Gun In Purse Starbucks Shooting Has Us Saying, ‘I Just Wanted A Shot Of Espresso’

A concealed gun in a purse at a St. Petersburg, Florida Starbucks went off Sunday afternoon when 51-year-old customer Pamela Beck dropped it, shooting her 38-year-old friend Amie Peterson. Ouch. I’m pretty sure Peterson said she wanted a double shot of espresso, not a.25 caliber handgun bullet in the left leg.

The concealed handgun must have been a lady’s model. According to a report in Monday’s Tampa Bay Times, Peterson didn’t even know that she’d been shot until she saw the blood. She was treated and released, and her injury was reportedly not very serious.

However, the handgun-totin’ Pamela Beck didn’t have a concealed weapons permit. Maybe it was just another night in Florida, but the officers didn’t haul Beck off to the hoosegow, although it’s possible that Pinellas County prosecutors could file charges later.

But our fearless Starbucks shooter had an acceptable excuse. You see, Pamela Beck is quite the shopper. She was really loaded down with bags, and she only dropped her purse by accident when she was trying to pay for their coffee, and anyway she didn’t know the loaded weapon was in her purse to begin with.

A local news station WTSP report described the weapon as a “0.25 caliber semi-automatic” which sounds sorta scary and sorta not. Her father gave it to her for whatever reason dads give daughters guns, and she put it in a spare purse.

Then one fine day she was swapping purses, and she chose that one and she forgot the loaded handgun was in there and…well…you know the rest.

The police probably thought it was easier to let her go than to let her keep talking.

I don’t know why I’m laughing. Don’t even pretend that it never happened to you.

Well, maybe not with a loaded handgun. And maybe not at a Starbucks. But do you really know what you’ve forgotten in every purse you’ve got stashed around the house?

Sheesh. I’ve got about 50 handbags. I better excuse myself to check ’em all now.

I don’t want to end up in the news as the next loaded gun in purse Starbucks shooter.

[Starbucks coffee mug photo by Rudolf Schuba via Flickr and Fotopedia]