Is a gun always loaded?

Is a gun always loaded?

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A gun is *always* loaded ... even when it's not.

I don't care if you just checked it.

I don't care if you just re-cheked it.

It's not "treated" ... "as if" ... or "like" it's loaded. It **IS** loaded. Period. End. Of. Story.

***

Too many stories along the lines of " I ... I ... I didn't know ... I didn't know it was loaded ..." followed by tragic outcomes.

You don't "think it's empty". You don't "know it's unloaded" (even when you just checked it) ... 'Cause it's *always* loaded.

Now you know. It's loaded. Each and every time you pick it up, it's loaded. Even when it's not.
 
It's loaded unless I clear it and check the chamber/magazine myself. Otherwise, I could never clean or disassemble a gun.

Using absolutes like "always" and "never" leads to very dull conversations.

You don't "know it's unloaded" (even when you just checked it)
Click to expand...

Guns are like Schrödinger's cat. You can be sure they are unloaded after a thorough check, but until then, they are both loaded and unloaded, you just don't know which.
 
Well Yes. I will NEVER buy snap caps EVER.. the trigger ONLY gets pulled if i want to hit a target If you use snap caps as practice one time you will forget.
 
I consider all guns to be loaded until I have verified that they are empty. At the point at which it leaves my possession, I now have to verify it again, until then I presume it is loaded.
 
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2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target. Know what it is, what is in line with it and what is behind it.
Click to expand...

For us who dry-fire, as long as we live by the the remainder of Cooper's rules, we, our loved ones and the public will still be safe. Even if that means having to go to the range to dry-fire.
 
Some of you folks must be really tormented. Owning guns and not being able to bring them to the range would drive me nuts. You know you can't transport a "loaded" gun is most places, right? If you shoot at home, it must suck to have such filthy guns, as cleaning a loaded gun would be pretty much impossible. It must also be quite troubling to never let anyone hand you a gun since, even with the action open... it's loaded. :rolleyes:

I have to pull the trigger on some of my guns for disassembly. I just checked. There are no holes in the walls of my gun room. ;)

I check every gun when I pick it up. To do otherwise would be foolish. I also understand the difference between loaded and unloaded. Failure to accept this is equally foolish.
 
Yes, all guns are always treated as if they are loaded (except to the point of absurdity).

My ND happened with a gun that I "knew" was unloaded. Never again.
 
Yes, a gun is always loaded. When I take mine out sometimes to "admire" them I always find myself checking,rechecking and checking them again. I never do any horseplay with them (Pointing at people, etc) I avoid handling them when I've had a drink or two, just bad juju IMO. The only time I don't consider a gun loaded is when it's field striped anyone with any common sense can tell that it's clearly not loaded and incapable of firing in that state.
 
Absolutely not. I always make sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction whether it's empty or not - not only is it good safey practice, it's being gun courteous. Even with a break open shotgun that's open with sunlight shining through the barrel, it doesn't get pointed at someone or anything important, yet you're going to have a hard time convincing me that there is any way it's going to harm anyone or anything short of being used like a baseball bat.

I don't even treat my unloaded firearms like they're loaded. When I've been out shooting, a loaded firearm never finds its way back in the trunk of my car - and a loaded firearm never leaves a person's hands.

The fact is, you can always keep the muzzle off important targets without having to feel like the gun is loaded all the time, and still be entirely safe. Even if you do screw up, you're still safe, because the gun never was pointed in an unsafe direction.
 
Your poll needs a "sort of" option. It's always loaded until you have visually and physically verified that it is not. If you're not the only person around, you need to be mindful that other people may not have verified that it is unloaded, so to them, it IS loaded and everyone should behave accordingly. I don't know ANYBODY that I trust enough to take their word for it on an "it's not loaded".
 
Until I verify that it is unloaded, then its loaded. If someone else hands me a semi-auto, the magazine gets dropped and the slide gets racked, pretty much a habit for me. If one of my guns is handled by someone else, then its handed back to me, I re-verify its condition. You can never be too safe with guns.
 
When I have myself varified that it isnt....Dropped mag, cleared chamer, swung out the cylender, etc... Then no, it is no longer loaded. If I walk away from it for an hour, Ill check all of those goodies again JUST in case it somehow magically loaded itself. Or I did and forgot. JUST to make sure.
 
fwiw, Jeff Cooper (who popularized the 4 rules) did a tape series called Defensive Pistolcraft. In that series he teaches that once a gun is in your immediate control, in other words you're holding it, then you can unload it and it will be unloaded. However, as soon as you have a break in that direct control, even for a moment, it is no longer an unloaded weapon. Set it down and turn your back and you must clear the weapon again for it to be considered unloaded.
 
I voted yes, but only b/c I rather err of the side of caution when it comes to random people reading things I've done on the internet(well ok only sometimes).

Is a gun always loaded? No. Should it always be treated as so? Yes
The 4 rules aren't there for those of use that can be aware if we just checked a gun or not. They are there for those that think they checked it and think it is unloaded. If you don't think you are one of the "thinkers" you better think again.
 
I can't speak for anyone else, but the gun is ALWAYS loaded as far as I'm concerned, and that's true even if I was the last person who handled and knew for a fact that I had unloaded it. Who can say who might have picked it up in the meantime, even in the split second that I blinked?

Treating a gun as unloaded, without personal prior knowledge, is a recipe for potential disaster.
 
yes.

I always check clear any gun when I pick it up and then treat it as if it is loaded, for me it goes hand in hand with being conscious of muzzle awareness.

personally I'd rather be more prudent than complacent.

a lot of accidents reported in the media are with 'unloaded' firearms...saw a guy post a video on youtube of the damage he did with his 'unloaded' shotgun when he was cleaning it - a gaping hole in the wall and the adjacent room peppered with shot.

atb,
Paul
 
All -

Been looking at both the pro and the con arguments.

It seems to me all could agree to this:

The phrase is "Chain of Custody"

(Which is a very specific legal term generally used w/reference to evidence seized as the result of commission of a crime, or, interestingly, urinalysis, i.e. drug testing.)

What it boils down to is this. If I have a weapon literally in my hands that I have personally checked as to loaded/unloaded condition, then I have chain of custody and am confident of the condition of the weapon.

If the weapon leaves my hands for any reason, then I have lost chain of custody. I require myself to check the condition of the weapon when I pick it up again.

And, yes, this includes for example being out on the range, laying the weapon down on the bench while I do something else, then picking it up again.

This should also solve the nagging cleaning/dryfiring what ifs.

isher
 
The whole unyielding argument that "Every Gun is ALWAYS loaded, Period! is really kind of idiotic. Its almost as if people are trying to outdo each other in showing off just how safe they can pretend to be.

If I've just checked the gun and verified that it is clear, then TO ME the gun is unloaded. That DOESN'T give me the right to sweep the room with it, or be careless with it toward others in any way, because TO OTHERS, the gun is still loaded, but it DOES give me the right to look down the barrel for obstructions or to check if it is clean, without being lectured or having to endure the snide comments of the self-appointed gun safety Nazis.
 
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Just give me all your ammo, and I will make sure your guns cant be loaded, better give me the guns too, I will send you pictures at your request, just the great guy I am.;)


If the slide is off the gun and the barrel is out of the slide, is it still loaded? :confused:
 
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