Gun safety is a hot topic, and it should be. Accidental, read that negligent shootings have caused an average of roughly 728 injuries and deaths every year since 1979. Fortunately, accidental shooting deaths have declined from 1,491 per year from 1979 to 1998 to an average of 606 a year from 1999 to 2023, but that is still too many. Add to this that 22.3 million people have become first-time gun owners since 2020. That is equal to the population of the state of Florida. Every accidental shooting is an entirely preventable tragedy. Consequently, gun safety deserves more than a passing reference to the four rules.

It is a State of Mind

The most important thing to remember about gun safety is that it is a state of mind. Think of it as a pilot flying a helicopter might. The pilot goes through a pre-flight checklist when they get ready to fly. But once the pilot has completed the list, they don’t just forget about safety. They constantly review everything every minute of the flight to ensure they don’t crash. As a gun owner, you must do more than check off the four safety rules and then forget them, you must constantly review your actions to ensure you are handling your gun safely.

The Four Rules Explained

Everyone knows the four rules of gun safety…right? But does everyone understand what they mean? To answer that, ask yourself if you have ever gone to a range and seen somebody who was so unsafe they scared the heck out of you. I have.

Treat Every Firearm as If It Is Loaded

You cannot know a gun is unloaded unless you personally visually and physically check the chamber. Someone telling you that they unloaded it doesn’t count. You must open the action, look at the chamber, and physically check it to know for sure there is no cartridge in the gun. Some guns have a loaded chamber indicator. That’s great for a casual indication, but before handling the gun, do a physical check. Unloaded guns have shot far too many people.

Physically and personally checking the condition of any gun when you pick it up should be second nature. Only once you are sure it is unloaded can you safely handle it. I’m always amazed at what a big deal some people make about having to pull the trigger on a Glock to disassemble it for cleaning. If you can’t ensure your gun is unloaded, maybe you should rethink owning one.

Always Keep the Muzzle Pointed in a Safe Direction

I learned this principle as: Never point a gun at anything you aren’t fully prepared to destroy. If you point your gun at a person, animal, or television and it goes off, it will destroy whatever it hits, without exception. Of course, if you have a negligent discharge, it will be because you violated one of the other safety rules. Define what a “safe direction” is every time you touch a gun. It’s easy if you’re at a range because a safe direction is downrange, but people tend to forget this even there. It is far too common to see people on the range turning their bodies this way and that way and moving the gun along with it. Always keep track of where you point the muzzle.

The situation will differ if you are in your home, apartment, car, or yard. You may have heard people say to keep the muzzle pointed down, but if you live in an upstairs apartment, pointing it down means a bullet could go through the floor and hit someone below you. The same holds if you are in one room and someone is in the next room. Interior and many exterior walls will not stop a bullet, even from a handgun. Establish what constitutes a “safe” direction for every situation you are in.

Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger Until You Are Ready to Fire

Regardless of what Alec Baldwin or the media say, guns do not just “go off” by themselves. Genuine accidental discharges (AD) are extremely rare and only occur when there is a mechanical malfunction of a gun. Negligent discharges (ND) only happen when a person’s finger or some other object, like a shirttail, gets into the trigger guard and pulls the trigger. If you keep your finger off the trigger and foreign objects out of the trigger guard, you won’t have an ND. It’s that simple.

When I first started carrying a Glock back around the turn of the Millennium, I used to joke that because it didn’t have a manual safety, once I racked a round into the chamber, I handled it like a poisonous snake until it was safely in my holster. It was an exaggeration, perhaps, but it kept me from putting my finger anywhere near the trigger. You naturally put your finger on the trigger because the design of guns encourages it. You must train yourself to keep your trigger finger along the axis of the gun above the trigger until you are ready to shoot. This is called indexing and is the worldwide standard for safe gun handling.

Be Sure of Your Target and What Is Beyond It When Shooting

Common sense is having a clear line of sight to your intended target before pulling the trigger. I grew up hunting in farm country, and there were two ironclad rules. First, never take a shot based only on sounds you hear in the brush. Second, always know where your and the neighbor’s livestock are, not to mention your neighbor, before you shoot. But it goes beyond that. You have to remember that a bullet from your gun will keep going for a very long way unless it hits something solid enough to stop it. A sheetrock wall in a house will not do the trick. 

