Gun "safety checks" on youtube

[Sav .250]

A fair amount of folks get shot every year because they did not "check" to see if the weapon was .............clear.

 

[tercel89]

I agree with mgmorden . I think that I'd do it before I started filming so that you can get right to your subject.

 

[tercel89]

I always treat my guns with caution. I was just asking because almost all the video's have someone doing it. I don't think it is bad. I just think that if I were making a film that I'd clear my gun first before filming.

 

[Ryanxia]

It's good when they do a quick check and get down to business, but it's annoying when they go slide lock and reposition the camera so you the viewers can see there's nothing chambered... I don't need to see it, I'm glad you checked it but I don't need to confirm it for you, it's not a live stream...

 

[murf]

tercel89,

the gun is always loaded all the time (even when it isn't). this is the most important tenet of guncraft, bar none. you see a gun...it's loaded. you touch a gun...it's loaded. you smell a gun...yup, it's loaded. don't think a gun is loaded, KNOW a gun is loaded.

there is no time to debate the issue when you are in the middle of an adrenaline event. thinking goes out the window. focus is on the threat, not on gun handling techniques. if you have this tenet ingrained into your mind, you won't have to think the gun is loaded, you will know it is and automatically act as if the gun is loaded (the bad guys gun, too).

if this "rule" is not required in a youtube video, it should be. the gun handler in every video should be handling the gun as if it is loaded at all times during the entire video.

am i ocd about this? you bet. youtube is a teaching vehicle. and coopers first safety rule should be taught and taught correctly and taught often.

murf

 

[MedWheeler]

tercel89 writes (adds, actually):

I always treat my guns with caution. I was just asking because almost all the video's have someone doing it. I don't think it is bad. I just think that if I were making a film that I'd clear my gun first before filming.

Seems you've mellowed out some since creating the opening post (go back and re-read it, and you'll see why I say that.)

 

[Zach S]

Monkey see, monkey do. If folks scrolling through youtube see the chamber checks, maybe they're more likely to do them.

I like seeing someone check the firearm. Showing it to the camera is a little extreme though... Although, that opinion might just be based on one video where the guy was so concerned about showing the veiwers, he didnt think to check it for himself, and had a ND...

 

[stchman]

It shows the anti-2A folks that we are indeed responsible gun owners not just a bunch of yahoos.

Why would this bother anyone.

 

[Warp]

I do think it helps establish safe habits.

 

[markman]

Is it just being politically correct or is it being a responsible gun owner.

 

[Frank Ettin]

Is it just being politically correct or is it being a responsible gun owner.

Safe gun handling practices are absolutely not a mere matter of political correctness. It's a matter of being responsible.

 

[JRH6856]

FWIW, there is a difference between safety checks done on camera, and safety checks done for the camera. I have no problem with the former, but sometimes the latter can be annoying and distracting and sometimes even insulting.

I saw one vid where everytime the muzzle swept the camera or himself, he stopped, opened the slide and showed the empty chamber saying (with a smirk) "Oops, see? not loaded". After about the third time, I forgot what he was actually trying to demonstrate.

Safety is one thing, bot some of these guys are just being snarky.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...I saw one vid where everytime the muzzle swept the camera or himself, he stopped, opened the slide and showed the empty chamber saying (with a smirk) "Oops, see? not loaded". After about the third time, I forgot what he was actually trying to demonstrate.

Safety is one thing, bot some of these guys are just being snarky.

Or he just wasn't very competent -- which I think is the more likely explanation.

There are a lot of folks on YouTube doing all sorts of things who just aren't very good at what they're trying to do. In the world of YouTube gun videos there's a lot of lousy, unsafe gun handling, misinformation, bad humor, sloppy camera work, etc. Anyone can post, and some people shouldn't be posting.

Then there are some folks putting up excellent, helpful videos on YouTube. If you watch some of the videos by, for example, Todd Jarrett, or those produced by NSSF, or those made at Gunsite, or those from another reliable source, you'll get good information, see good gun handling and safety practices modeled and see decent production values.

A lot of poor gun videos tend to be poor in many dimensions. Junk is junk.

