SAFETY – By Terri Strayer
I know in CCW classes people get tired of hearing teachers repeat the 4 major safety rules.
- Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
- Keep finger off trigger until ready to shoot (the gun is on target).
- Never point it anything you do not want to destroy (that includes your body parts).
- Know your target and what’s beyond (also around) it.
But it only takes a fraction of a second for something to go wrong. If by chance you do mess up and cross yourself, if you have your finger off the trigger then life is still good.
If moving from point A to point B and you trip, if you have your finger off the trigger, life is good.
If your finger is on the trigger but the gun is pointed in a safe direction when it goes off, life is still good.
Just because you have been handling guns for a long time it does not mean an accidental discharge will never happen to you. The only way to be sure it does not happen to you is to never pick up a gun.
We have been to major matches and seen and heard of it happening to good shooters, Safety Officers and Range Officers, etc. National champions, even.
At your local matches you go and pay your fee and shoot. And at most all they ask of you is for you to help paste and maybe tear down a stage. But they (the hosts) have taken the time to plan the stages and taken the time to set up the stages and then during the match run the stages. They watch you and run you through a stage safely. Then they may shoot the stages.
They then have to clean up and make sure everything is put up. Then someone has to post the scores and do the paper work. They do not get paid. They do get fussed at, at times. They hardly ever get a “thanks”. They did all this just to shoot like you did.
So you can see even with their experience, if everything is not “front and center” they also can screw up. I believe this is a good reminder that safety must always be first. So if experienced shooters can screw up now you know why we press safety with new shooters.
You learn what you practice.
So, practice safety first. And always remember it CAN happen to you, but as long as you followed the rules you probably only embarrassed yourself.
