THREE BASIC RULES OF GUN SAFETY
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There are a number of lists of so-called “safety rules”, designed to promote safe gun handling. Gun
manufacturers and shooting sports organizations normally publish these lists, and each has a different
emphasis. Some are too long and complicated to be readily remembered. What follows are the three most
basic safety rules for self-defense firearms, with a brief explanation of each:
Always keep the muzzle of your firearm pointed in a safe direction!
This means that you should never allow the muzzle of any firearm to point at anything you are not willing to
see destroyed, even if you think or know the gun is unloaded. Unless you are defending your life, never
point a firearm at any person for any reason. We also recommend that you not allow a firearm to point at
any item of property you can’t afford to immediately replace, since it may come to that.
Always keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are aligned on target!
All firearms should be handled with the trigger finger outside of the trigger guard. There is no reason to
have your finger on the trigger unless your sights are aligned on an appropriate target, despite what you
may have seen on TV or in movies. Firearms in good repair do not simply “go off” by themselves; normally
someone has pressed the trigger unintentionally. Accidental discharges of this type are negligent, and are
completely preventable.
Never allow unsupervised access to your firearms!
All firearms kept for sporting purposes or as collectibles should be kept unloaded, under lock and key, with
the ammunition stored elsewhere. Defense firearms, normally kept loaded, must be strictly supervised.
They must always be either on your person, or locked up. It is negligent and unacceptable to ever allow
any unauthorized person to have unsupervised access to your firearms. This includes children, careless
adults, and criminals. Trigger locks, furnished with many guns, are unsafe to install on loaded weapons,
and must not be used for this purpose. We much prefer a good push-button, instant access lock box
designed for the storage of one or perhaps two loaded handguns.