Concealed Carry Classes

3 Laws of Gun Safety

Laws or rules, laws tend to have more perceived consequences so we are going with Gun Safety Laws. Our number one goal is to be safe. You arrive at a class safely and I want you to return to your family safely at the end of the day. Your experience level is neither an excuse or a hindrance for you handling a gun safely. The three laws of gun safety are: 1) Always Keep the Gun Pointed in a Safe Direction 2) Keep Your Finger off The Trigger Until You Are Ready to Shoot and 3) Keep the Gun Unloaded Until Ready to Use. Let’s look at each one.

1) Always Keep the Gun Pointed in a Safe Direction. Gun accidents are not accidents they are Gun Negligence Incidents. Guns are tools, they don’t have emotions and they will not function without some type of interaction. What is a safe direction? Pointing it up in the air and pointing at your feet are not safe directions. Pointing any direction other than in front of you at the ground, not at someone else, at a 45 degree angle is the safe direction we reference. When (the word IF is intentionally absent) a negligent discharge occurs if the gun is pointed in a safe direction no one should get hurt. Do not point a gun at anything or anyone you do not intend to destroy.

2) Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until You Are Ready to Shoot. Finger, finger, finger! I have heard it thousands of time on the range. This law is violated most often. We naturally want to place our finger on the trigger as we pick up a gun, it is what it is. Keeping your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot is, in my opinion, the most sacred of the gun laws. Guns do not fire on their own the require interaction. Once your finger is placed on that trigger you have initiated the interaction. A loud noise, hmmm… like another gun shot, can cause a flinch and that can cause major damage. Remember, Finger, Finger, Finger! Keep it off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

3. Keep the Gun Unloaded Until Ready to Use. Ok, this one gets a little tricky. Someone will ask, “does that mean I carry my gun unloaded?” No it means you keep the gun unloaded until you are ready to make it available for use. When you carry a gun with you it should be ready to use, hence it should be loaded. I have come across people who will not “keep one in the chamber” for safety. Ok, so you are going to draw your gun, ask the bad guy to WAIT UNTIL YOU LOAD YOUR GUN?! This law is about respect and your ability to safely hand a gun. If a gun is chosen as your preferred method of personal protection it needs to be available for use and loaded. When you retire for the evening, (do people still say that?), the gun should be unloaded and stored in its proper place. Sounds like a topic for another blog entry. Your gun should be loaded when it is ready to be used, and when not in use it should be stored properly so those who are unauthorized and untrained can not have access to it.

Keep these laws in mind and put them into practice. You are responsible for safe gun handling.

Train the way you want to fight so you will fight the way you train.