4 Firearms Safety Rules
- Treat every weapon as if it were loaded
- Never point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to destroy
- Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you intend to fire
- Be sure of your target and what lies beyond
Whether you are picking up your first gun ever or are a professional that lives and works with guns every day, you should know, use, and live these four safety rules. This week we are going to review all four in depth.
Most gun accidents happen with an “unloaded” firearm. Hence firearms safety rule number 1. “Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.”
If you always act like the gun is loaded you won’t point it at people, pull the trigger just because, or throw it around. A firearm is a weapon and needs to be treated with respect.
The Marine Corps may have been the worst at this rule. As an infantry Marine I was issued my rifle every time we went anywhere. I always had my rifle but was only given ammo on the rare occasion we were actually going to fire our weapons. Almost 99% of the time I carried an unloaded rifle. My Marines and I became complaisant. Marines in my unit had multiple negligent discharges (accidently firing the rifle).
One late night training session in the middle of no where we were using blanks and one of my Marines started to drop his rifle and somehow caught it by the trigger and discharged a blank in the middle of our group. Scared the crap out of me! I was bringing my rifle up looking for a target before I realized what was going on. In true Marine fashion I slapped him in the back of the head and then made him suffer when we got back to the barracks.
Proving that even professionals need to review the safety rules from time to time. Michael Bane gives one of the best commentaries on why we should always treat every firearm as if it were loaded. It’s the destiny of all ammo to be fired and lots of people want to help the ammo fulfill its destiny. People will fill magazines and load firearms all the time, even at places like a gun stores and dresser drawers.
This means that anytime you handle a firearm you should check, double check, and recheck if the firearm is loaded. If you don’t know how to check if the gun is loaded, have someone show you. When someone hands you a firearm, you should check to see if it is loaded or not. Don’t take anyone’s word for it, anyone’s! Don’t be insulted when you tell someone the gun is unloaded and that person checks anyways. An easy way to tell if you are dealing with an armature is if they get upset when you check to see if the gun is loaded for yourself.
The moral of the story is, treat every firearm as if it were loaded and check, recheck, and check again to make sure the gun is unloaded.
Stay Safe,
Ben