What am I expected to be inferring from this? Why is this news? That's a horrible tragedy, and says nothing about the character of the woman. If anything, I'd assume it means she's likely to be on the side of firearm restrictions, and likely to agree with her predecessor on gun violence as a public health crisis. But the summary, at least, tries to frame it in the opposite manner?
Edit: most handguns can’t fire when dropped. I’m wondering if this actually happened as described, or if it was an accidental shooting that was changed.
Badly designed ones. Sig Saur rather infamously has had a ton of problems with guns firing when dropped or in a few instances when bumped while still in a holster.
Most guns should not be capable of going off when dropped or hit, there should be various safety features in place to prevent that.
These kind of misfires are known to happen (Warning: fictional blood and gore). The right impact can either simulate a trigger pull, directly strike the firing pin itself, or otherwise jostle the firing pin free; especially in older firearms, whether due to design or wear. This is why some places mandate that new firearms sold have a drop safety mechanism.
It would likely have to have been stowed loaded and cocked. If it was in the tackle box, other objects in the box could have disengaged the manual safety (if it was even engaged in the first place) and bumped the trigger.
While searching for scissors in a fishing tackle box on a shelf above her father’s bed, she accidentally knocked over the box, causing a .380 caliber handgun inside to fall out and discharge. The bullet struck her father in the head as he slept.