With so many new shooters joining our community, Roy Huntington wanted to run through the four firearms safety rules. If we’re lucky, he’ll do a demonstration or two.
Transcript:
Hi, friends! Today, I want to talk about the classic four firearm safety rules. Now, I know some people have eight rules and some people have 20 rules and some ranges it goes on for pages and pages and pages, but in the last 58 years of my life shooting, the basic four firearm safety rules are really the core foundation.
If you don’t violate them then nothing bad will happen other than a really loud noise when you least expect it.
Rule #1
Let’s start with rule one — all guns are always loaded. Now, some people want to fight with you about that. “Well, how do you know it’s loaded?” or “I never load my gun when it’s at home,” etc. etc. But the key is simply to treat any gun within your purview as being loaded and then you’ll never have any problems.
Remember with semi-auto pistols — just because you take the magazine out doesn’t mean that it’s unloaded. A lot of people make the mistake of racking the slide and ejecting the round in the chamber and then dropping the magazine. Well, what they’ve just done is loaded another round into the chamber after ejecting the first one so they
still have a loaded gun.
But remember, if you treat it as if it’s loaded then you won’t get into trouble.
Rule #2
Rule number two is a big one — never let the muzzle cover anything that you’re not willing to destroy. It’s simple don’t point your gun at anything that you wouldn’t mind if it got shot …
the tv set, your computer, the neighbor’s house, your car. You don’t want to shoot these things so don’t ever point your muzzle at them.
Rule #3
Rule three — keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
What that means is exactly what it says. The gun can only fire if the trigger’s pulled, so as you bring
the gun to bear, keep your finger away from the trigger until the sights are aligned on the target that you want to shoot at. Then, put your finger on the trigger.
Rule #4
Rule four — always be sure of your target.
What that means is you may be concentrating on the paper target that you’ve set up somewhere, but you have to look behind it too because maybe there’s a deer that shouldn’t be there or the neighbor’s kid or the dog or who knows what. So, don’t get hyper-focused on the target.
What I generally do is I look behind the target and all the surrounding area, then I concentrate on the target.
Okay, I appreciate you listening and I didn’t intend to be preachy but they’re so critical. If you violate any one of those rules, a tragedy can occur. If you adhere to all four of those rules, then nothing bad can happen. Period. And, so always remember that.
And you know, if you carry a concealed weapon and you manipulate your gun say in your home environment, think seriously about how and where you load and unload the gun, and are you violating any of those rules.
Hey, thanks for tuning in. Please remember to apply these four rules. Make any comments you’d like I’ll be happy to answer them. And like I said before, I appreciate your patience. It’s up to us to keep this great thing that we like to do safe.
I’ll see you next time!
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These Helpful Rules
Memorize and follow these four firearms safety rules for expected results every time you handle a gun.
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