Safety and safe storage.

1.) ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED. 2.) KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF OF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE ON TARGET AND CONDITIONS ARE SAFE TO FIRE. 3.) DO NOT POINT A FIREARM AT ANYTHING YOU DO NOT WISH TO DESTROY OR KILL. 4.) KNOW YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR TARGET. Safe firearm usage is always priority number one, no matter what you're doing. 99.9999% of gun accidents and mishaps are due to someone violating one of the four golden rules of firearms safety outlined above. Obviously, all guns are not always loaded, but it's a critical practice in mindset, awareness, and building good safety habits. If someone hands you a firearm, NO MATTER WHO IT IS, EVEN IF THEY'VE SWORN ON THE BIBLE THAT IT IS UNLOADED, verify the safe status of the firearm by opening the action and ensuring that the chamber, magazine, magazine well, magazine tube, etc, is empty. No matter what kind of firearm you're about to pick up and handle, you must first understand how to operate its basic parts and features. If you don't understand that, it will be impossible to safely handle it and ensure whether it's been made safe or not. This is often colloquially referred to as the "manual of arms" of a firearm. Different types and models of firearms will have different features and methods of operation. The lesson here is that if you have not personally verified that the gun is in a safe condition, then you must assume it is loaded and treat it as such. The same applies if you take your eyes off of a weapon for any meaningful amount of time. Guns don't load themselves, but you don't know what someone else may have done when you weren't present. Making careless assumptions is one of the primary ways that accidents happen. A note on antique, classic, and collectible weapons: - I’ve had people contact me after inheriting an older firearm from a relative, looking for advice on how to handle them. Unfortunatley, I am not an expert in the use of these older weapons. My advice is always to carefully stow these weapons in a hard case and take them to a qualified gunsmith that can ensure the safe operation of the weapon, demonstrate its functions to you, and verify whether or not it is safe to fire. The second and third rules are somewhat self-explanatory but still warrant thorough explanation. Keeping your finger off of the trigger is commonly referred to as the practice of "trigger discipline". This is arguably the most important of all of the rules. Guns do not discharge themselves. When you're holding a firearm and not pointing it at your target, your index finger should be clear of the entire trigger guard area, resting against the side of the frame or receiver of the weapon, as shown below.

An improper technique I see from time to time is people resting their trigger finger against the front of a trigger guard. This is incorrect and dangerous. A solid scare, slip, or someone bumping into your hand could quickly go south. Just don't do it.

The only time your finger should ever be on the trigger of a firearm (outside of very intense and specific drills) is once you have pointed the firearm at a target and verified that everything is clear downrange, from the front of the muzzle to a 90 degree angle on each side. In other words, make sure everyone is either behind you or to the side of your firing position, where no one's body is forward of your muzzle. Any firearm with a manual safety should also have that safety remain engaged until these conditions are met. This is especially important with long guns, as we don't holster/stow those in a way that can prevent the trigger from being accidentally pressed. Not pointing a firearm at anything you do not intend to destroy or kill sounds simple. And yet, "flagging" is still the most common safety violation I see on a regular basis. Flagging is simply having the muzzle of the firearm pointed at, or covering, anything that it shouldn't be, primarily yourself or another human being. Keep your body pointed downrange while making safe and holstering. Another common occurrence with brand new shooters is the first time they're out on the range, and they will hit a target, and then suddenly swing their body around to exclaim "Did you see that!!??". The result is flagging half of the people behind the firing line with a live and loaded firearm. This is one of the reasons I always hover directly behind and over the shoulder of a new shooter, ready to intervene in case they get absent-minded in all of the excitement. Be hyper aware of where the muzzle of your firearm is pointed at all times, regardless of its condition. It's important to note that this is all within the context of a firearm in someone's hands. Holstered pistols and slung rifles will at times flag yourself and others, but this is generally acceptable, as the weapon should be in a safe state with the trigger guard completely covered and/or the manual safety engaged. On the rule of knowing your target and what is beyond your target - If you're shooting at an indoor range, this doesn't require a lot of thought. But if you're like me and prefer to venture into the outdoors for practice and training, take a moment to assess all of your surroundings. A stray round can travel several miles, over hills and backstops. One vivid memory I have from a very young age was watching my father shoot his Ruger Redhawk .44 with very large sand dunes as a backdrop. I watched as the round actually bounced and skipped all the way up and over a sand dune. Rounds can easily ricochet across virtually any surface, including bodies of water. So please be very aware of what is beyond your target and immediate shooting area. I always bring a pair of binoculars and survey the surrounding area very thoroughly before I even begin to setup my targets and equipment. Ear and eye protection is also crucial. Bullet splashback, catastrophic malfunctions, and debris being kicked up by rounds fired downrange are all a potential threat to your eyes. I frequently shoot at steel targets, and as those steel targets age and take damage in the form of small divots, small pieces of lead and jacket from the bullet can end up splashing back at unexpected angles. While these occurrences are still rare (and small pieces pose no lethal threat to your body), they're moving fast enough to injure or even destroy an unprotected eye. So use ballistic-rated shooting glasses or sunglasses when on the range. The colloquially termed "ear-pro and eye-pro" choices will be discussed more in-depth in the future of this series. I would prefer if there was a 5th rule, though, which would be: "Be aware of your trigger guard and your holster when holstering handguns without a manual safety." My addendum with a 5th rule is this; most modern striker fired pistols (Glock, Smith and Wesson M&P, H&K VP9, Sig P320, etc) don't have a manual safety that can physically block the trigger from moving rearward. This isn't usually an issue, except in rare occasions when part of your clothing, like a draw-string, piece of kit, zipper, etc, gets lodged in the trigger guard while holstering, and the user isn't paying attention. See here for an example: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/windbreaker-drawstring-triggers-glock-negligent-discharge/ This can be prevented by simply visually monitoring your holster and handgun while holstering for any possible intrusions into the trigger guard and holster area. Triggers are dumb. They don't know if they're having pressure applied to them by a finger, a stick, a piece of clothing, or something else. Lastly, while on the topic of holstering pistols, never stick a pistol in your pocket, waistband, or anywhere on your body that does not involve stowing it in a holster. - Safe Storage - If I had my druthers, I would make it a law to require gun owners to also own a safe. Even if you live alone, you should still own a safe. You're not always going to have all of your guns on you all of the time, and it just takes one burglary for your gun(s) to end up on the street in the wrong hands, being used to commit a crime. It's all part of being a responsible gun owner and doing your part to keep guns off of the street. According to the FBI, a burglary occurs on average every 25.7 seconds in America, which equates to over 3,300 burglaries every day. When it comes to kids, even though I'm a big proponent of teaching kids proper firearm safety, handling, and respect for their destructive power, I realize that leaving kids alone with access to firearms isn't a good idea. Safes come in all different sizes and configurations - everything from puny, simple lockboxes to entire rooms that are transformed into vaults. Choosing a safe will be a compromise between how readily you can access its contents, cost, size, and how secure it will be against theft and removal. A common method of safe storage is the plethora of small lockbox style safes that use biometrics (fingerprints), an RFID bracelet, etc, to identify the user and allow access. Most of these have a mechanical backup in the form of a traditional lock and key in the event that the electronic half fails. They're affordable, unobtrusive, and easy to install in any room. The downside to these is that they're easily picked up and carried off during a burglary, and easily opened with common tools once it's in someone else's possession. For those of you who are more mechanically inclined, you could drill some holes and mount this style of safe to a dresser or some other large piece of furniture to make it both more difficult to access and more difficult for someone to carry off in a burglary. Another downside to these is that many models are also easily defeated and opened using common household items, like so:

