Gun Safety – It’s a real thing so, don’t be stupid !

The Guns of August is a posting on a nifty gun blog, Weaponsman, that include gun in a bra, THAT GOES OFF, cleaning a gun THAT GOES OFF, taking a selfie with a gun to the head, THAT GOES OFF. Of course none of these things were supposed to happen but they did.

A few simple rules to remember are that every gun is loaded and never at any time to be pointed at anyone. Every time you pick up a gun clear the chamber with the gun pointed in a safe direction. In my past sixty years of shooting guns two times I have picked up a gun that I definitely know was unloaded, worked the action, once on a lever gun and once on a semi-auto pistol and I ejected a shell from the chamber.

In order to have a gun go off accidentally two things have to happen, the gun has to have a round in the chamber and either the trigger has to be pulled or the gun has to be faulty which can allow the firing pin to hit the primer. In all of these instances it is the responsibility of the person holding the gun to assure the barrel is pointed in a safe direction and the chamber cleared before doing anything else with the gun. If the gun is not in a safe operating condition then it must be competently repaired before it can be used again, with no exceptions unless you want to make the Darwin Awards for the year.

Please don’t ever be the guy who’s gun accidentally went off while he was cleaning it and he didn’t know it was loaded, or he did not know his finger was on the trigger, etc. Of course you could be a real lucky idiot who lays a gun down and has his dog jump on the trigger and shoot the owner in the man parts or something. Then you would win first prize in the stupid awards and get mentioned on the evening news.

So respect your gun, clear your gun every time you pick it up and clean it safely and keep it in good working condition.