Handing A Loaded Gun to Another

I thought of another benefit to clearing a firearm before handing it to another person that I witnessed at a LGS just yesterday. If the receiver is very unfamiliar with firearms and how they operate, you just showed them a good habit and how to do something in one simple motion. This dawned on me when the LGS clerk handed over a Ruger LCP to a customer without clearing it and the first question from the customer was "How do I operate the slide?"

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I've always (since I started looking at buying guns) understood why you would want to clear a gun before you start checking it out. However;
-When I bought my first revolver, I didn't know for sure how to open up the cylinder. (yes, I know, pretty obvious, but it was my first gun, ever.)

-When I bought my first semi auto pistol, I didn't know if there was anything that needed to be released before opening the slide to check it.

-When I bought my first shotgun I didn't know where the release was to release the slide to check it.

-When I bought my first bolt gun I didn't know that you had to put the safety off to open the bolt.

Semi auto rifles were about the only gun that I really knew how to operate properly before I purchased one.


So yeah, in a gun store, you better assume that the guy doesn't know how to check one, and you had better check the gun before handing it off. I've had way too many guns pointed in my direction with fingers in or almost in the trigger guard for me to be ok with the store employees not checking a gun before handing it across the counter.

I got annoyed when I went to a Dick's sporting goods and asked to see a certain gun, the girl checked the gun, and then apologized for having to check it, it's just that her manager makes her do it every time.... If you don't understand why you need to do that, maybe you don't need to be working the gun counter. Stores like that have ammo sitting right there, and pissed off employees do stupid things. I'd hate to see a gun "just go off" because someone put ammo in it and someone else assumed it was unloaded. If a gun store hands me a gun without checking it, that's my last time in the store.

I dont hand a loaded gun to someone unless we're on the line at the range.

Exception: our mounted shooting guns. I work diligently to always use the 4 rules and good gun safety even when we are doing mounted shooting. When a fellow experienced shooter asks to see my guns, IF they are loaded, I make sure they know it and hand it to them with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and the hammer down on an empty chamber.

But we also get alot of spectators and people unfamiliar with guns and the sport and wish to act as a good ambassador for the sport. In those cases, I ONLY hand over, muzzle pointed in safe direction, an UNLOADED gun. I make sure I have their attention, tell them exactly how and why I am handing them the gun that way, and show them how to check that the gun is unloaded...and tell them they MUST always do that with every gun. And while they handle that unloaded gun, I make sure they handle it like it's loaded and explain why as they do so.

beatledog7 said:

You say you were in agreement with me on most points, but you began with "Nope." That does a poor job of indicating agreement.

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My disagreement point with you is "assuming" or "general agreement" that a firearm is unloaded. That, to me, is complacency. Whenever a firearm is out of my sight or touch for even a few seconds, unless locked up, I clear it. Or at the very least make note of the loaded chamber indicator if present. I can only think of one instance where I opened the action on a firearm and found an "unexpected" round in the chamber. It was on a friends Mossberg 500 which was stored with one round. And this is where good habits come in. I checked it and did not expect to find anything in that chamber, as the friend was relatively firearm competent but I did. But I apologize for any confusion my previous posts have caused.

ChaoSS said:

If a gun store hands me a gun without checking it, that's my last time in the store.

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Made my neck hair stand up for sure, and the muzzle was nowhere near my direction.

ChaoSS said:

I got annoyed when I went to a Dick's sporting goods and asked to see a certain gun, the girl checked the gun, and then apologized for having to check it, it's just that her manager makes her do it every time.... If you don't understand why you need to do that, maybe you don't need to be working the gun counter. Stores like that have ammo sitting right there, and pissed off employees do stupid things. I'd hate to see a gun "just go off" because someone put ammo in it and someone else assumed it was unloaded. If a gun store hands me a gun without checking it, that's my last time in the store.

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I am curious. Did you tell the countergirl, "Don't apologize for doing the right thing."? Maybe tell her why (obviously, her manager didn't, or maybe other customers less wise than they should be have given her grief in the past).

If not, you missed an opportunity to encourage/reinforce good behavior.

Lost Sheep

No, I didn't. I should have.

As the person handing another individual a firearm, it is up to you to unload the gun or not before you hand it over to someone. If you feel you must unload it, then go ahead and do it. Handing a loaded gun to someone who does not know it was loaded, or does not practice the 4 safety rules is asking for trouble.

I've handed loaded guns to other people, mostly at the range (never at home). But I will specifically tell them it is loaded and have the safety on if it has one. I would never hand over a loaded/chambered Glock or a Revolver to someone.

When transferring a firearm from my hands to someone else's I always unloaded it in front of them, show them it's empty, tell them it's empty, and then hand it to them.

