Owning a firearm can be a great way to protect you and your family, but this is not a toy. In the wrong hands, including someone who is not properly trained, any gun can be dangerous. This is why it is important that a person understands the fundamental rules for anyone who is going to handle handgun or rifle.
Keeping these fundamental rules in mind is important for any handgun or rifle owner. You want to feel safe with your weapon, but you also want to be safe with it. Knowing these fundamental rules will help you to be so.
#1 Treat All Guns as if They are Loaded
The most common accident that occurs with guns each year is because the person holding the gun thought that it was unloaded. It wasn’t just that they thought so – they were absolutely sure. This is why it is a good idea to treat all firearms in your possession as if they are loaded. When you do so, you will eliminate the risk of an accident.
#2 Only Point at What You Intend to Shoot
As mentioned before, a handgun or rifle is not a toy. This is a weapon that is intended to injure or destroy whatever it is aimed at. This is why you should never point a firearm at anything unless you are intending to shoot. If you are not intending to shoot something, the muzzle of the gun should always be pointed down or away from anything or anyone. This helps to eliminate the potential risk of you accidentally shooting somebody.
#3 Know What is Behind What You are Shooting
Before you fire at anything, you should be fully aware of what is directly behind that object or an extremely close proximity. There is no telling if the bullet you fire will go through the person or object you shoot, hitting what is behind that. This can mean that a person, pet, or personal property can be damaged or killed.
#4 Guns are Stupid!
This is a rule that is really about you being smart. A gun may be beautifully designed and constructed, but it can only do what you intended to do. The trigger doesn’t pull on its own. The gun doesn’t name it anyone without direction. It is really nothing more than an inanimate object.
What this means is that you have to be smart with your weapon. If you have a firearm in your hand, you have to keep in mind that it will only do that which you “instruct” it to do. If you pull the trigger, it will fire. You have to be smart ever you are handling one of these kinds of weapons.
#5 You Can’t Always Count on Your Gun Safety
This is an additional rule related to never pointing your weapon at anything you don’t intend to kill or destroy. Even if your weapon is on safety you cannot be sure that this mechanism works. You simply cannot point your weapon at another person or at some object in less you are intending to shoot at it. Never pull the trigger unless you are intending for the weapon to discharge, even if you are sure that safety is on.
#6 You Will Be Required to Pass a Background Check
It does not matter what state you live in – if you want to own a firearm you are going to be required to undergo a background check. This means that if you have a felony in one state you are not going to be able to purchase a firearm in another. Trying to circumvent these background checks is a federal crime, one which can be punished with a significant amount of jail time.
#7 Semi-Automatic and Automatic are Not the Same
There is a reason that the word semi is placed in front of semi automatic. These are not the exact same things. And automatic weapon will discharge multiple rounds with one single pull of the trigger. However, a semi automatic will only discharge one round with each pull of the trigger.
This is important to understand, because if you have an automatic weapon and you pull the trigger is going to keep firing until you release the trigger mechanism. Unless you are intending to completely obliterate something, you should never have your weapon on automatic.
#8 Training or a Badge Does Not Make a Person a Good Shot
Just because a person has gone through some kind of training course or they even have a badge does not mean that they are a good shot. Shooting is a skill, the same as throwing a football, drawing, or being able to develop software programs. Anyone can throw a football, but that does not mean they are very good at it. The same is true with the use of a firearm.
You also have to consider that even those who are well-trained may respond to a crisis situation in a manner that makes them dangerous with their firearm. When scared, they may fire randomly or wild. This is why it is best to stay away from a situation where a person has unholstered their weapon.
