We don't need a complicated list of rules to be safe in our sport. So many accidental shootings and injuries could be prevented if shooters followed four simple rules. Anyone can memorize four rules. Please commit them to memory and to habit, for the sake of your family, loved ones, your neighbors and yourself.
1. All guns are ALWAYS loaded until you personally verify that they aren't. That means ALL guns, even the one you just watched someone unload, and it means the gun you know for a fact that you stored unloaded. Don't trust anyone, not an expert, not even yourself. Remove the magazine and check it, then open the gun and check the chamber visibly and by feel to make sure there are no cartridges in the chamber. Only then is the gun truly unloaded.
Do this EACH time you handle it. It's easier to commit it to habit and do it EACH time, than to try and remember, and perhaps forget to check that "one time" when you really wish you had. Far too many people are killed or wounded each year by "unloaded" guns that weren't checked.
2. Do not point the muzzle at anything you do not intend to DESTROY. Watch where your muzzle is pointing at all times. Don't let it point at anything you don't intend to destroy. If there is an accidental discharge and the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction, the only result is embarrassment. If the muzzle is pointed at a loved one, your foot, your car, your TV, etc. Well, you get the idea.
3. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until you are actually ready to take the shot. A gun doesn't just go off on it's own. The only time the trigger needs to be pulled is when the sights are on the target, so your finger doesn't need to be there until then either. Keep your finger straight the rest of the time. All the mechanical safeties in the world can't prevent a discharge. The best safety is the one between your ears.
4. Be absolutely sure you know where your bullet will go. Bullets can travel a very long way and can carry enough energy to cause injury or death a mile or more away. Be sure you know what will be stopping your bullet after it passes through the target.
Please read and reread these simple rules until they are second nature, habit, and instinct. Please stress them to others you shoot with also. You can't call a bullet back once it's fired, and you can't undo the damage it may cause.
If you have children, please keep your guns locked away from them and teach them gun safety as early as possible. Even if your child knows gun safety inside out, remember that one of his/her friends may find one of your guns and not know how to handle it safely. It happens every year.
Mike
We have enough youth. We need a fountain of SMART!