Do you admire your guns while watching TV ?

[The Glockodile]

Is the first rule of firearms safety "All firearms are loaded" or is it not?

Probably the most important rule, yes.

How in the world is it being unsafe to handle an unloaded firearm; especially when it is being pointed in a safe direction?

Because one day, someone will slip and discover the hard way that the firearm was actually loaded.

Don’t know what lies beyond your TV, but I’d wager it isn’t a safe direction.

 

[brewer12345]

No, I do not do the "my precious..." routine.

 

[SwampWolf]

Because one day, someone will slip and discover the hard way that the firearm was actually loaded.

That's being "Rust Ranch" negligent. Some of us aren't and we don't "slip up". I'm not afraid of handling a firearm that I've personally verified and double-checked to be unloaded, is always kept pointed in a safe direction and all ammunition is stored in a separate place.

 

[Old Dog]

Pretty much, yes.

Well then, I appreciate your honesty. I shall still strongly disagree. But perhaps your experience is vastly different from mine.

Apparently, there are some here who do trust themselves. And -- some here who clearly do not trust themselves.

 

[trackskippy]

Because one day, someone will slip and discover the hard way that the firearm was actually loaded.

Don’t know what lies beyond your TV, but I’d wager it isn’t a safe direction.

I dry fire with a snap cap (one specifically made for that and visually identifiable) in the gun. Its more of a safety step than it is for wear and tear on the gun, but that cant hurt either.

Its impossible to have a loaded round and the snap cap in the chamber at the same time, and you have to clear the chamber and insert the snap cap, so its multiple safety steps.

One other step is, that whenever the gun is put down and then picked up again, the gun checked and the chamber/cylinder is visually checked.

This sort of thing is simply something you have to ingrain into your brain as far as handling goes. Nothing is 100%, but you should do your very best every time to strive for that.

One other step I do is when practicing with the guns I carry, those loaded guns go into a spare holster and it goes on top of the fridge while I dry fire with another duplicate gun. I dont dry fire the guns I carry. Any gun not on my belt, and in a holster is to be considered, without any doubt, and without even checking, "loaded". Not that its still not confirmed when I reholster it when Im done.

 

[SDDAVE56]

I don't. My buddy on the other hand is very easily entertained.

 

[Old Dog]

Because one day, someone will slip and discover the hard way that the firearm was actually loaded.

Don’t know what lies beyond your TV, but I’d wager it isn’t a safe direction.

No, I do not do the "my precious..." routine.

Give some of us credit for common sense.

And yeah, ridiculously unnecessary and gratuitous LOR reference there. Anyway -- Just a couple thoughts here. First, if you don't ever practice your draw stroke and dry fire when you're not on the range, you simply aren't gonna develop proficiency with your handguns. Second, if you want to interpret the "4 Rules" absolutely literally, you won't be able to ever pick up a firearm, holster, or carry it. (You'll just be another hoplophobe, believing that the gun itself is dangerous) Surely y'all have to actually handle your firearms at some point? Just how do you clean 'em?

I'm startin' to wonder about some of y'all; I'm seeing a few posts that clearly play into the other side's narrative.

 

[brewer12345]

Give some of us credit for common sense.

And yeah, ridiculously unnecessary and gratuitous LOR reference there. Anyway -- Just a couple thoughts here. First, if you don't ever practice your draw stroke and dry fire when you're not on the range, you simply aren't gonna develop proficiency with your handguns. Second, if you want to interpret the "4 Rules" absolutely literally, you won't be able to ever pick up a firearm, holster, or carry it. (You'll just be another hoplophobe, believing that the gun itself is dangerous) Surely y'all have to actually handle your firearms at some point? Just how do you clean 'em?

I'm startin' to wonder about some of y'all; I'm seeing a few posts that clearly play into the other side's narrative.

Someone is a little sensitive, eh? Heh. Of course I was joking.

I do pull guns out of the safe when I need to clean them, change something, fix something, etc. Sit there fondling them, not so much.

 

[Jimbo80]

[QUOTE="Old Dog]I'm startin' to wonder about some of y'all; .[/QUOTE]

Starting???

 

[mokin]

I love pulling out my type 99 and watching a good war movie. I wish my 99 could talk.

What language do you think it would speak? I've wondered what stories some of my rifles could tell -- and what language they'd be in.

I don't. My buddy on the other hand is very easily entertained.


View attachment 1075305

Awwe...,

I had a buddy that would give similar looks.

 

[mokin]

I don't watch tv with the intent of watching tv. It might be on in the background if I'm cleaning guns or doing something gun related.

While I was in high school, a friend's brother put a round through the TV while watching T.J. Hooker. He was cleaning his .270....

 

[Ignition Override]

Parking shoutout scene - Heat 1995 - YouTube

If I watch Val Kilmer (---from :58 ---) roll sideways with his HK-91 and then use it, I sometimes then handle my PTR-91 "classic GI" in a Different room.

But - in front of the TV?
No Czech gun, no US-made gun, just Wheat Czechs, or Wheat Slovaks....guns don't quite help the appetite.

 

[TarDevil]

I'm startin' to wonder about some of y'all; I'm seeing a few posts that clearly play into the other side's narrative.