Also, remember that you may miss to the left, right, or above whatever you are shooting at. Always be sure there is nothing downrange you don’t want to shoot. This includes a defensive shooting situation where there are innocent bystanders nearby. Ultimately, you are responsible for every bullet that leaves your barrel.

More Safety Rules

Instructors may teach those four main safety rules in every shooting class, but they aren’t the only safety factors. Responsible gun owners should always adhere to other safety considerations.

Always Know How to Operate a Gun Before You Try to Shoot It

Take the time to familiarize yourself with a gun you have never shot before. Understand how the safety works, how to load and unload it, and how to clear a malfunction. Be prepared for the trigger to feel unfamiliar, perhaps lighter or heavier than you are used to. If it’s a friend’s gun, ask them if there is anything to keep in mind. If it is a new gun, read the manual first.

Ensure the Barrel is Clear

A squib round occurs when the cartridge has a weak propellant charge, leaving the bullet lodged halfway down the barrel. Squib rounds are extremely rare when shooting factory ammunition but slightly more common with hand loads. I have only seen two over the years. In the first instance, the shooter didn’t realize something was wrong and shot another round, blowing up her gun, fortunately only with minor injury to herself. In the second instance, the shooter realized by the feel of the shot that something was wrong. We checked her gun, and sure enough, there was a squib lodged in the barrel. A couple of taps with a cleaning rod, and she was back in business. A squib isn’t the only hazard. A gun that has been dropped or shoved into a range bag without being in a case can get something lodged in the barrel. Always check before shooting.

If The Gun Fails to Fire, Handle It with Care

A gun can fail to fire for several reasons. Bad ammunition, a light primer strike, debris or dirt that gums up the firing pin or striker, or a mechanical problem can prevent the gun from going boom when you pull the trigger. But even though it didn’t go off like it was supposed to, that gun is still loaded. Further, it can still go off on a delayed action in some unusual circumstances. Keep the muzzle in a safe direction and wait a few seconds before trying to clear the malfunction to give it time to go off if it is going to.

Take Care When Holstering Your Gun

A great many firearm accidents occur when the gun owner is holstering their gun. People put their finger on the trigger, or a foreign object like a shirttail or lanyard gets caught in the trigger guard. A manual safety can reduce the problem, but not all guns have a manual safety, and not everyone uses them. It is much better to learn to check that everything is clear before holstering your gun.

Always Store Firearms Safely to Prevent Unauthorized Use

Evaluate your situation and store your firearms accordingly. This may be a safe, a lockbox next to the bed, or a locked room. Young children should never be able to access firearms, and you should carefully evaluate letting teenagers have access to them. There have been numerous instances in the news where a teenager who had access to a family gun was able to protect the family from an assailant. I grew up deep in the country, and we had a rabid fox scratching the back door one morning. In both cases, access to a gun was a good thing. The key word here is “authorized.” I’ve known two families who had unauthorized teens gain access to a gun with tragic consequences, one of whom was an Army officer. Ensure they receive proper training and demonstrate competence in safely handling your weapon before allowing them to access it. For everyone else, store your gun so they cannot gain access to it.

Do Not Become Complacent

This is the most important rule of all. To me, a gun is not only a tool, but many of them are a thing of beauty. I have handled all types of firearms my entire life and have made my living carrying them. But I always remember that they can be deadly if misused, like a finely tuned muscle car or a motorcycle. It can be easy to let familiarity get the better of you, leading to disaster. As the saying goes, complacency kills.

Conclusion

Gun safety is something that must be accomplished on the individual level. Laws and safety devices on guns cannot take the place of proper gun handling and common sense.  Every accidental shooting death or injury is a tragedy on multiple levels. First and foremost are the completely senseless deaths and injuries. Then, there is the catastrophic emotional suffering of the families involved. And finally, every incident will be shamelessly politicized by those who would obstruct Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms and defend themselves.