Everyone that carries a firearm for self defense should be mindful of an accidental discharge. There is an old saying about a negligent discharge (the actual term should be negligent because there really isn’t an accident, it was negligence or incompetence that made the gun go off); there are two types of people, those who have had an accidental discharge and those that will have one. If you are going to have one, on the range while obeying the other safety rules is the location for one.
If you continue to train hard, sooner or later you may have a negligent discharge. Having one on the range, while the gun is pointed at the target, is a good way to have your “accident.” Doing it on camera in front of the entire world where someone could get hurt is not the place (like the video above).
Most negligent discharges aren’t accidents, negligence, or incompetence, they are complacency. Law enforcement seems to have this problem more than anyone else. Next would be soldiers. What do these two professions have in common? They handle firearms everyday during the normal course of their days. Every soldier and police officer can list the firearms safety rules. They were all taught how to handle a firearm safely, but after years and years of doing it, we start to get lazy.
I say we because you are in that group, too. If you think back to the last time you were on the range, the last couple times you handled a firearm, or the last training class you had, you will think of a time you did something with a firearm that you could have done better and more safely. During instruction, the instructor might have reminded you about something you did or didn’t do.
Last year I took a course with Tom Givens and he caught me doing something simple and stupid. We were doing up drills. Simple drill; on command, raise the gun from low ready, fire one round, and then lower the gun to low ready again. We had done the drill a dozen times or more (I had to reload my gun during the string) and I was concentrating on the hit I was or was not making and lowered the pistol with my finger still on the trigger once. I caught myself doing wrong just as Tom said “get your finger off the trigger when you lower the gun.” What was I going to say, he saw me doing something wrong, and un-safe.
I know that sounds like a stupid small thing, but I know better. As soon as I’m done shooting the finger comes off the trigger. Simple, but somehow I missed it for a split second.
Those little things can get us all in trouble. We have to be super tough on ourselves about firearms safety. I’m almost paranoid about it. The guys at Sparks Firearms say I’m almost too safe (if there could be such a thing). But they have grown to respect me and I’ve seen their safety improve as time goes on. Leadership by example can make us all safer.
Sooner or later we will all make a mistake; it is the way of the world. You should be taking courses so someone can easily point out those mistakes and you can fix them. It’s one of the reasons I take courses constantly and hope to do so for the rest of my life (besides they are fun).
Outside of courses, we as a firearms community should have a culture of safety. We should always be minding those Four Safety Rules and we should be reminding (politely) each other about the safety rules when we see someone violate them.
In the gun shop, I can always tell someone who is a professional with lots of firearms training from everyone else. Every normal person points a gun at me when I hand it to them. Sometimes, while they are inspecting the weapon, trying it for size or playing with the action, they will point the gun at me. I try to remind people and it sucks, but it sure makes me double check that firearm before I hand it to someone. The people that are professionals will take the gun from me, point it straight down, turn away from everyone else and then make sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction before inspecting or trying the firearms.
Are you paranoid about having an accidental discharge? If you aren’t, you should be. When I was a contractor overseas, having an accidental discharge was an immediate dismissal. We called it the “free plane ticket home.” In the Marine Corps, it was an automatic NJP (Non Judicial Punishment). Here, in the real world for me, if you found out I had a negligent discharge, it would destroy my credibility with you. For me, everyone is always watching.
How would you handle a firearm if you knew your kid was watching? If your students were watching? If I was watching? If the person in the firearms world you most respected was watching? If the world was watching? Everyone is always watching. If you do it right, no one will ever say anything. If you mess it up and nothing happens, no one will ever say anything. If you mess up and someone gets hurt, everyone will say something against you, including me, probably forever.
Handle your firearm like everyone is watching you, always. Like an instructor was standing there ready to ridicule you for doing it wrong. Make sure you follow every safety rule without exception. If you mess up one of those safety rules, or someone says something to you, assume you were wrong and figure out how to never do it again.
If you are paranoid about safety all the time it will become your habit. Then if you ever have to use your gun in self defense, you will be perfect on the safety and will look like a true professional after the fact.
Stay Safe,
Ben
P.S. If you want a refresher on the firearms safety rules, here they are.