There's no question a loaded gun could be dangerous. Any responsible person knows this and makes every effort to take care of their gun safely. That is just being smart.
But perhaps not everyone understands the essential techniques and "best practices" for handling guns and ammo. Here are a few suggestions predicated on my a long time as a gun enthusiast and a person who takes gun safety seriously.
Safety IS REALLY A Mindset
Gun safety efforts seek to create a certain attitude and appropriate habits by following some simple rules. The mindset must be... firearms are inherently dangerous and should always be handled carefully. Gun handlers are taught to treat firearms with respect for their destructive capabilities, and strongly discouraged from playing or toying with firearms, a standard cause of accidents.
The common sense rules of gun safety follow from this mindset.
Originally Colonel Jeff Cooper developed four rules are those most commonly taught during gun safety training. John Dean "Jeff" Cooper (May 10, 1920 - September 25, 2006) was recognized as the father of what's often called "the Modern Technique" of handgun shooting, and was considered by many to be among the 20th century's foremost international experts on the use and history of small arms. Here are his four rules:
Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
Never allow muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the mark.
Be sure of your target and what's beyond it.
The NRA provides a similar group of rules:
ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
Continue to keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Treat Guns AS THOUGH They Are Loaded
Many firearm accidents derive from the handler mistakenly believing a firearm is emptied, safetied, or otherwise disabled when in fact it is ready to be discharged.
If a gun handler always treats firearms as capable of being discharged anytime, the handler is more prone to take precautions to avoid an unintentional discharge also to avoid damage or injury if one does occur. In other words it becomes a habit and a single mindset.
Point the Muzzle FROM Any Target
This rule is intended to minimize the damage caused by an unintended discharge. The first rule teaches that a firearm must be assumed to be ready to fire. This rule goes beyond that and says, "Since the firearm might fire, assume that it'll and make certain no harm occurs when it can."
Due to this rule is that any sort of playing or "toying" with firearms is prohibited. Playfully pointing firearms at people or other non-targets violates this rule. To discourage this sort of behavior, the rule may also be alternately stated, "Never point a firearm at anything unless you plan to shoot it."
Keep Fingers off the Trigger
This rule is intended to prevent an unintended discharge. If your finger is not on the trigger usually the gun can't be shot. In case a finger is on the trigger a handler's finger may involuntary move for several reasons.
The handler is startled
There's a insufficient full attention on body movements
There may be physiological reasons beyond conscious control such as a spasm
The handler stumbles or falls
The finger being pushed by something (as when trying to holster a handgun with one's finger on the trigger)
Handlers are therefore taught to minimize the harmful ramifications of this type of motion by keeping their finger off the trigger before muzzle is pointing at the mark and the handler wishes to discharge the firearm.
Be Sure of Your Target and WHAT'S Beyond It
Gun handlers are taught they must positively identify and verify their target. Additionally, they learn that even though firing at a valid target, unintended targets may still be hit, for three reasons:
- The bullet may skip the intended target and hit a non-target around or beyond the mark.
- A non-target may pass in front of the target and become hit with a bullet aimed at the target.
- The bullet may pass through the intended target and hit a non-target beyond it, so called "over penetration".
Therefore, this rule takes a handler to be sure of both target itself and anything along the avenue of happen to be and beyond the prospective.
Gun Storage
Although this is simply not portion of the commonly expressed rules of gun handling, Let me add that gun storage Should be contained in any safety mindset. The story of children finding a loaded gun and shooting themselves or perhaps a playmate is all too common.
Be sure you store guns in a locked and safe place and always make sure it is not loaded. Also be GUN STORE is locked away. Provide a clean, dry and various place to store ammo. Guns are useless without ammo, so make sure to store the two in various locations.
The sad stories of children being injured, although rare, may be the biggest element in the public's unfavorable viewpoint on hand guns.
Be Safe For Everyone's Benefit
These four good sense rules will be the excepted basic mindset and best practices for several gun owners. If we want the sport we want to be accepted and grow, all gun lovers must take these practices to heart. Following these practices and developing this mindset not merely may save a life but increase the acceptance of guns.