Is a gun always loaded?

[Gryffydd]

Because, of course, it was "unloaded for cleaning".

Now if you were to take those quotes out, and it were unloaded for cleaning, he would never have shot himself. He didn't shoot himself because it was "unloaded for cleaning" he shot himself because he didn't properly verify whether it was loaded or not.

 

[HammerheadSSN663]

The poll question makes no sense.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

I answered, "No."

It's a dumb rule.

Inaccurate descriptively and impossible of execution prescriptively.

The rule ought to be, "Treat each and every gun as if it were loaded until you personally check and clear the action."

Otherwise you could never clean your weapon, or repair it, or scrub the bore, or boresight it, or rebarrel it/swap barrels, or carry it in certain ways without a permit, or carry or store it at all under certain circumstances where it must be unloaded.

 

[wrs840]

Is it just me, or do a lot of folks think that many here are missing the point and purpose of what is simply an old gun-safety-protocol chestnut: "a gun is always loaded"...

?

Les

 

[bnkrazy]

If I'm at my house then I know that none of the guns are going to be loaded, no reason to check.

Wow. You're seriously ready to trade the life of yourself or someone close to you because it's too much trouble to take 2 seconds to check the chamber?

What happens if you're distracted while packing up at the range one day, so you bring home something that should be, but isn't unloaded?

 

[RobMoore]

Didn't we do this one already?

If a gun is always loaded, then I'd need a bullet trap in my house for when I pull the trigger on my glock to take it apart, and I'd have hundreds of holes in my wall from when I "dry fired".

 

[runrabbitrun]

Is it just me, or do a lot of folks think that many here are missing the point and purpose of what is simply an old gun-safety-protocol chestnut: "a gun is always loaded"...

?

No it's not just you. lol
Many seem to be missing the point.

 

[PT1911]

I know the OLD RULE.... the OLD RULE is wrong... a gun isnt always loaded.. no one has ever been shot with an unloaded gun, the only injury one can sustain from an unloaded gun is a slide pinch or a pistol whoopin... that is just about it... My rule is every gun should be treated as loaded until PERSONALLY proven otherwise EVERY TIME the gun is handled...

for all who think a gun is never unloaded, you must tell me your secret... I am tired of buying ammunition... seems like you have an infinite amount in your "always loaded" guns. not like me, I have to reload every 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, or 50 rounds depending on the gun I have chosen

 

[Noboundaries]

Unless I'm about to shoot the gun, I practically have an OC (obsessive complusive) disorder about ensuring a gun I have in my hands is unloaded. If the cylinder is closed, I'll open and look at each chamber. If the action is closed, I'll open it and check the chamber. And it doesn't matter if I just took the rounds out of the gun and set them on the table in front of me, if I close the cylinder, slide, or bolt, I check again.

I learned a lot time ago flying jets in the Navy about the problems associated with broken habit patterns. If I'm not going to shoot it, I always follow the same habit pattern. All it takes is one time being lazy, inattentive, distracted, whatever it takes to break the habit and you or someone near you may not live to regret it.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

Yes, with a caveat. A gun is always loaded until I have personally confirmed that it is not. A gun is never assumed to be empty, regardless of who tells me it is and regardless of who I've seen "clear" it before me.

 

[kyo]

it is loaded even after I confirm its not. Because new people to firearms copy you, and can shoot someone by doing so if you are not always acting like it is loaded yourself. It is your responsibility.

 

[dmazur]

it is loaded even after I confirm its not.

Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical position that values do not exist but rather are falsely invented.

Put down the Nietzsche and back away...

Seriously, as mentioned by several others, you can't maintain the gun if it's always loaded. The example you need to set, for newer shooters, is that the gun has to be "cleared" (open the action, lock the slide back, etc.) before it can be considered unloaded. Every time. Yes, even if it's in your own house and you know it is unloaded. During the clearing procedure, you maintain muzzle discipline and follow the Four Rules.

While this isn't one of the Four Rules, it's a pretty good safety practice to follow for gun owners who eventually have to contend with cleaning, showing the gun to friends & family, and other "non shooting" activities which aren't addressed by the Rules.