Gun Safety Rules

[banshee]

great thread and posts.

my simple rules: if you do not know or it does not feel right , do not do it, check it out, put it away safely, never point at anyone, clean/ wipe down after using/touching
I am sure there are better ones and many more...these suit me fine and cover many bases for me

[CHLLady]

Thank you for sharing! I still consider myself a newbie. I live by these rules. I'm glad to know that other very experienced shooters still practice and are firm in their belief in them.

BTW, had to show the picture of the girl with the rifle to my daughter who also shoots. She got a good chuckle.

She also knew exactly what was wrong with the photo and pointed them all out, without me saying a word. Proud of my girl!

[HoosierTexan]

Once I was talking to someone while safety checking my pistol before handing it over and I accidentally racked the slide to remove the live round before I removed the clip. Just a reminder that even if you are experienced and not paying 100% attention to what you were doing that accidents can happen.

I am a safety nut and was totally embarrassed at my mistake even though I caught it instantaneously.

No one was ever in harms way, but it became a teaching moment for someone who isn't that familiar with firearms.

Always remove the clip before clearing your round. :)

[Jumping Frog]

Always remove the clip before clearing your round. :)

Make sure the magazine is removed too!

(Seems like the Internet nomenclature nazi's always like to jump in and debate the terms . . ., so a little trolling might start the amusement.)

[HoosierTexan]

Always remove the clip before clearing your round. :)

Make sure the magazine is removed too!

(Seems like the Internet nomenclature nazi's always like to jump in and debate the terms . . ., so a little trolling might start the amusement.)

HAH. Touche

[TomsTXCHL]

Once I was talking to someone while safety checking my pistol before handing it over and I accidentally racked the slide to remove the live round before I removed the clip.

I was excited to show a friend my new baby, and while I released the mag first (before checking the chamber by racking the slide) I just let the mag drop fully-loaded to the floor instead of onto the bed nearby. Although the floor was carpeted, and he was nice enough not to read me the riot act, I do hope I don't do that ever again...

[skeathley]

Excellent post. When I teach beginner classes, the first thing I do is clear every gun in the room, and make them verify the clear. Then I start with the 3 NRA rules, and hammer them about them. After that, every time they touch a gun, I remind them of the rules.

Since we go to a range after class, I also stress the typical rules of a firing range. One benefit of this, is that I find myself being very conscious of not only safety at the range, but also the actual rules I teach. It's easy to get sloppy, so we must all act as if an instructor is watching us.

SK

[asbandr]

I have this typical problem of that I love to learn, but hate to be taught. I hate sounding stupid, or having anyone assume that just because I'm a woman I don't know better. But I've learned that this is an area I have to take very seriously. Ask even the "dumb" questions and be open to correction.
As I sat around listening to family's stories about AD's by different people over many generations I am reminded that it only takes one misstep in normal safety procedures for tragedy to ensue.
Be safe every time and follow every rule. Don't become careless or overconfident.

[HoosierTexan]

Make sure it's loaded unless someone who is not trained or otherwise not suppose to gain access to your firearm.

An unloaded gun is very unsafe.

[Huges]

ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle or front end of the barrel is pointed at all times. Common sense dictates the safest direction, depending on different circumstances.

[sass2924]

I have a couple of young kids and started teaching them gun safety as soon as they were able to understand. We talk about gun safety before, during and after shooting now. I use incidents of neglectful firearm handling as teaching moments whenever I can. Your never to young or old to learn about gun safety.

[oljames3]

I review the rules with my children each time we use or maintain our firearms. They know them well.

[Abraham]

Magazines are dropped onto the ground in IDPA matches.

In other words, a magazine dropped on carpet is no big deal...

[HKsig]

Good post and we can't stress it enough.

I'd ask them, which is safer, a loaded gun or an unloaded gun? They'd say an unloaded gun of course. I said ok, are you going to treat it as an unloaded gun without knowing if it is or not?

That had them thinking so I told them to treat it as a loaded gun always, it's safer.

One time at my friend's house we were sitting around shooting bull. One of his friend saw a 380 on the table and picked it up. I said it's loaded man and he took the magazine out and said it's not now. I said bull it's still loaded. My friend took the gun from him and pulled the slide. A round popped out. His friend just sat there with wide eyes. Later I told my friend not to leave his gun lying around as there are people who knows nothing about guns.

Removing a magazine does NOT unload a gun.

[OldCurlyWolf]

Good post and we can't stress it enough.

I'd ask them, which is safer, a loaded gun or an unloaded gun? They'd say an unloaded gun of course. I said ok, are you going to treat it as an unloaded gun without knowing if it is or not?

That had them thinking so I told them to treat it as a loaded gun always, it's safer.

One time at my friend's house we were sitting around shooting bull. One of his friend saw a 380 on the table and picked it up. I said it's loaded man and he took the magazine out and said it's not now. I said bull it's still loaded. My friend took the gun from him and pulled the slide. A round popped out. His friend just sat there with wide eyes. Later I told my friend not to leave his gun lying around as there are people who knows nothing about guns.

Removing a magazine does NOT unload a gun.