Firearm Safety is a Verb
After shooting from my mid-teen years to the current time, I
had developed my own idea of safety rules that I had assumed were good
enough. Even taking the Texas
Hunter Safety class in High School did little to further my ideas about how to
safely use, transport, and store a firearm. (As a sidebar I took Hunter Safety in 1979 while I was in
high school. We were encouraged to
bring a gun for show and tell.
This class took place IN the high school! I also recall that many of us had gun racks in our truck’s rear
windows, with a shotgun or rifle displayed. I recall another time once school principal came on the
overhead speaker, “Gentlemen, deer season is over, please leave your rifles at
home now”. Oh the good old days.)
I didn’t shoot much as a kid with my Dad, and received
little instruction from him while growing up. In my early 20’s we were out in the country and I was
shooting at some cans. He walked
up to watch. After shooting a
couple I brought the rifle’s muzzle up and it nearly reached ninety degrees
straight up when he shoved the barrel back down and sternly said “keep your
rifle pointed downrange!”
Admittedly I was offended that he would be so bold as to correct me as I
had been shooting several years by then, and had done just fine thank you.
Similarly the same thing happened to me at a skeet shoot I
was at a couple of years later. An
“old guy” fussed at me because I was not intentionally keeping my muzzle
pointed in a safe direction. Even
though we were on the range and I was on my station, he admonished me as I
turned to look back and the muzzle started to follow.
Both my Dad and this gentleman knew what I had not yet
learned. Safety is a VERB. When handling firearms you have to
intentionally and actively be safe.
Another time, just a few years ago, I was taking the
qualifying test for my concealed handgun license. The range officer stopped me and asked me to put my index
finger in the register position, (off the trigger and alongside the frame), as
we weren’t ready to shoot. He then
later had to tell me to stop pointing my pistol at my feet. He was actively keeping all of us
safe. It was his primary
mission. He knew that safety is a
verb.
A year or so ago I was on a range taking a basic pistol
course, and the instructor started us from the very beginning. Our pistols were in their cases lying
on the ground. He walked up asked
me to open the case. I did and he
told me to pick the pistol up. The
pistol was secured in the foam inside the case. So I did the easiest thing, I reached into the trigger guard
with my index finger and started to pull.
“STOP!” he yelled. I had
committed offense number one.
Never lift the weapon by sticking your finger inside the trigger guard
next to the “launch button” as he called it. I knew the pistol was unloaded and safe, but he didn’t. He was actively practicing safety while teaching good habits. He knows that safety is a verb.
Just last week my son Walter and I were setting up a fun
photo with me and my AR-15. I had
made sure the rifle was unloaded and there was no magazine in it. He was going to take a photo from near
the front of my rifle. I pulled
back the bolt and locked it in the open position. I then closed the dust cover that disguises the fact that
the bolt is locked back. I wanted
a magazine in the well and pulled out an empty one and walked into the room
where Walter was setting up the photo.
I said, “the gun is empty and here is an empty mag”, and I let him
inspect the magazine. He looked at
me and then at the rifle, “Is the bolt locked back?” He couldn’t tell since the dust cover was closed. I was so proud. HE was actively being safe. I pointed the muzzle in a safe
direction and let the bolt slam forward.
I then pulled back the bolt and locked it into the rear position. I showed him “clear”, he nodded, and I
closed the dust cover and we started taking photos, safely.
Practicing firearm safety is work. It is a verb and must be done actively. Every moment you have to purposefully,
intentionally, and actively know the condition of your firearm, where it is
pointing, where your finger is in relation to the trigger, and how it affects
others. Safety has to be taken to
the extreme all of the time, every time. Like
others through the years who have taught me, safety must be taught firmly. One should not take admonishment
personally and we should give it freely.
Safety must be the primary goal!
