BASIC FIREARM SAFETY RULES

[Thefeeder]

Learn and understand these Safety rules before you use a firearm


Handling

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

Using or storing

1) Know your target and what is beyond
2) Be sure the gun is safe to operate
3) Know how to use the gun safely
4) Use only the correct ammunition ( marked on barrel )
5) Wear eye and ear protection
6) Never use drugs or alcohol before or while shooting
7) Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized
persons

[Scratch705]

you forgot the most important.

always treat the gun as if it is loaded.

[CHS]

Preaching to the choir here, aren't you?

[stix213]

you forgot the most important.

always treat the gun as if it is loaded.

I've never agreed with this one. I'd never dry fire or clean a loaded gun after all, so treating one as if its is always loaded just doesn't make sense. Plus if you treated it as always loaded you could never transport it in your vehicle. Sometimes guns just aren't loaded.

[Thefeeder]

Preaching to the choir here, aren't you?

Just a reminder for the new members...hopfuly the rest have the music down already

[Steyrlp10]

Just a reminder for the new members...hopfuly the rest have the music down already

A pop quiz too?

[1911su16b870]

Bro...you are too complicated...

Cooper's Four Rules are:

All guns are always loaded.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights on the target.

Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

http://gun.laws.com/gun-safety

...FWIW these are rules for combat and have been taken to the range/training.

[The Director]

And I'll further distill....

1. Keep your booger hook off the bang switch
2. Don't point it at nothin'.

Kept me out of trouble for nigh on 40 years.

[fiddletown]

And as if Jeff Cooper's Four Rules need to be discussed, see: http://www.frfrogspad.com/safety.htm.

I've never agreed with this one. I'd never dry fire or clean a loaded gun after all, so treating one as if its is always loaded just doesn't make sense. Plus if you treated it as always loaded you could never transport it in your vehicle. Sometimes guns just aren't loaded.

But you're missing the point.

Rule 1 is a fundamental rule of gun handling. Jeff Cooper used to make the point that the Rule 1 was always properly stated, "All guns are always loaded."

So --

• If I see a gun, as far as I'm concerned, it's loaded.
• If I have a gun in my hand, I know it's a loaded gun and conduct myself accordingly.
• What do I do with a loaded gun if I don't want it to be loaded? Why I clear it of course.
• The gun is only unloaded once I have personally cleared/checked it and it remains under my complete control.
• If the gun is out of my control, even for a moment, Rule 1 applies; it is a loaded gun; and I conduct myself accordingly.

Some of the corollaries to this are:

• One never trusts a gun to be unloaded unless and until he has personally properly checked/cleared it.
• If you tell me that the gun is unloaded, it won't matter to me, because unless I have properly checked it, I know it to be loaded.
• If you hand me a gun and tell me it's not loaded, it's nonetheless loaded as far as I'm concerned; and I will conduct myself accordingly. If I don't want it to be loaded, I will properly clear/check it myself.
• If the gun goes off and you didn't intend it to, don't bother to try to tell me that you didn't think it was loaded. You're supposed to know that it's loaded unless you have personally properly check/cleared it. If you personally checked/cleared it and it goes off unintentionally, you did it wrong.

As Colonel Cooper himself has put it:

"ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again." (Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, pg. 8, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1998)

As further explained by Col. Cooper:

"...A major point of issue is Rule 1, "All guns are always loaded." There are people who insist that we cannot use this because it is not precisely true. Some guns are sometimes unloaded. These folks maintain that the rule should read that one should always treat all guns as if they were loaded. The trouble here is the "as if," which leads to the notion that the instrument at hand may actually not be loaded. This leads to disaster, yet we hear it all the time...."(Jeff Cooper's Commentaries , pg. 64, Vol. 11, No. 13, 2003)

[stix213]

And as if Jeff Cooper's Four Rules need to be discussed, see: http://www.frfrogspad.com/safety.htm.

But you're missing the point.

Rule 1 is a fundamental rule of gun handling. Jeff Cooper used to make the point that the Rule 1 was always properly stated, "All guns are always loaded."

So --

• If I see a gun, as far as I'm concerned, it's loaded.
• If I have a gun in my hand, I know it's a loaded gun and conduct myself accordingly.
• What do I do with a loaded gun if I don't want it to be loaded? Why I clear it of course.
• The gun is only unloaded once I have personally cleared/checked it and it remains under my complete control.
• If the gun is out of my control, even for a moment, Rule 1 applies; it is a loaded gun; and I conduct myself accordingly.

Some of the corollaries to this are:

• One never trusts a gun to be unloaded unless and until he has personally properly checked/cleared it.
• If you tell me that the gun is unloaded, it won't matter to me, because unless I have properly checked it, I know it to be loaded.
• If you hand me a gun and tell me it's not loaded, it's nonetheless loaded as far as I'm concerned; and I will conduct myself accordingly. If I don't want it to be loaded, I will properly clear/check it myself.
• If the gun goes off and you didn't intend it to, don't bother to try to tell me that you didn't think it was loaded. You're supposed to know that it's loaded unless you have personally properly check/cleared it. If you personally checked/cleared it and it goes off unintentionally, you did it wrong.