 

[JRH6856]

Or he just wasn't very competent -- which I think is the more likely explanation.
...
A lot of poor gun videos tend to be poor in many dimensions. Junk is junk.

No doubt incompetence plays a large part on YouTube. Having a video camera does not make one a polished presenter or cinematographer anymore than having a Dremel makes one a gunsmith; but (IMO) some of these guy are still just being snarky.

 

[fehhkk]

Just like the previous post, I like to see it. It shows that is normal to check for loaded on every gun as it is picked up. Chamber check and move on.

Exactly this. If you show a video of someone picking up a firearm and not checking it and pulling the trigger shows bad discipline.

 

[Bobson]

It used to annoy me, like the OP, and for the same reason. However, as I've seen it done more and more, I've grown to like it. Its a healthy practice, and takes literally two seconds. If that amount of time is a burden, you need to work on your time management skills.

 

[PistolPete45]

I am of the opinion that stressing safety is a good thing for those of us that alreadt safty check everything it is boring and repetitive. for You tubers that are learning or just interested in Guns . A great little rule to think of as everyone safety checks all the time SO I will as well...

 

[montanaoffroader]

I have absolutely no problem with someone safety checking their firearms while filming a video.

My dad is full blown safety Nazi, and I have definitely followed in his footsteps. We have both seen firsthand what happens when firearms are not handled in a safe manner, and it is not pretty.

So I'm with Frank Ettin on this one, anything that promotes safety and proper firearms handling is fine by me.

 

[Al Thompson]

There is a certain Youtuber who, despite having a few NDs on camera, still sweeps him self constantly. Holy Cow.

 

[Bobson]

Anyone ever come close to shooting himself in the head with an "unloaded" gun?

*Raises hand*

Let me tell you, a 12 gauge shotgun blast about two inches from your face really sticks in your memory.

Gun safety is worth redundancy.

 

[MyGreenGuns]

Youtube is a great resource for info, its also full of "experts" that know nothing.

If you go back to some of those vids where they do not do a check, you will find the comment section FULL of people saying how unsafe the person was. (Even though it was very likely the guns were checked off camera.)

I don't mind seeing the check, as long as it doesn't become the subject of the video.

 

[HKGuns]

Gun people complaining about gun safety? Darwin strikes again.

It is a necessary part of any video to demonstrate responsible handling and safety. While you may know, there are literally millions out there who don't.

Get over it, I applaud the on and off camera safety checks.

 

[X-Rap]

At a time when so many go to youtube for instruction on everything from cooking and home improvement to to auto repair and firearms instruction showing all the proper steps helps ensure that steps some of us take for granted are seen by novices who sadly may never get hands on one on one instruction from an experienced shooter.
I'd expect to hear safety checks and recommendations from posters demonstrating working under vehicles or dealing with their fuel system as well.

 

[fanchisimo]

I have no trouble with the safety checks unless a full minute is spent on clearing it then showing the camera it is empty. Hickok45 does his while talking and takes 2 seconds, no biggie.

However it seems silly when you look at the comments section of a video where tons upon tons of people go crazy that the weapon wasn't cleared on camera. Sometimes the poster notes in the description or comments that it was cleared prior to filming.

I remember a post on THR that I can't seem to find the right combination of words to locate it, where a member got in an e-mail spat with an armslist seller about his finger being on the trigger in the pics. That's the same kind of feel I get about these people that harass posters about not clearing the weapon on camera. Almost like Grammar Nazis.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...However it seems silly when you look at the comments section of a video where tons upon tons of people go crazy that the weapon wasn't cleared on camera. Sometimes the poster notes in the description or comments that it was cleared prior to filming.

...That's the same kind of feel I get about these people that harass posters about not clearing the weapon on camera. Almost like Grammar Nazis.

Well, as I wrote in post 9:

...I'm an unrepentant safety Nazi. Unsafe practices with a gun can get someone killed. Bad grammar just means one looks dumb and gets misunderstood....

If someone can't be bothered to demonstrate at all times good gun handling practices, I have good reason to doubt that he knows what he is doing. And I'd then have no reason to take him seriously.