What's wrong with that? If the "other side" sees that our commitment to safety parallels theirs perhaps we've won a few less votes for more gun control.

I said, "a few!"

 

[The Night Rider]

This is just My opinion and it's worth about what you paid for it.

I already said I regard my guns as tools. I try really hard not to be attached to things that I'm leaving behind when I go home anyway. So there's no admiring my guns while I'm watching TV (which I only do because my wife enjoys it).

I'm very picky about safety. I make "No unnecessary administrative handling" a rule.

I'm not trying to insult anyone when I say this and I can't think of another word but "playing" with a gun is the first step to a negligent discharge.

Dedicated dry fire isn't "playing with a gun" niether is practicing your four point draw or practicing reloads BUT when I'm doing that that's THE ONLY THING I'm doing. No distractions

You do you Boo

 

[TarDevil]

Dedicated dry fire isn't "playing with a gun"

I'll add that my dry fire practice routine dictates the first two trigger pulls are aimed out the window toward the ground.

Entire post was spot on.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I have a number of actual movie, video game and TV prop guns and non-guns for playing around with.
Real firearms, not so much... .

 

[The Glockodile]

I'm startin' to wonder about some of y'all; I'm seeing a few posts that clearly play into the other side's narrative.

Jeez.

How did "sides" get into this?

I have no "spin" or "narrative" enmeshed in what I said.

My only hang - up involves the First Rule of Firearm Safety - these things are potentially lethal tools (or forms of entertainment), and any unnecessary exposure or contact with them in an environment where they're not really supposed to be adds unnecessary, unwanted risk.

I'm very picky about safety. I make "No unnecessary administrative handling" a rule.

You do you Boo

This is a much better way of wording it.

Higher unnecessary exposure results in higher unnecessary risk.

I have faith in human nature.



These guys up here (emphasis on 4:15) are incredibly disciplined and absolute sticklers for rules, that's why they have what probably is a perfect operational record despite having only five feet of vertical displacement between safety and potential disaster...



...while this, on the other hand - is an incredibly common occurrence in the good old U.S. of A.

Complacency. Hubris. Range Officers literally having pizza in the back.

Sincerest apologies if I ruffled anybody's feathers.

Feel free to report / delete this post if deemed too offensive or contrary to popular culture.

 

[Old Dog]

Well, if one doesn't feel safe handling their own safely unloaded, triple-checked firearm in one's own rec room with only the distraction of a television in the background, I don't know that you'd do well carrying and handling your loaded firearms in the back of a Chinook, Stryker, HMMWV or with other distractions such as trekking on foot through a jungle during monsoon season or a 120-degree desert while trying to avoid IEDs (and the river of raw human waste next to your path) while humping 70 pounds of gear wearing long-sleeves, helmet, and plates..

I learned firearms safety rules so that I could safely handle firearms while dealing with distractions. "Unnecessary administrative handling?" Sheesh. You guys are probably no fun at parties, either. I handle my firearms, no only to clean and maintain them, but to maintain familiarity with them (that I've needed in a professional capacity), so they're like an extension of my body when I do need 'em.

But, like the other guy said, "You do you."

 

[theotherwaldo]

There's a big difference between expecting your weapons to be and remain loaded in a stressful situation and expecting your weapons to be and remain unloaded in a relaxed situation... .

 

[Nasty Canasta]

I had a friend when I was a kid who's dad always had a cowboy revolver on his lazyboy's armrest when he watched Gunsmoke. I thought it was a bit strange then but I kind of get it now.

 

[Old Dog]

There's a big difference between expecting your weapons to be and remain loaded in a stressful situation and expecting your weapons to be and remain unloaded in a relaxed situation... .

My weapons do not load themselves. My expectation is that after they've been inspected, they will remain unloaded all by themselves.

They remain unloaded until the time that I load them. In "a relaxed situation" (house secured, dogs inside, doors/windows alarms armed) my weapons are unloaded, triple checked by me (and the spouse if she's home) with ammunition in another room. And the weapons are put away before the alcohol comes out.

 

[Reloadron]

No, I figure at my age my attention can be focused on the TV or something else but not two things and during TV commercials my mind takes a mental holiday. So my answer is no.

Ron

 

[Zerodefect]

I admire my TV while watching my guns.

 

[hso]

Do you ever lay a few of your guns in front of the TV to admire during the commercials? I have for years and I suspect I'm not the only one...

No.

BTW, what are "commercials"?

 

[SwampWolf]

There's a big difference between expecting your weapons to be and remain loaded in a stressful situation and expecting your weapons to be and remain unloaded in a relaxed situation... .

I'm not following this line of reasoning. When it comes to handling firearms, I don't "expect" anything, no matter the "situation". Whether they're presumed loaded or unloaded, they are always checked for their readiness or inert status; nothing is left to conjuncture.

Having carried a sidearm for 33 years as a part of my le career duties, I'm well aware of the truth of the adage "familiarity breeds contempt". It's impossible to be too careful when handling firearms, be they loaded or "unloaded", but being careful and respectful doesn't mean you have to be afraid to "handle" them for whatever reason, even when watching Lonesome Dove on the boob tube.