Firearm Fundametal Safety 12/26/14

Firearm safety. It’s a term we hear over and over. Many firearm owners see the title and don’t want to be bothered reading something “they already know”! Why then do I feel the need to write on a subject that has been covered so many times before? For a subject that everyone is so well versed, negligent discharges remain a continuing nightmare in the firearms community. A quick web search will reveal numerous unintentional discharges resulting in holes in walls to negligent deaths. Do a quick search with your favorite search engine and read some of the results: “The gun accidentally went off”, or an all time classic: “while cleaning my gun”.

The more a person handles a firearm the more comfortable they become. This becomes dangerous when they reach a point of indifference to their handling of a firearm and where its pointed. Firearms are dangerous and must be treated as such AT ALL TIMES. In 2011 the NYPD reported 15 such discharges with 6 resulting in bodily injury. Most results of negligent discharges are not “gun in hand” intending to shoot a target. They occur in administrative handling such as loading, holstering, and storage.

Firearm safety training seeks to instill a certain mindset and create an appropriate behavior and habit to prevent such negligence. Basically if we followed a set of simple rules, negligent discharges would not occur. Some lists include as few as three rules to as many as ten. From the NRA to Jeff Cooper, there are many variations of the basic rules of firearms safety:

  1. ALWAYS treat a firearm as if loaded.
  2. ALWAYS keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction (muzzle integrity).
  3. ALWAYS keep finger off the trigger and out of trigger guard till ready to shoot.

There are other rules that can be arguably added such as keeping the weapon unloaded till ready to use, prove the weapon is safe, be sure of target and what is beyond, etc. All are valid but all the various lists on safety include the three above golden rules of firearm safety. I believe that if one keeps it simple and follows these simple rules that the possibility of this happening to you can be prevented.

 

-Senpai Timins