As Colonel Cooper himself has put it:

"ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again." (Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, pg. 8, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1998)

As further explained by Col. Cooper:

"...A major point of issue is Rule 1, "All guns are always loaded." There are people who insist that we cannot use this because it is not precisely true. Some guns are sometimes unloaded. These folks maintain that the rule should read that one should always treat all guns as if they were loaded. The trouble here is the "as if," which leads to the notion that the instrument at hand may actually not be loaded. This leads to disaster, yet we hear it all the time...."(Jeff Cooper's Commentaries , pg. 64, Vol. 11, No. 13, 2003)

Yes I understand the purpose of the "all guns are always loaded" rule, I just don't agree with it. For example, he says when you put it down its loaded again, well how the heck are you supposed to transport a handgun in a locked case then if you think this way? You put it in a locked case, its no longer in your hands. Soooo you should treat it as if its loaded right? Well if its loaded you need to hurry your butt up, unlock the case, and unload that thing before you get caught with a loaded gun in your car! But if you put it back into the case it will be loaded again right? What do I do? Drive around with it in my hand all day?

If I have a gun in my car locked up and unloaded, am with my GF or whoever, then I run into safeway to pick something up... Well the gun left my control, so its loaded. So should I in the middle of the safeway parking lot unlock the case, and take the pistol out so I can safety check it for every soccer mom to see? I can't drive away with it loaded after all... Geez no freaking way!

Law enforcement does a 12031(e) check on you, returns your firearms to you.... Do you now in front of the officer unlock your firearms again and safety check them once again? You must if all guns are always loaded, but you do that and you're going to get the officer's gun in your face most likely.

There are so many endless silly examples of exceptions to the "all guns are always loaded" rule you just can't call it a rule in my opinion.

[rojocorsa]

I've always thought that if you a) keep the gun pointed in a safe direction, and b) keep your finger off the trigger, that you cannot screw anything else up.

Those are, in fact, the two rules that I consider the most important. I agree that they're all important, (like being sure of your target) but it all starts with those two.

[colossians323]

I've never agreed with this one. I'd never dry fire or clean a loaded gun after all, so treating one as if its is always loaded just doesn't make sense. Plus if you treated it as always loaded you could never transport it in your vehicle. Sometimes guns just aren't loaded.

How many ND caused death or injury from this type of careless attitude. This guy actually knew his gun was loaded.............didn't he?

[1911su16b870]

I work with firearms and many times have been handed a firearm with one in the tube. All guns are always loaded.

[j1133s]

Just a reminder for the new members...hopfuly the rest have the music down already

The best learning is from experience. So I'd recommend every newbie experience the excitement of accidentally shooting his/her pet or hand or foot.

[stix213]

How many ND caused death or injury from this type of careless attitude. This guy actually knew his gun was loaded.............didn't he?

I'm not advocating ignoring gun safety. I'm just saying having a rule that "all guns are always loaded" that you have to yourself ignore just to transport your gun to a range is just childish. "Always check if your gun is loaded yourself before handling" would be a better rule that has zero exceptions unlike the 20 page essay of exceptions you have to have with the stupid "all guns are always loaded" non-sense that confuses people more than educates.

A rule isn't a rule if you have to make exceptions to it, and if you are making exceptions to gun safety rules then you aren't helping anyone by teaching people gun safety this way. Give people simple to understand rules with zero exceptions ever and people will take them seriously and follow them, otherwise you can't say they are the most important if there is ever any exception. Cause if there is any conceivable exception then it really wasn't that important was it? The exception in that case is actually more important than the rule, which means that rule is not very important.

Seriously, how the hell do you expect people to take gun safety seriously when you tell them the most important rule is "all guns are always loaded" but you yourself have a list of exceptions to the rule? The result is the people you teach will pick up on the list of exceptions and treat that rule as meaningless, and if that rule is supposed to be the most important of all the rules, then all gun safety rules are meaningless to them. Gee good job teaching them I guess.....

My set of rules for handling are:
1) ALWAYS keep your gun pointed in a safe direction
2) ALWAYS keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to fire
3) ALWAYS check if your gun is loaded yourself before handling
4) ALWAYS check where you are shooting is safe, especially behind your target
5) If you drop your gun, NEVER attempt to catch it out of the air

Dude in your video violated at least 3 out of 5 of my handling rules.

There is never any exception to any of the rules I use, so its easier to take them seriously and there isn't really any explaining necessary beyond them. You don't need to make an exception when cleaning, when transporting, when dry firing, or ever. The rules in my case are set in stone, and are easier for novices to learn, understand, and respect. And even if you verify yourself that your gun isn't loaded, that still doesn't excuse any of the other rules by the way.