MASTEROFMALICE
member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2007
- Messages
- 711
Now don't get me wrong. I know some people already don't follow the rules as they exist. I also know that my simplification of the rules requires a small amount of thought and reason which some people are just incapable of, but I'll let you guys hear it and tell me what you think.
The only safety rule you REALLY need to remember is to treat every gun as if it is loaded. The other three rules are simply offshoots of that one.
1. If you treat a gun as if it is loaded, by extension, you wouldn't want to point it at things you didn't want to shoot. Would you point a loaded firearm at your toddler? If the answer is yes, you probably should be wearing either a straight-jacket or an orange jumpsuit. When people wave guns around and you call them on it the first words out of them are usually, "It's O.K. It's unloaded." No it isn't O.K. And treat it as if it WAS loaded.
2. If you treat every gun as if it was loaded, then keeping your finger off the trigger until you are on target is actually just and offshoot of the above rule. It really goes hand-in-hand with muzzle awareness. You shouldn't be waving the gun around, and you sure shouldn't be doing it with your finger on the trigger. If you had a loaded gun, you wouldn't want to keep you finger on the trigger because it might go off, right? After all, the gun is loaded which means it can fire. And if the gun isn't loaded, and you've double checked to make sure the gun isn't loaded, it's STILL loaded and so can STILL fire.
3. Be sure of your target and beyond. This really goes right back to the above rule again and all the same arguments apply.
As I wrote this up it occurred to me that you could just as easily make rule two the "one rule". After all, the other three also revolve around not pointing your gun at everything. If you ever notice, when some fool shoots himself or a friend everyone on the board with pipe up and tell the world that he "violated three of the rules." There's a reason for that, they all overlap, and it's arguably impossible to break one without also breaking others.
So, my morning ramble is done, who wants to pick it apart now?
The only safety rule you REALLY need to remember is to treat every gun as if it is loaded. The other three rules are simply offshoots of that one.
1. If you treat a gun as if it is loaded, by extension, you wouldn't want to point it at things you didn't want to shoot. Would you point a loaded firearm at your toddler? If the answer is yes, you probably should be wearing either a straight-jacket or an orange jumpsuit. When people wave guns around and you call them on it the first words out of them are usually, "It's O.K. It's unloaded." No it isn't O.K. And treat it as if it WAS loaded.
2. If you treat every gun as if it was loaded, then keeping your finger off the trigger until you are on target is actually just and offshoot of the above rule. It really goes hand-in-hand with muzzle awareness. You shouldn't be waving the gun around, and you sure shouldn't be doing it with your finger on the trigger. If you had a loaded gun, you wouldn't want to keep you finger on the trigger because it might go off, right? After all, the gun is loaded which means it can fire. And if the gun isn't loaded, and you've double checked to make sure the gun isn't loaded, it's STILL loaded and so can STILL fire.
3. Be sure of your target and beyond. This really goes right back to the above rule again and all the same arguments apply.
As I wrote this up it occurred to me that you could just as easily make rule two the "one rule". After all, the other three also revolve around not pointing your gun at everything. If you ever notice, when some fool shoots himself or a friend everyone on the board with pipe up and tell the world that he "violated three of the rules." There's a reason for that, they all overlap, and it's arguably impossible to break one without also breaking others.
So, my morning ramble is done, who wants to pick it apart now?