Only takes a second and prevents problems.

wgaynor said:

When transferring a firearm from my hands to someone else's I always unloaded it in front of them, show them it's empty, tell them it's empty, and then hand it to them.

Only takes a second and prevents problems.

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Works, except for those occasions where you intend to hand them a loaded firearm, as in a teaching/demonstration session. (edit: Such circumstances may be rare, but they do occur.)

Lost Sheep

When transferring a firearm from my hands to someone else's I always unloaded it in front of them, show them it's empty, tell them it's empty, and then hand it to them.

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I always transfer with the action locked open, if possible.

Simple answer, don't.
To do so is unsafe, discourteous, and marks you in certain circles as a dufus or worse.
Unsafe for obvious reasons. Remember we're talking about hand to hand transfer here, not laying one down on a bench with proper attentive notice. I don't like that one either.
Discourteous because I expect anyone handing me a gun to clear it so I can see it, and they will expect me to check it anyway. If they did not clear it I would refuse to touch it, or take it and clear it immediately for my own protection, based on circumstances. No professional would ever be offended by this ritual - quite the contrary.
It is so simple and so safe: drop the mag, lock the bolt back, visually check the chamber, mag tube, and breech face for that mystery round that just couldn't possibly be there, then hand it over, keeping the muzzle downrange at all times.
I can't even imagine handing a peer a loaded weapon unless he needed it that way right then, and that's not what this thread is about.

On the range... No worries with the loaded guns, although I typically put the gun down on the bench, pointing downrange, and have them pick it up with the full knowledge of the state it is in. I take a good number of neophytes shooting who don't have the strength to work the slide on their own.

My preference for Single action revolvers is a safety net of it's own, although I'd never hand my Blackhawk, or Schofield to someone with the hammer cocked.

Just "showing" the gun however, I'll unload, show the person the unloaded state, hand them the pistol and tell them in no uncertain terms to check it themselves.

There's only a few situations that I'll hand a loaded gun to someone.

When we're doing rifle competitions, in the rare event that a competitor calls a cease fire due to a stoppage they can't clear, after I've cleared the stoppage, I will put the safety on and inform them "the firearm is loaded and chambered, safety is on. Watch your trigger finger, and muzzle direction." And carefully hand it back to them controlling the muzzle direction until they have a firm grip on it.

(Same applies when doing one on one with friends and family. I'm far more concerned handing a pistol to someone loaded than a rifle, since there aren't as many "places" to grab it. Usually pistols get set down muzzle downrange, and then picked up, just because there's not many places for hands to hold a pistol.)

But outside of a failure assistance role at the range?

Hmm.. "Hey, I've been hit, use my gun to shoot the ugly bugger that did this to me" might be the only instance.

It just depends on the situation and the person.

There are shooters I will hand a loaded gun, with the warning that the gun is loaded and there are "shooters" I wouldn't hand an empty gun.

If I know the person well and their skill level, the time may come that I hand them a loaded gun, for some reason or the other.

Frankly, I would much rather someone that I don't know just hand me the gun, saying "it's loaded" than have them fumbling around in front of me trying to jack a round out of the chamber.

A couple years ago, at the local gun store, a man was shot in the face with a 9mm by a guy "unloading" his gun.

Just this last Saturday, a lady new to my range, was going to show me her revolver.
As she took it from the case, muzzle pointed away from us, and handed it to me, she said, "It's loaded".
That was fine with me.
Better I unload the gun than someone I don't know.

I did exactly as Mainsail was instructed to do Saturday at the range, I loaded my Kimber and placed it on the bench and informed my buddy of it's loaded and not chambered status.

I try to never leave anything to question.

+1 Miata Mike

I feel prety much as M2 (post 38) does as well. I trust myself to receive a loaded gun if it's presented in that manner.

It's surprising how many of us, however, don't know anyone they would trust to receive one from them.

The only time I will ever hand anyone a loaded gun is if I am shooting and they
are shooting with me and I have complete trust in them. I have handed loaded
guns to my wife (she hasn't learned how to load semiautos yet) and my best
friend who I know I can trust with a gun. One time on a fishing trip, a friend
bought his Ruger .357 Blackhawk with him. We got to talking with a couple of
other people who were fishing nearby and my friend proceeds to hand his
loaded Blackhawk to these strangers for them to check out! Needless to say,
once the shock wore off, he got an earful from both me and another friend
who had come on the fishing trip with us.

You never overreact when handing a loaded weapon. My dad (USMC 64-69) always taught me open the chamber on a wheel gun or lock the slide on an auto. If anyone hands you a firearm in any condition not listed above, consider it loaded.

Grabbing a loaded gun with someone's finger inside the trigger guard is far more dangerous than not grabbing it. Unless the barrel is headed my direction I'll use verbal and not physical action.

