for dispatching nuisance animals! I used to read the WSJ daily. The article reads like it was written by a nitwit.

I seriously question if this was published in the WSJ. A decent editor would clean up this article. Is the CEO dead or just left the company? Recently departed is rather ambigious.

Zusha Elinson, the author, is a national reporter covering guns, cops & crime and lives in San Francisco.

He's definitely out of his element and should stick to writing about topics San Franciscans know about such as shitting on the sidewalk.

Well cobras do suck. I have plenty of mouseguns that don’t fire when dropped.

from page 13, of the manual:

"WARNING
NEVER leave a loaded firearm unattended. BEFORE carrying or holstering your gun BE POSITIVE
that the hammer is in the HALF-COCK position and the SAFETY is ON. ALWAYS keep your gun
pointed in a safe direction."

so numbnuts left the hammer down and it fell and hit the hammer.

quote:

Zusha Elinson, the author, is a national reporter covering guns, cops & crime and lives in San Francisco.

Why can't they get an accomplished guy like Harry Callahan to write these stories? What kind of name is Zusha anyway?

A 9mm mouse gun?

Cobras are absolute garbage like all the other zinc guns manufacturers like Bryco, Lorcin, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Fundman:
Cobras are absolute garbage like all the other zinc guns manufacturers like Bryco, Lorcin, etc.

Harsh.

I have never heard of Cobra. I guess I'm not shopping in the right gun stores.

I thought we were talking about really tiny snakes

I like the Colt Cobra and the King Cobra too.

This is about stupidity, not about a gun. And S&W ought to join everybody else suing Cobra. The Cobra snubbie screams patent infringement!

He would shit a brick if he pinned an article about the safe and wonderful "Clerke 1st" revolver...it makes a Cobra look like a Korth (yes...I have one, Clerke 1st...not the Korth )

quote:

Originally posted by GaryBF:
I have never heard of Cobra. I guess I'm not shopping in the right gun stores.

Classic Firearms carries them.
https://www.classicfirearms.co...nger/cobra_firearms/
They're quite cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

Originally posted by Fundman:
Cobras are absolute garbage like all the other zinc guns manufacturers like Bryco, Lorcin, etc.

Harsh.

Truth, meet hurts.

I've never heard of them but the Second Amendment does not cover only those citizens who are able to afford premium firearms. If these pistols are inherently unsafe, the situation will be corrected via the courts, but even those citizens with almost no budget for a firearm should be able to defend themselves.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if a Cobra would AD when dropped. They make several striker models that seem likely candidates for going bang accidentally.

Put another way, Cobra makes Jennings look like a Wilson Combat.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I've never heard of them but the Second Amendment does not cover only those citizens who are able to afford premium firearms. If these pistols are inherently unsafe, the situation will be corrected via the courts, but even those citizens with almost no budget for a firearm should be able to defend themselves.

100%