Gun safety
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(For discussions on politics concerning firearms and gun safety, see Gun Politics. This page only deals with non-political aspects of gun safety.)
Gun safety is a collection of rules and recommendations that can be applied when handling firearms. The purpose of gun safety is to eliminate or minimize the risks of unintentional damage, injury and/or death caused by improper handling of firearms.
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[edit] Gun safety rules and mindset
Gun safety training seeks to instill a certain mindset and appropriate habits, or rules. The mindset is that firearms are inherently dangerous and must always be handled with care. Handlers are taught to treat firearms with respect for their destructive capabilities, and strongly discouraged from playing or toying with firearms, a common cause of accidents.
The rules of gun safety follow from this mindset. While there are many variations, the following rules are those most commonly taught during gun safety training:
- Always treat firearms as if they are loaded, not safetied, and ready to fire.
- Always point the muzzle away from anything and everything which you do not intend to fire upon.
- Always keep your fingers away from the trigger until you are ready to fire.
- Always be sure of your target and its surroundings.
[edit] Treat firearms as if they are loaded
This rule is a matter of proper mindset rather than a specific habit. Many firearm accidents result from the handler believing a firearm is emptied, safetied, or otherwise disabled when in fact it is ready to fire. Such misunderstandings can arise from a number of sources.
- Faulty handling of the firearm. A handler may execute the steps of procedures such as loading, firing and emptying in the wrong order or omitt steps of the procedures.
- Misunderstandings about a firearm's status. For instance: A handler may think the safety is on when it is not; A round of ammunition may be in the chamber or in the clip/magazine while the handler thinks it is empty; A handler may receive a firearm and assume it is in a certain state without asserting that the assumption is true.
- Mechanical failures. Wear, faulty assembly, damage or faulty design of the firearm can cause the it to not function as intended. For instance: A safety may have been worn down to a point where it is no longer functioning. Broken parts may have given the firearm a "hair trigger" (a very sensitive trigger). A dented or bent body of the firearm may cause jams or premature discharge of ammunition. Sensitivity to impact may cause a firearm to discharge if dropped or struck against another object.
If a handler always treats firearms as capable of being fired at any time, the handler is more likely to take precautions to prevent an unintentional discharge and to avoid damage or injury if one does occur.
The phrase "The gun is always loaded" is often used. The purpose is to discourage mental habits such as "I know my gun is empty so (some unsafe practice) is OK." Inexperienced handlers often think this way and accidents can happen as a result. A gun safety instructor can respond to such reasoning by restating the rule: "No, your gun is always loaded".
[edit] Point the muzzle away from non-targets
This rule is intended to minimize the damage caused by an unintended discharge. The first rule teaches that a firearm must be assumed to be ready to fire. This rule goes beyond that and says "Since the firearm might fire, assume that it will and make sure no harm occurs when it does".
A consequence of this rule is that any kind of playing or "toying" with firearms is prohibited. Playfully pointing firearms at people or other non-targets violates this rule.
Two natural "safe" directions to point the muzzle are upwards (at the sky) and downwards (at the ground). Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Firing at the ground may result in a ricochet or cause hazardous fragments to be flung at people or material. Aiming upwards eliminates this risk but replaces it with the risk that the bullet may cause damage when it comes down to the ground again. Indeed, several accidents have been caused by discharging firearms into the air. It is also possible that the muzzle will inadvertently be pointed at a non-target such as someone's head or an aircraft. [1]
When passing a firearm to another person, it should be passed such that the muzzle of the weapon does not point at, or "flag", the recipient or any bystander. If the situation permits it is often considered good practice to show the firearm with the magazine removed, the breech unloaded and locked open before handing it over to the recipient so that the recipient can easily double-check the firearm. It is known as "show clear".
[edit] Keep fingers off the trigger
This rule is intended to prevent an undesired discharge. Normally a firearm is discharged by pressing its trigger. A handler's finger may involuntary move for any of several reasons: being startled, not keeping full attention on body movements, or physiological reasons beyond conscious control such as spasms. Handlers are therefore taught to minimize the harmful effects of such a motion, by keeping the finger off the trigger.
The trigger guard and area above the trigger of a firearm presents a natural point for a handler to keep their finger out straight alongside the weapon, so as not to violate this rule (see picture above). A properly indexed trigger finger also helps remind the person holding the gun of the direction of the muzzle.