Do your research before choosing one. I don't have a personal recommendation for these types of safes, as it's not my cup of tea, and there's constantly new models coming to market. What I prefer is a more traditional, larger style of safe that most of you are probably familiar with:

These types of safes have several advantages over smaller ones. A quality safe will be very hard for someone to access even with power tools and large pry bars. They're designed to be bolted into the concrete foundation of your home, and should be installed in this manner. If you purchase one from a local safe store, they'll provide installation and setup. Any large safe worth its salt will also be fire-rated for at least an hour. My personal safe is a large high end unit with an electronic keypad and a mechanical backup. I don't own a particularly large number of firearms, but I like having a larger safe because it provides a safe place to store ammunition, valuables, important documents, priceless photos, etc - that will all be protected in the event of a fire. When you buy a large safe, you're getting much more than just safe storage for your firearms. It can also be seen as an investment as they hold their value very well over time. The downside of large units is their size. They weigh between several hundred and several thousand pounds. Some offer biometric options but they'll typically be slightly slower to access than the smaller lockbox style units. If you're so inclined, there's nothing to stop you from having a large safe in one room and a smaller lockbox style unit in your bedroom. I quite literally have a nightstand handgun as well as a nightstand rifle next to the bed I sleep in. I don't have children in the house so I don't have any concerns in regard to unauthorized access to them, otherwise I would probably use the hybrid safe method mentioned previously. Just make sure your bedside guns go in the safe when you leave the house, even if it's only for a quick errand. Vehicle storage is another concern for some. You should never leave an unsecured firearm inside of a vehicle. There are several options available for vehicle safe storage as well. Generally these will always be bolted to the body or some other hard point of the vehicle, whether it's in the style of a container or a locking rack for long guns. Like most things in the firearm world, you'll generally get what you pay for. Better vehicle storage safes and racks will have tougher construction, better locking mechanisms, and other anti-theft countermeasures compared to cheaper units. You'll have to determine your own needs as far as security and accessibility. What I don't recommend is the various types of gun concealment furniture being marketed everywhere, that rely on a magnet or button to access. I've been the victim of two burglaries (and even one home robbery when I was a teenager) in the past, and they tossed and ripped apart EVERYTHING. I'm confident that they would have found a firearm stashed in a faux drawer, cabinet, or picture frame. For further information on choosing a safe for your needs, The Safe Keeper here in Las Vegas is a good resource: https://www.thesafekeeper.com/blog/ Guide on choosing firearm safes:

There's a LOT more nuance to safety than just what I've talked about so far, and I'll continue sprinkling it in throughout this series. But to quote Colonel Jeff Cooper: "Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something that you hold in your hands." Always remain vigilant about your mental state, the safety rules, and what's happening in your environment. Follow the rules religiously and unwaveringly, and you'll be fine. Outside of some freak, anomalous mechanical failure that leads to an accidental discharge (which is incredibly rare with modern firearms) it's literally impossible to have an accident if you always stick to those four simple rules at all times. I've shot hundreds of thousands of rounds in my lifetime and I've never had an accident. It is also your duty to make sure that anyone you ever hand a firearm to also understands these rules and procedures. When I take newcomers out, I always make sure they understand all of the safety rules and procedures before we even pick up a firearm.