As a general rule I agree with unloading a gun before handing it to another, especially if the reason for the transfer is so that the other person can admire/examine/feel the firearm. I always unload if I'm giving it to someone unfamiliar with guns. However if I'm bird hunting I don't see any reason to unload my shotgun before handing it to a buddy while I take a leak. Same with handing it to someone at the range for a few shots.

Frankly, I would much rather someone that I don't know just hand me the gun, saying "it's loaded" than have them fumbling around in front of me trying to jack a round out of the chamber.

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^^^ This exactly.

Normally, this is something I just don't do.

I've reached forward behind a line shooter's back and very carefully taken a loaded pistol out of his hands; but I made sure the muzzle was pointed downrange - and stayed that way - as I removed the pistol; but actually handing someone a loaded gun?

I've been doing this for a very long time; (half a century) and there might have been an odd time, or two, when I handed a loaded pistol (or rifle) to someone who was on the firing line; but, if I ever did this, the muzzle would have been pointing downrange when I did it. Off the firing line, and as a general rule, this is something I, positively, would not do.

I don't have the time to read the full thread right now so if if this is out of sorts, sorry.

I hand off loaded weapons quite often. Before the flaming starts, understand that there are right and wrong ways to do everything.

Scenario 1- My daughter is carrying one of her firearms and crossing a fence while we are hunting. She quietly checks the safety, keeps the weapon pointed away and hands it to me. I hand it back the same way after she crosses and then hand her mine and cross. We do this anytime we can cleanly hand the weapon off for a brief moment.

Scenario 2- Same thing only it is a creek or stream. Now, the crossing may involve a bit more, maybe too wide for a quick hand off too. So now, depending on the width, we will open actions (narrow), but not completely unload, or unload if a tricky crossing is involved.

Scenario 3- Showing someone I have limited experience with, or a public venue handing them a firearm. No question, unload. Anytime I am "showing" someone or demonstrating, I show clear. It is just good sense.

Scenario 4- This one is quite common for us as we hunt predators in a couple VERY large fields. We put the weapons in the truck loaded if the trip doesn't involve public roads, speeds over say 10mph, and we aren't even going to bother with belts. Safety on, action open, slid in. This one I admit is questionable, but we are pretty cautious about it. I slide them in my partner (child, friend) stands behind and hands me theirs. Then we don't cross the muzzle line getting in the front seat. Even if we get an ND I would not think it more than a hole in my truck.

Scenario 5- I read another scenario I come across often as I instruct Marines using my own rifles. The instruction on the firing line I will often load a live-dud-live exercise and hand it off to the shooter. As has been mentioned, this is done with safe direction in mind. It also helps to demonstrate a point with them (or my kids) I can fire a couple in demonstration with them in position. Then I don't have to have them move as much to get them shooting with the demo fresh in their mind.

I must say that I think these things are safer actions and more controlled than sometimes simply moving through the woods. do you know how many times I have fallen with a loaded gun? Muzzle awareness and trigger finger/safety are more important to me. Treat every weapon as if it was loaded right?

Just the way I do things.

The AF required us to transfer the loaded gun by laying it on a flat surface.

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This is how I handle it. That way there's very little chance of anyone dropping it. This usually happens when I go shooting with newbies who don't know how to load it, yet, or those who can't manipulate the slide. I'll load the gun and set it on the bench.

When clearing a semi-auto, I put the palm of my right hand over the ejection port and tilt the gun so the round exiting the chamber winds up in my palm.

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Be careful, in some guns it's possible for the primer to hit the ejector and blow shrapnel into your hand. Extremely unlikely, but it's been done enough times to make me worry about it. We had a thread on it (with video links, I believe) not too long ago.

I've given loaded handguns to my gunsmith buddy and others who I am close with and shoot as much as me that I know I am confident in. When I hand it to them I always hold the pistol upside down with the handle out towards them and the barrel pointed at the ground telling them it's loaded, and not holding it out to them until they give me a sign/nod or "Yes" notifying me that they understood this.

In at least one, it was to arm a fellow officer who had arrived to assist me on a call without his sidearm (he had been booking a prisoner, and had forgotten to retrieve it when he left the station to meet me.) I had another, near-duplicate, gun locked in my cruiser's trunk.

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My situation mirrors this almost exactly. I carry a 1911 as a duty gun; however, I had just come from the range and had my Glock 22--our department's standard issued sidearm. Another officer had come to back me up on an arrest--fortunately, I had the perp cuffed and stuffed already. As he got out of his vehicle, I noticed the empty holster and walked back quickly to him.

"Dude---where's your pistol?"

He turned almost white as a sheet.

I opened my trunk, got out the range bag, put a loaded magazine in and racked the slide. I then handed the pistol to him. I got it back later on at the end of the shift.

Other than that, I never hand a loaded firearm to anyone.