In popular culture, such as movies and TV shows, this rule is often violated, even by characters who would be trained in gun safety such as military personnel or law enforcement officers.
[edit] Be sure of your target
This rule is intended to eliminate or minimize damage to non-targets when a firearm is intentionally discharged. Unintended damage may occur if a non-target is misidentified as a target, or if the bullet hits something or someone other than the intended target.
Handlers are taught that they must positively identify their target as valid. If the situation allows it, all of the above gun safety rules are to be observed until the target is identified.
Even when firing at a valid target, unintended targets may still be hit. A bullet may miss the intended target and hit something else. Alternatively, the bullet may go through the target and hit a non-target behind it. (Ammunition can be chosen to reduce this risk; see Terminal ballistics, Stopping power, Hollow point bullet.) Thus, the handler must observe what is close to and behind the target. If non-targets are at risk of being hit by the bullet, the handler may have to refrain from firing.
This rule may create situations that present dilemmas for a handler. Such situations may include for instance a police officer in a riot or a soldier in a situation where civilians are near the enemy. Indecision or misjudgment of the handler's abilities in such a situation may cause undesired outcomes, such as injury to the handler or the handler violating rules of engagement and causing unintended damage. To prevent such outcomes the handler must be properly trained. This makes it easier for the handler to make appropriate decisions, even if given little time and/or put under severe stress.
[edit] Gun safety for firearms not in use
Gun safety for situations where firearms are not in use are intended to prevent access to and subsequent discharge of a firearm. Preventing access to firearms serves a double purpose in that it also protects the firearm from theft.
An effective method of preventing access to a functioning firearm is to store it disassembled and to keep the parts separated. If a certain part of a firearm is required for it to fire, the handler may remove that part from the firearm and keep it in a separate location. Ammunition may also be stored away from the firearm.
Sometimes this rule is codified in law. For example, Swedish law requires owners of firearms to store the firearms either with the "vital piece" locked up in a safe place or put the entire gun in a safe or lockable gun rack.
A lock that prevents motion of the trigger, blocks the chamber or in any other way prevents the firearm from being discharged may be used for additional safety. This also makes the firearm less useful to thieves as the firearm cannot be used unless the lock is removed. Such locks are commonly designed so that they cannot be forcibly removed without permanently disabling the firearm. This method is considered less effective than keeping firearms locked in a safe or a gun cabinet since locks are more easily defeated than approved safes.
Most firearm experts do not promote the use of trigger locks. In most cases, the firearm can still be loaded and a round chambered with the lock in place. In some cases, the firearm can even be fired with a trigger lock secured around the trigger guard.
If a firearm is intended to be used for self defense at home, special-purpose locking devices exist that allow the owner to store the fully loaded firearm in a safe manner while still providing quick access to it. However, keeping a firearm in a continuous state of readiness to be fired presents certain operational problems as previously described, especially if children can gain access to the firearm. Therefore the owner should always consider taking further precautions from an early age in addition to the use of locking storage containers, such as teaching children gun safety as described herein from an early age.
[edit] Protective gear and health issues
When discharged a firearm emits a very loud noise, typically close to the handler's ears. Over time this can cause hearing damage such as tinnitus. Hearing protection is recommended to prevent this.
Firearms emit hot gases, powder, and other debris when fired. Some weapons, such as semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms, typically eject spent cartridge casings at high speed. Ejected casings are also commonly very hot from the discharge. Any of these may hurt the handler through burning or impact damage. Eyes are particularly vulnerable to this type of damage. Therefore eye protection is recommended.
Hearing and eye protection can also be used to protect observers, bystanders, team members or others that may be close to the handler.
Another problem, highlighted in more recent years, is that of toxic effects from ammunition or cleaning agents. Lead bullets can release lead vapour when fired, and older ammunition may have mercury-based primers. Lead accumulates in range backstops, often as fine powder which is easily inhaled, and ranges must be carefully decontaminated. Indoor ranges require good ventilation to remove pollutants. Ranges always require extensive decontamination if they are to be decommissioned.
Lead, copper and other metals will also be released when a firearm is handled and cleaned. Highly aggressive solvents and other agents used to remove lead and powder fouling may present a hazard to health. Good ventilation, washing oneself and cleaning the space where the gun was handled lessens the risk of unnecessary exposure.
