What's The Etiquette On This?

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I don't know how many of us have experienced holding an unloaded gun when we NEEDED it to be loaded (to stop a lethal force attack)--perhaps
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I do, it happened to me once. It was not a lethal force attack, but a pesky coyote that was hanging around the house. I had got the wifes .357 and loaded it up with my reloads and stuck it in the pantry on a shelf right by the side door so it would be handy. I had been out in the garage for a couple hours and on the way in I saw him. I slipped in the side door and grabbed the side arm and went around the side of the house. About twenty feet away there he is, I put the front sight on his shoulder and pull the trigger - click. I pull it again - click, hes gone. I open the cylinder its empty.

I go back in the house, wife is coming down hallway and hands me bullets and says you might need these, I cleaned my gun and forgot to put these back in it.:banghead:
 
rainbowbob - Coast Guard, not Navy. Navy is Dept. of Defence, which counts money in Billions and Trillions. Coast Guard (at that time - dating myself!) was still part of the Treasury Dept., which also counts money in Billions and Trillions - but not the USCG! Biggest treasury in the world, and we were POOR! My ship was ex-Army mine layer (the "Heather Maru" to us), our primary radio was salvaged from a 1927 anti-rum runner ship, etc. Seriously, the duty weapon for the watch standing quartermaster was handed off to the oncoming watch - not issued to individuals, except temporarily for detached training. We were supposed to SAVE lives, not shoot people! :D
sailortoo
 
rainbowbob, in the USN we handed off weaponsas well. They were issued for specific watches, not to specific men. That way there was a closer accounting at the change of the watch.
 
Thanks, Sailor and Xavier, for the clarification of the exchange of the "watch weapon". Sailor's answer suggests poverty as the reason - Xavier indicates accountability.

I would have expected that the Navy and/or the USCG could afford to equip their personel - and trust them with a firearm.
 
+1. I always tell someone the condition of a weapon as I hand it to them.
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Plus pointing it in a safe direction. I always clear every weapon. I pull from my safe. But If I knew they were going to chamber it. I would ask is it loaded? Then point it down away from my direction as I hand it to them.

You can never be to safe.
 
Practically, when handing a loaded gun to another, I do not clear it. I hand it over and say, "it's loaded." I then expect that person to check the gun's condition.

Inversely, no matter what someone says to me when they hand me a gun, I check its condition. I've trained my kids to do the same.

Rule: never trust someone else's word regarding the condition of the gun, and don't be offended when they don't trust your word regarding the condition of the gun. It isn't a "trust" thing, anyway; just prudence.

But if I have a loaded gun in my possession and my objective is a loaded gun in your possession, I'm not going to clear it before I hand it to you.
 
Verify!

In my original post I mentioned that the husband and wife "are one," and can trust each other in carefully handing the gun to their spouse and telling them "it is loaded."

However, I just had a thought:eek:.
The person receiving the gun should open the action to verify that it is, indeed, loaded!

One could be in a hurry when they originally loaded it and might not have watched carefully enough to ensure that a round, has, in fact been chambered.

So, I take back what I originally said:eek:. Perhaps it is better if the person drops the magazine and unloads and leaves the action open to let the receiving person load it for themselves (for a semi-auto), or, at minimum, opens the action partway to show the recipient that there is a cartridge in the chamber, that way you don't have to drop the magazine and unload the chambered round.

For a revolver, a simple opening of the cylinder before handing it to the next person would allow them to look and ensure the cylinder is full, then close it.

You can't be too careful, like others have mentioned, but "being careful" also INCLUDES confirmed knowledge that the gun you will then be carrying (and basically relying on with your LIFE) is LOADED!
 
Practically, when handing a loaded gun to another, I do not clear it. I hand it over and say, "it's loaded." I then expect that person to check the gun's condition.

Inversely, no matter what someone says to me when they hand me a gun, I check its condition. I've trained my kids to do the same.

Rule: never trust someone else's word regarding the condition of the gun, and don't be offended when they don't trust your word regarding the condition of the gun. It isn't a "trust" thing, anyway; just prudence.

But if I have a loaded gun in my possession and my objective is a loaded gun in your possession, I'm not going to clear it before I hand it to you.
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Your rule follows the number one gun rule. Allways treat every gun as it is loaded!!!
 
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