gun safety

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16 years 1 month ago #533 by foxhunter
gun safety was created by foxhunter
I got a reminder about gun safety last week. Rule 1, always assume a gun is loaded. Rule two ,always check to see if the gun is loaded. I know better. I didn't follow the rules.
I handed my new armalite to my brother ( a police officer) and told him to check out the trigger pull. He pointed it out my sliding glass door and squeezed. We both stood in awe as the gun went off, blowing a 10 inch hole through the glass (fortunately, nothing but fields and woods out back). My brother then turned to me and said " did you know it was loaded?" I said, " Oh yeah I wanted you to blow out a $500 window - Heres your sign!"
I had removed a clip with ammo still in it last time and forgot to eject the shell in the chamber. My ears stopped ringing after 2 days. Could have been alot worse.

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16 years 1 month ago #535 by bigwheel
Replied by bigwheel on topic Re:gun safety
thanks for the reminder, we all need to keep hearing it.

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16 years 1 month ago #539 by mlotziii
Replied by mlotziii on topic Re:gun safety
Thanks!

Someone I knew did something similar. Always stored his .45 with the spring down. Late one night was woken up by a noise downstairs. Turned out to be nothing but when he went back to bed he took out the mag, pointed the gun down and towards the corner of the room and pulled the trigger. He and his wife had a hard time going to sleep that night.

I like to keep those yellow range flags in my guns all the time. Practicing safety all the time is important.

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15 years 7 months ago #1465 by BUILDING MY SASS
Replied by BUILDING MY SASS on topic Re:gun safety
I also had a similar incident with a beretta 92FS I owned several years ago (alot younger and dumber), any way I blew a hole out the side of my living room, try explaining that to your landlord. It was a definite wake up call, like they say, it only takes once. Personally, now I keep a snap-cap in all my rifles, the mags are full, but before I put them away the snap goes in the chamber to relieve the spring tension so I know it's not loaded,so to speak, its a good habit to get into.

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15 years 7 months ago #1468 by Hank in Arkansas
Replied by Hank in Arkansas on topic Re:gun safety
In 40+ years of shooting (military & civilian), I've witnessed several negligent discharges, and heard about many more. Surprisingly, most involved fairly experienced shooters. My dad used to say "familiarity breeds contempt", and that's sort of true with guns. Gun guys & gals get too relaxed about safety rules and thus shoot holes in things. All I've witnessed were embarassing but harmless; some that I've known of (ie, I knew the victims personally) were downright tragic. I've got a friend who lost a leg to a negligent discharge of an "unloaded" gun. Another lost his life (a soldier, killed accidently in combat, by another grunt), while another had his knee destroyed by an errant shot (by another soldier on a range!). My nephew, now a disability retired cop, was almost killed by a fellow officer who negligently discharged his pistol during a drug raid; the .40 cal bullet went clear thru his pelvis, just below his vest.

It's extremely important for all us shooters to ALWAYS adhere to the basic gun safety rules. The basics (muzzle control, finger off trigger, target certainty, and "all guns are loaded") apply ALWAYS: police work, combat, range, plinking, home defense, always. Shoot safe & live!

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15 years 7 months ago #1471 by crux
Replied by crux on topic Re:gun safety
Hank in Arkansas wrote:

"familiarity breeds contempt"


So true. Same problem with ordnance, every time you work with them you have to remind yourself anew that this is a big deal, and all the rules still apply all the time. Sometimes when I explain the four rules to folks, some quibble over "the gun is always loaded" even when it isn't. I usually explain that it's the logical justification that reminds you why you always obey the rest of the rules, so that WHEN you have your unintended discharge (you should always assume that's in your cards some day statisticaly) you won't hurt anyone because your weapon was pointed in a safe direction, you were sure of the backstop etc...

Personally I try to remind myself each time I handle firearms the same thing I remind myself for ordnance: "This will go off if you do not pay attention and handle it properly at all times, and even if you do handle it properly, it may still go off. Be ready for that." Every time handling it has to be wiser, but still fresh and new. I also try to apply the rule of "as little fidgeting with it as possible" on the principle that things mostly go wrong only while you're fidgeting with them.

So far, so good.

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15 years 6 months ago #1683 by BUILDING MY SASS
Replied by BUILDING MY SASS on topic Re:gun safety
We all had some experience to share about OOPSs, I got this from a friend and thought I would share it.
This guy is VERY LUCKY to be alive. He is shooting a .50 cal.
Make you really think about where you are shooting at.



Like I said LUCKY.
BMS

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15 years 5 months ago #1689 by crux
Replied by crux on topic Re:gun safety
I think that's one of the most amazing near misses caught on film. If you watch you can see the round bounce off the ground in front of him before it skips up strikes the left hearing protector, taking it apart. About as lucky as you can get without having wounds to tell tales about.

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15 years 5 months ago #1690 by BUILDING MY SASS
Replied by BUILDING MY SASS on topic Re:gun safety
Yeah, that kind of reminder will make you do two things, think about God and new underwear.
BMS

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15 years 5 months ago #1696 by BUILDING MY SASS
Replied by BUILDING MY SASS on topic Re:gun safety
I would have to agree, I think he had a guardian angle. I think if I was him, I would have went and bought a Lottery Ticket while my luck was in full swing...Chuckle.

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