[edit] Impairment
Since handling a firearm is a complex task, with possible fatal outcomes if done wrong, gun safety dictates that a firearm should never be handled while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, even legal prescription or over the counter drugs. Since such substances may affect a person's judgement already after consuming relatively small amounts, zero tolerance is advocated by gun safety teachers.
[edit] Correct ammunition
The handler must be certain the firearm is loaded only with ammunition that is approved for use with that particular firearm. Using ammunition of wrong caliber, or using an ammunition type for which the firearm is not intended to be used with, may result in the firearm malfunctioning or becoming damaged. This may cause the firearm to explode, resulting in severe or even fatal injury to the handler.
Ammunition may be manufactured manually, so called "hand-loading". It may be very difficult for an inexperienced or unskilled handler to discern what is the equivalent ammunition type for hand-loaded ammunition. As such, using hand-loaded ammunition without being experienced in that field presents an elevated risk of a firearm-ammunition mismatch, with possible consequences as mentioned above.
[edit] Construction, modification and general condition of firearms
Modifying firearms to better fit their intended purpose is a fairly common practice, but not without its pitfalls. Firearms of any sort operate briefly at enormous pressure during firing, and enormous loads are placed on the pressure-bearing parts. If these parts are weakened by modifications or adaptations (such as drilling to fit telescope mounts, slings etc) there is a real risk of explosion. Similarly, if safety devices or mechanism parts such as sear engagement points, safety catches, de-cockers or trigger interrupters are modified or poorly adapted, great risks become apparent. Semi-automatic rifles may fire from an unlocked breech, allowing a case explosion next to the face of the firer; a handgun may fire unexpectedly or even "burst-fire" like a machine-gun. The potential for harm is obvious, along with the legal implications for those who modify firearms without a great deal of training and expertise.
Even without "metalwork" modifications a gun can still be rendered unsafe. A great deal of design effort goes into making sure a firearm can only be assembled one way, as it was intended to be, but occasionally it is found to be possible to assemble a firearm in such a manner as to render it unsafe. This knowledge is often only brought to light following a tragedy resulting from it. Therefore, anything more than routine field-stripping requires great care and preferably instruction from somebody competent in such practices.
The overall condition of a firearm is equally important. Rusted, heavily fouled or blocked barrels may bulge or explode (especially shotguns), and mechanisms may fail due to contamination or corrosion. Any firearm should be kept clean and thoroughly checked for proper functionality before live-firing. If there is any doubt as to its condition, it should not be used until it has been properly repaired.
In the United Kingdom, firearms must be proofed before sale or use. This takes place at the Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House, where each individual firearm is held in a test mount and fired with a severely overcharged round of ammunition. If it survives, it is inspected for distortion or other damage and if found to be free of such, stamped with the appropriate proof mark. Re-proofing will be required after modification to pressure-bearing parts to ensure continued safety.
[edit] Gun safety for children
Children who are generally considered too young to be allowed to handle firearms at all have a different set of rules which can be taught to them:
- Stop.
- Don't touch.
- Leave the area.
- Tell an adult.
The purpose of these rules is to prevent children from inadvertently handling firearms. These rules are part of the Eddie Eagle program developed by the National Rifle Association for preschoolers through 6th graders. If a child discovers a firearm, they should seek an adult to remove access to it as soon as possible. This may include turning it over to an appropriate law enforcement agency.
Older youth (age may vary per program) may take part in a program for safe rifle handling, such as promoted by the various organizations:
- Boy Scouts of America
- Americans for Gun Safety Foundation
- National Rifle Association
- Civilian Marksmanship Program
[edit] History and teachers of gun safety
While gun safety in different forms has existed since the creation of firearms, modern gun safety is often credited to Jeff Cooper. Being influential in the modern handling of firearms, he formalised the above mentioned rules of gun safety.
Other teachers of gun safety include Massad Ayoob, Clint Smith, Chuck Taylor, Jim Crews and Ignatius Piazza.
One widely-known firearms safety program in the United States is the Eddie Eagle program developed by the National Rifle Association.
[edit] External links
- Gun safety information from Seattle Children's Hospital.
- LOK-IT-UP A public awareness program encouraging the safe storage of firearms.
- Controversy over exact choice of rules for gun safety (specifically whether or not "the gun is always loaded" is an intelligent rule).
- NRA Gun Safety Rules. Also deals with issues such as eye and ear protection.
- Eddie Eagle, an NRA program to teach gun safety to children as described above.
