Rules of Firearms Safety
From TFRWiki
Contents |
How to keep people from getting shot
- Rule #1
- Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
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| This hot lady is demonstrating the proper use of Rule #3.
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"Unloaded" guns cause more accidents than loaded ones. Always treat all guns as if they are loaded.
- Rule #2
- Never let the muzzle of a gun point at anything you do not want to destroy or kill.
This rule is especially important for those supervising novice shooters. When a child holds a rifle for example, if he hears a noise to the side, and turns his head, the weapon tends to follow. Similarly, if you make a great shot, and look back to brag to your friends, don't let the weapon follow your gaze.
- Rule #3
- Keep your finger straight and off the trigger.
At all times you must keep your trigger finger straight, and off the trigger. Only once you have aimed and have your target in the sights should you permit your finger to gently rest on the trigger. This prevents accidental discharges should you stumble, trip, or be subjected to some unexpected event. Also called "trigger discipline" or "indexing".
- Rule #4
- Be absolutely sure of your target, and what is behind it.
Hitting a target even under the best conditions is a very challenging thing. If TV and movies were real, the good guys would kill far more innocent bystanders than bad guys. Bullets tends to miss, ricochet, penetrate through, and fall from the sky at velocities just as deadly as when the bullet left the barrel. If your bullet misses that deer or shoots over the top of that hill, you can't bring it back.
- Note that Hollywood and TV Characters are exempt from the rules of firearm safety.
Canadian Firearms Safety Acronyms
In Canada, the federal licensing system requires a applicants to complete the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (and/or the Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course). These two classes make use of a pair of acronyms meant to allow users to easily recall the steps to making a firearm safe. In addition, there is an unofficial acronym used by some instructors.
CFSC Acronym One: ACTS
- Assume every firearm is loaded.
- Control muzzle direction at all times.
- Trigger finger kept off of the trigger and out of the trigger guard.
- See the firearm is unloaded --> PROVE it safe.
CFSC Acronym Two: PROVE
- Point the firearm in the safest available direction.
- Remove the source of ammunition.
- Observe the chamber.
- Verify the feed path.
- Examine the bore.
Unofficial Acronym: SMAK
This is in use by some instructors. It makes PROVE a little more useful, and is used between the R and the O of PROVE. If your firearm does not clearly have the option or part or device mentioned in SMAK, you simply skip it and go to the next step.
- Point the firearm in the safest available direction.
- Remove the source of ammunition.
- Safety on.
- Magazine out or cylinder open.
- Action open.
- Keep it open.
- Observe the chamber.
- Verify the feed path.
- Examine the bore.
Applying this Method
Many reports of confusion from this teachning method is with pistols, because some of the options do not apply for all handguns. To use this method with a pistol, where the most chance of confusion could arrise (between revolver and autoloader) simply:
- 1) Point your weapon in the safest direction, assuming that it is loaded and thus unsafe to point anywhere else.
- 2) Remove the source of ammunition by
- 2a. turning the manual safety on. If there isn't one, skip to 2b;
- 2b. taking the magazine out or opening the cylinder or loading gate;
- 2c. opening the action -- on an autoloader, this means lock the slide back, on revolvers if the cylinder is disengaged either by opening or loading gate opening, then the action is already open;
- 2d. keeping the action locked open.
- 3 Look into the chamber of the weapon to ensure that there is no cartridge in the chamber.
- 4 Check to be certain that there is no way ammunition can get into the chamber -- on an autoloader, the magazine must be removed for this to happen; on a double action revolver, the cylinder must be swung to the side, and on a single action revolver the loading gate must be open and the rounds removed from he cylinder manually.
- 5 Finally, examine the bore of your weapon either by using a cleaning brush or visually (DO NOT LOOK INTO THE BUSINESS END OF YOUR GUN, PLEASE! LOOK AT THE BORE FROM THE CHAMBER END, NEVER THE MUZZLE END.) to clear any obstructions.
