Gun Safety And Rules

Guns, if mishandled can kill you or those who are close to you; there are no second chances with guns once they discharge. The thing to do is to never let it fire or touch the trigger unless to know what you are doing.

Dansen(Real Name withheld) is a cop with the Los Angeles federal police, an energetic middle aged man with athletic disposition. One day after he drove home from work, he accidentally dropped his Glock 19 firearm in the lobby and proceeded to take a bath. His nine year old son, unaware, picked the fire in his two hands and called out to his father. The unfortunate thing was that he had turned the nozzle to point at his chest.

Dansen says he didn’t take the call of his son seriously until when he walked out and saw him holding the gun with the nozzle pointing at the junior’s chest. He says, he felt his heart leap and thought he had missed a beat. He yelled at his son to drop the thing down and that was when it happened. His son in his frantic attempt to respond to his father’s directive, accidentally pulled the trigger. The powerful firearm hurled the young boy up in the air and he fell with a thud on the big sofa lying in the middle of the living room.

For a second he thought his son had died as he ran towards him, cursing the hell out of himself for his carelessness. Fortunately the bullet had dug away by an inch and didn’t touch him. Since then Dansen says he has been very careful with firearms.

Guns are extremely dangerous if not properly handled. Before you decide to own a gun you should know all about firearms and their safety tips in detail. Firearms are death traps for those who are not acquainted with gun handling.

In December 2nd 2019 CNN reported a case in which a man was short by a handgun he had made for his front door. The device that was designed to discharge if there was an attempt by intruder to enter through that door later turned on its owner. He managed to call the police but he later died from the unintentional gun wound.

The US state Police did further investigations and found other devices in the house. They confirmed that the handgun discharge was unintentional and had been set to fire against intruders. Little did he know he could be detected by the detecting device as an intruder and prompt the firing. Guns are no child’s play, take very good care of them and observe all the handling rules.

12 Golden Rules for Safe Gun Handling

Always Treat the Gun as Loaded: It is important to always remember that you are handling a firearm. Firearms are dangerous and can cause a serious damage within the flicker of a second and there is no point of return. Beware always that you are handling a firearm and it can cause serious injury or even death.

Always keep the Gun Pointed in a safe Direction: keeping the gun pointed in safe direction should be your first line of safety awareness. Keep your sixth sense on the alert always, don’t you ever for a moment forget you are handling a death trap in your hands. Guns are good when they are put in their needful use but when you have to carry them along with you among your loved ones or innocent civilians, it is important that you observe safety guidelines to the letter. One careless move can cost you heavily.

Always keep your Finger Straight and Off the Trigger until you are ready to shoot

Whenever you anticipate danger and need to use your firearm against supposed attack, cock your gun but keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are sure of the target. Remember as humans you are still controlled by the reflex response mechanism when under attack and you might end shooting the wrong target. Temperament traits should be stable and well trained to handle emergencies with pro-active balance so that you are in control of yourself.

Always Keep the Gun unloaded until you are ready to use it

If there is no emergency or you are not on call to use your firearm, always keep it unloaded to reduce incidences of accidental shooting. As a user of apple devices, I always go for the latest models in the market. My recent handset was iPhone Xs Max which I dearly cherished and took care of. It didn’t last long. One early morning while preparing to leave for work, it slid off my hand as I picked it up from the dining table and hit the floor with a heavy thud. One look at it spelled awe on my face! Cracks were all over the screen.

No matter how careful you are accidents are bound to occur at unexpected times. But some accidents have no turnarounds and you will be forced to live with terrible guilt and bad memory for a long time. You can always buy another handset but you can never return life back to a dead corpse! So strictly load your gun when you need to use it to reduce chances of accidental discharge. Remember it is for your safety and that of others.

Be sure of Your Target and what is beyond it

Before you pull that trigger, carefully mark out your target, the distance and any object beyond it. Remember you may pull the trigger and miss your target. In case you do, you should not accidentally shoot other off targets. By doing this you will be able to make better decisions. Therefore, always load the firearm when you are in the middle of bad guys and there in no possibility of bullet straying to wrong targets.

If you have to use it where there are general population, use the golden rule; shoot only when you have clear object in view at a distance with zero missing point and when you have to save a life. Don’t panic, because if you do you may slip and shoot carelessly. There are cases where officers under attack panicked and ended up shooting at innocent citizens.

Know your firearm well

Firearms are different and have different handling characteristics. You should be able to know as much as possible the mechanical characteristics of the firearm you are about to use, so that you do not engage it wrongly and endanger yourself and others. Guns, just like phones are made by different companies which also install different systems into their products. You have to understand the usage and handling of a particular type and be very conversant with it.

Know and follow the shooting Range of your Ammunition

Understanding the range of your gun will help you judge whether you are able to hit your target and especially if it is a moving target. You have to evade all the other objects to hit your target. Therefore, understanding the range matrixes is very important in using your firearm effectively and for the expected purpose.

Use proper Ammunition

Use the ammunition prescribed for your type of firearm. Follow all the instructions from the manufacturer including the manual so that you make no mistake. Remember that using wrong ammunition can damage your gun or cause you serious injury. Firearms are manufactured according to the set standards which includes ammunition testing. The testing standards are as per given type of ammunition for a given firearm. Deviating from this rule can be really dangerous.

Don’t rely on your Gun’s Safety

Treat your firearm as though it can shoot at any time. Don’t rely on its safety; the safety on any firearm is actually mechanical device, which like any other device, can fail and become inoperable thereby becoming potentially dangerous. Or the safety may be off without your knowledge which can fire and cause serious injury or even death. Safety is just a supplement to gun handling but can never be a substitute to your common sense.

Other precautions you need to take are: Make sure your barrel is clean before loading to shoot. If your firearm fails to fire when you pull the trigger, maintain your shooting position for 10 seconds then point it to a safe direction before unloading it. Beware of your surrounding when handling the arms. Some surroundings can be slippery or can cause you to trip and cause serious injury.

Guns are dangerous and should be handled with a lot of precaution. That is why there is so much information about gun handling online; is because there are so many reported cases of accidents caused by mishandling of firearms. Remember you are dealing with life. Do not leave anything to chance. Make good use of all vital information so you can be able to preserve life even as you engage in use of firearms. For more articles see www.copywriting.timezoneict.co.ke