RICHMOND -- A state legislator accidently discharged a small handgun in his Capitol Square office Thursday morning, hitting a bulletproof vest that happened to be hanging on his door.

Del. Jack Reid, R-Henrico County, publicly apologized on the floor of the House of Delegates and in private meetings with the chamber's Republican and Democratic caucuses. Reid suffered a cut on his hand in the accident, but there were no other injuries.

Reid, 63, said the accident happened about 8:50 a.m, after he arrived at his seventh-floor legislative office in the General Assembly Building. The building was teeming with activity at the time, with legislators, staffers, lobbyists and citizens visiting offices and attending committee meetings.

The veteran legislator said he was attempting to eject the ammunition magazine from his .380 semiautomatic pistol when the weapon discharged, sending a bullet toward the door. The bulletproof vest -- a gag gift from the Henrico County sheriff -- absorbed the bullet before it could cause any damage, Reid said. The delegate immediately reported the incident to the Capitol police.

Reid, visibly upset, apologized for the incident on the floor of the House of Delegates and in private meetings with the House's Republican and Democratic caucuses.

"I want to apologize to the members of this body, and to the greater body, for that incident that occurred," Reid said. "Everyone has a right to feel safe here. Again, I want to apologize and I'm just thankful that nobody's hurt."

House members applauded when Reid finished his remarks.

"I'm certainly sorry that the accident occurred, but sometimes accidents happen," said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who sits next to Reid on the House floor.

Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, said he considered Reid's apology "appropriate and genuine."

"In the three years I've been down here, it's the first time I've seen Jack visibly shaken," Ware said.

Reid said he has had a concealed weapons permit for about two years. But he said that he typically removes the ammunition magazine from his weapon and locks the gun in his office when he is on Capitol Square. He was in the process of doing that Thursday when the gun discharged.

"The interesting thing was I had come into the office, shut the door, and the vest was hanging on the door on a coat hanger," Reid told reporters after the House session. "That absorbed the entire thing."

Reid, who can be both acerbic and comedic, once wore the bulletproof vest on the House floor as a joke. He said he was glad he had kept it in his office.

Gun-holders with concealed weapons permits can carry weapons around government buildings on Capitol Square. Lawmakers have defeated efforts to curtail the practice, but Reid's accident might reopen the debate.

"I understand that Jack's been a real trouper about apologizing to folks for it and he's a stand-up person," Gov. Tim Kaine told reporters Thursday afternoon. "But it does raise a safety question. You've got Boy Scout groups and pages and all kinds of folks walking around in the halls. So I think it's something the legislature needs to look at."

Griffith said the incident could revive a debate about banning guns on Capitol Square, but he remains opposed to the idea. He guessed that several other House members have concealed weapons permits.

"We've got six elevators" in the General Assembly Building, Griffith said. "If one of them crashes, that's a problem. It doesn't mean we ban elevators."

Reid said he will reconsider his own gun-carrying habits. He may carry a different weapon, or none at all, he said.

"I have a revolver and I think the strap across the hammer on a revolver probably makes it a little safer," Reid said. "I've got to think. I've got some soul-searching to do about that."