kingpin008
Member
So, I realized something new today.
A friend had recently expressed some interest in learning to shoot, so I agreed to take her along with my fiancee the next time we go to the range.
This afternoon, she came over and I decided to give her a rundown of the four rules, as well as some basic gun-handling instruction.
I had my P22 laid out on the coffee table, with an empty mag inserted. The idea was that she was going to pick it up, drop the mag, rack the slide and show clear, and then hand it to me for inspection.
What happened was this: She picked it up, dropped the mag, attempted to rack the slide, and lost her grip on the pistol. The pistol fell, and as it did she attempted to catch it to keep it from hitting the table (probably worried about damaging my gun). I wasn't able to stop her, but I did yell "DON'T!", which just startled her. She wasn't able to catch it and it ended up hitting the ground with no damage, but that's not the point.
Folks, I know we all try our best to stress the Four Rules when we're teaching new shooters the ropes, but this incident really made me realize how important it should be to add one more:
NEVER TRY TO CATCH A DROPPED GUN. Period!
I knew this particular gun was unloaded, but what if this had happened at a range, with a round in the chamber? If those grasping fingers manage to get tangled up in the trigger guard the wrong way, bad things can happen.
I explained to my friend why I reacted the way I did, and that she had no way of knowing, and she thanked me for being so jumpy, lol. I also apologized to her for not thinking of mentioning it before, but in all fairness, I had just never even thought of bringing it up.
So there ya go, ladies and gents - the Four Rules are great, and everybody should know 'em, but let's not forget that what might be totally obvious to us, simply isn't to the ones who are still just learning.
A friend had recently expressed some interest in learning to shoot, so I agreed to take her along with my fiancee the next time we go to the range.
This afternoon, she came over and I decided to give her a rundown of the four rules, as well as some basic gun-handling instruction.
I had my P22 laid out on the coffee table, with an empty mag inserted. The idea was that she was going to pick it up, drop the mag, rack the slide and show clear, and then hand it to me for inspection.
What happened was this: She picked it up, dropped the mag, attempted to rack the slide, and lost her grip on the pistol. The pistol fell, and as it did she attempted to catch it to keep it from hitting the table (probably worried about damaging my gun). I wasn't able to stop her, but I did yell "DON'T!", which just startled her. She wasn't able to catch it and it ended up hitting the ground with no damage, but that's not the point.
Folks, I know we all try our best to stress the Four Rules when we're teaching new shooters the ropes, but this incident really made me realize how important it should be to add one more:
NEVER TRY TO CATCH A DROPPED GUN. Period!
I knew this particular gun was unloaded, but what if this had happened at a range, with a round in the chamber? If those grasping fingers manage to get tangled up in the trigger guard the wrong way, bad things can happen.
I explained to my friend why I reacted the way I did, and that she had no way of knowing, and she thanked me for being so jumpy, lol. I also apologized to her for not thinking of mentioning it before, but in all fairness, I had just never even thought of bringing it up.
So there ya go, ladies and gents - the Four Rules are great, and everybody should know 'em, but let's not forget that what might be totally obvious to us, simply isn't to the ones who are still just learning.