Things you should know 002: Firearm safety.

Okay, this is one thing every American should be familiar with and have some confidence around and with firearms.

I wasn’t taught by my parents and had to learn from others. But, these are basic skills and knowledge that I personally believe every American should have.

Four Rules:

1. Handle every firearm like it is loaded.
2. Keep the firearm oriented in safe direction.
3. Be certain of your target, what’s before and beyond it.
4. Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you’re ready to fire.

These four rules, when followed correctly, ensure that there are no NDs (Negligent discharges) when a firearm is being handled. If you come across a firearm and are not certain or confident in how it functions, where controls are, how to check if it’s loaded. Ask. It’s that simple and far better than discharging a round on accident. These are the four basic rules everyone should know. Having confidence and the basic safety knowledge will make new gun owners and first time shooters far more comfortable around a pistol, rifle, or shotgun. The fire controls. Almost every firearm, with exceptions to striker fire pistols, will have the following:
A safety selector and a trigger. These two things are important and you should know where they are on your firearm.
Generally speaking, most firearms are going to have the safety near or on the trigger guard. These are pretty important so they shouldn’t be hiding anywhere. Trigger, I hope you know what this is, but it can be found in the trigger guard and is the thing everyone wants to pull as soon as they pick up a firearm. These two things should be functioning properly before you go shoot any firearm. The reason I’m mentioning this is because I recently purchased a 100 year old shotgun and the safety was not functioning correctly and needed to be replaced to make the shotgun safe to use.