DeadMoneyDrew
Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2013
- Messages
- 265
Hi all,
Last night I was browsing through a gun control debate thread in the off-topic section of a poker forum that I frequent. That forum tends to skew a bit left, so the antis in the gun control thread outnumber the gun guys about 60%/40%. There is one anti-gun guy who must wake up every day, scour Google News for stories on gun crimes or accidental shootings, and then post them in that thread saying "see guns are bad!" He has a particular infatuation with accidental shootings.
Yesterday one of the gun guys commented to the anti-gun guy "Look, safe firearm handling practices are based on good old fashioned common sense. If you follow the safety rules at all times then your chances of accidentally shooting yourself or someone else are extremely remote."
That didn't quell the anti-gun guy but it got me to thinking about how the four rules of gun safety are largely based on common sense and reasonable behavior.
Today I got a surprising reminder to always treat a gun as if it is loaded. I was getting ready to head to the range, and I opened up my pistol case to get everything squared away. Out of habit I checked both guns to verify that they were not loaded. I fully expected to find them both empty, but instead I got greeted by this. Whoops!
Granted, it is highly unlikely that I would ever commit a negligent discharge with a single action revolver. Plus it ended up being just an empty shell casing. Still, I could have sworn that I checked and double checked the cylinder before putting the gun away the last time I had it out. Seeing that casing still in the cylinder shocked the crap out of me.
Then while shooting today I miscounted the shots, thinking that I still had a round left when I had actually fired all 10. I could have easily miscounted the other way and then missed the round when emptying the cylinder. Again, that is highly unlikely, but it only takes one mistake for someone to get hurt.
So I got reminded today to always treat a gun as if it is loaded, and I am now sharing that reminder.
Happy (safe) shooting!
Last night I was browsing through a gun control debate thread in the off-topic section of a poker forum that I frequent. That forum tends to skew a bit left, so the antis in the gun control thread outnumber the gun guys about 60%/40%. There is one anti-gun guy who must wake up every day, scour Google News for stories on gun crimes or accidental shootings, and then post them in that thread saying "see guns are bad!" He has a particular infatuation with accidental shootings.
Yesterday one of the gun guys commented to the anti-gun guy "Look, safe firearm handling practices are based on good old fashioned common sense. If you follow the safety rules at all times then your chances of accidentally shooting yourself or someone else are extremely remote."
That didn't quell the anti-gun guy but it got me to thinking about how the four rules of gun safety are largely based on common sense and reasonable behavior.
Today I got a surprising reminder to always treat a gun as if it is loaded. I was getting ready to head to the range, and I opened up my pistol case to get everything squared away. Out of habit I checked both guns to verify that they were not loaded. I fully expected to find them both empty, but instead I got greeted by this. Whoops!
Granted, it is highly unlikely that I would ever commit a negligent discharge with a single action revolver. Plus it ended up being just an empty shell casing. Still, I could have sworn that I checked and double checked the cylinder before putting the gun away the last time I had it out. Seeing that casing still in the cylinder shocked the crap out of me.
Then while shooting today I miscounted the shots, thinking that I still had a round left when I had actually fired all 10. I could have easily miscounted the other way and then missed the round when emptying the cylinder. Again, that is highly unlikely, but it only takes one mistake for someone to get hurt.
So I got reminded today to always treat a gun as if it is loaded, and I am now sharing that reminder.
Happy (safe) shooting!