Only 3 Tips to Practice for Gun Safety?

[LAKevin]

My friend sent me this blog which I thought was interesting. Do you think that this is all there is to practicing safe gun handling? Or are there other things you'd add?

http://www.laxammosd.com/3-tips-master-basic-training/

[Two Nuggets]

First and foremost, I practice the 4 golden rules of firearms. I also make sure whomever I’m shooting with also practices those golden rules.

The rest is just getting out there and shooting. Getting familiarized with your firearm.

[71MUSTY]

I actually read the link. Since step one was always follow the 4 cardinal rules I like the guy's three tips

[naeco81]

If you always follow the 4 cardinal rules of gun safety, you and those around you will be safe.
I'll add one more pragmatic rule many choose to follow: when cleaning your guns, clear the room of all live ammo & loaded mags first. Most accidents negligence happens during cleaning.

Yes, you should also know how to handle malfunctions, grip & draw, and also should familiarize yourself with teaching the gun safety rules to new shooters. Practice this so you aren't winging it around friends who don't understand how vital the rules are. Though unlikely to encounter, you should know how to recognize a squib load, especially if you shoot any form of reloaded ammunition.

[SonofWWIIDI]

The gun is always loaded.
Never point a gun at something you're not ready to destroy.
Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target.

Not as simple for some folks as it seems. I've seen quite a few people at various public ranges who appearently have never heard of these rules.

[wpage]

Those are good rules... +1 on careful when cleaning. This is where many pros get hurt.

[boopiejones]

don't shoot reloads

lol

[Win231]

Yup, that's about it as far as safety is concerned. Simple, isn't it?

[dannycalifornia]

Get snap caps to practice


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[jcourson]

Those are good rules... +1 on careful when cleaning. This is where many pros get hurt.

I am convinced that they just claim they were cleaning it because they are too embarrased to say they were playing with a loaded firearm.

[A-J]

My friend sent me this blog which I thought was interesting. Do you think that this is all there is to practicing safe gun handling? Or are there other things you'd add?

http://www.laxammosd.com/3-tips-master-basic-training/

The 3 steps in the blog you linked is not for general safe gun handling. It's for safe gun handling in a specific situation. And it sounds like solid advice for that situation. Even the author acknowledges the 4 basic rules for gun safety, which are the rock bottom very first rules to follow.

[IVC]

Agreed that it's just a suggestion about how to shoot safely, not safety rules.

However, there is indeed a set of *THREE* safety rules that is parallel to the four safety rules most of us use. It comes straight from the NRA pistol courses:

1) Always keep gun pointed in the safe direction.
2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
3) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

These rules are interesting to analyze and compare to the "traditional 4 rules." The 1 and 2 are (almost) the standard "muzzle" and "finger" rules, but the rest are open for discussion.

(I have my opinions, but I'm offering this here for others to chime in.)

[AGFNTB]

The gun is always loaded.
Never point a gun at something you're not ready to destroy.
Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target.

Not as simple for some folks as it seems. I've seen quite a few people at various public ranges who appearently have never heard of these rules.

I always add: "When you get hit by a hot shell casing or spent powder, gun down, then panic."

[fiddletown]

A....However, there is indeed a set of *THREE* safety rules that is parallel to the four safety rules most of us use. It comes straight from the NRA pistol courses:

1) Always keep gun pointed in the safe direction.
2) Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
3) Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

These rules are interesting to analyze and compare to the "traditional 4 rules." The 1 and 2 are (almost) the standard "muzzle" and "finger" rules, but the rest are open for discussion....

Actually the NRA Three Rules predate the Jeff Cooper/Gunsite Four Rules. The NRA Rules were formulated when the focus of the NRA was recreational and target shooting. They're a good fit for the a cold range where the gun isn't supposed to be loaded until one gets to his shooting position.

Jeff Cooper/Gunsite Four Rules are:

1. All guns are always loaded.
   
   
2. Never let your muzzle cover anything you're not willing to destroy.
   
   
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target.
   
   
4. Know your target ane what's behind it.

These grew up as "talking points" for safe gun handling on a hot range and for practical use of a gun. Gunsite is a hot range. When at Gunsite, the gun in my holster, or the long gun slung over my shoulder is, in fact loaded -- on the range, in the pro-shop, while having lunch, or just hanging around. Those Rules were intended to be suitable for a world in which one is going about his business carrying a loaded gun.

A while ago I received the following (quoted in part) in an email from another Gunsite alumnus:

...Negligent discharges that result in injury are the result of 1. IGNORANCE, and/or 2. COMPLACENCY and/or 3. HABIT that is inappropriate to changed conditions.

Proper training with the universal rules can only address #1 and #3.

...The great deficiency of much NRA civilian training ... is that muzzle and trigger discipline are not rigorously enforced except when on the range when the line is hot and sometimes not even then. Change the conditions to carrying a loaded gun at all times and adverse results are predictable.

EXAMPLE #1: Trap and skeet shooters often rest muzzles on their toes and point them at each other. They have almost no accidents on the range because guns are unloaded until just before they shoot. ...CHANGE CONDITIONS to a duck blind with loaded guns and the results are predictable....

One thing that Jeff Cooper said ... made a big impression on me. It is seldom repeated. To address complacency he said that every morning when he picks up his gun he says to himself "somewhere today someone is going to have an accident with a gun - not me, not today"....

[LAKevin]

The 3 steps in the blog you linked is not for general safe gun handling. It's for safe gun handling in a specific situation. And it sounds like solid advice for that situation. Even the author acknowledges the 4 basic rules for gun safety, which are the rock bottom very first rules to follow.

That's a good catch, definitely agree!