Deputy accidentally shoots woman in concealed weapons class

A South Carolina sheriff who has called for women to be armed isn't backing down after one of his deputies accidentally shot a female student during a concealed handgun class.

At a press conference over the weekend, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright explained that Deputy Skip Smith should have checked to make sure that Crystal Smith's .22 caliber pistol was unloaded.

The officer was in the process of showing Smith, who is married to another deputy, how to grip the handgun when it discharged and a bullet went through her arm and into her side.

"The instructor should have checked the pistol," Wright admitted. "He didn't do it. It was just a mistake."

After an attempted rape last year, the sheriff began encouraging more women to pack heat.

"Our form of justice is not making it," he said at the time. "Carry a concealed weapon. That'll fix it."

"Liberals call me and tell me the chain-gang form of justice isn't working. Well, let me inform you, your form of justice isn't working either."

Watch this video from WSPA, broadcast Feb. 19, 2012.