The Think Speech.

#safeandaccurate.com

The gunfighter safety lecture.

How many here have been in a gunfight?

How many here have tripped and fallen?

So, most of you have no experience in one thing. But you have a lot of experience in the other. Therefore, it is very important to make the four rules of firearm safety a part of your life habit. Note I did not call it a daily habit I called it a life habit. Every single time you handle a weapon you must follow these four rules in order not to perform a negligent act for the rest of your life. Whether it is a firearm, an edged weapon, or any other instrument that has the potential to do damage or harm to a human being or property.

Todays Blog is focused on Gun Fighting so we will focus on these rules as they relate to that specifically.

The first Rule of firearms safety is:

1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded.

We do this because when someone hands you a gun or you take control of a gun you never definitely know its condition until you yourself have verified its condition and whether it is loaded or not. Even then if you are in a rush or confused you can make a mistake. Most negligent discharges happen when the gun is unloaded. Think about it. The person wouldn’t have put their finger on the trigger and pressed it if they thought the gun was loaded. Never assume that a gun is unloaded. And never assume that because you glanced over it that it is safe. We always have two people look to verify before assuming it may be unloaded. Then we still treat it as if it is loaded. It’s a life habit.

2. Never point the firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.

Would you point a loaded gun at your mother? Wife? Children? Your neighbor next door? This rule points out a very basic human instinct. If you are not willing to destroy it avoid doing so. You can do this by not pointing the muzzle of a loaded gun at something that you do not want to shoot a hole through with a bullet. Remember rule number one. All guns are loaded.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

You can search your brain all day and you will never find a valid reason to have your finger resting on the trigger of a loaded firearm when you are not on target. If you forget rule number one and rule number two then breaking rule number three will really get you into hot water. There you are with a loaded firearm pointing it at something that you are not willing to destroy and now your finger is on the trigger.

4. Always be sure of your target and what is around and beyond it.

Before we start our range drills and qualifications, we always look over the area to make sure that there isn’t anything hazardous or that there aren’t any warm-blooded life forms in the area that we are going to be shooting in. We also check in detail that area beyond the designated shooting area. And all around. We do that because bullets can travel long distances beyond the target that you are shooting at. We want to make sure that the bullets are impacting in a safe place where it will rest harmlessly. This also carries over to shooting in self-defense or when clearing your firearm in a house or in any structure. Bullets can carry through multiple layers of drywall and beyond. As well as travel through wooden doors, windows etc. Even light gauge metal.

All the above rules apply to firearms self-defense as well as any training or practice you partake in with a firearm. These rules were written in blood. Never forget that. They were written by the Military and Law enforcement officers in blood after they sacrificed their lives and their fellow soldiers and police officers’ lives doing it the wrong way.

The reason we call these life habits and insist that you follow them to the letter at all times is because in order not to have a Negligent discharge you have to be able to follow them with no question as to when they apply. You need to follow them when receiving a gun from a friend to admire. And you need to follow them in the middle of the night when your front door has been kicked in and your children are in hysterics, the dog is jumping and barking, and someone is crashing down your hallway intent on butchering them. This is when your wife may need to hand you your gun, or you may need to hand it to her because she is in a better fighting position. Either way. If she points it at your back and gets startled and has her finger on the trigger. Well she has just joined forces with the bad guy and gave him a hand up in the situation.

Gunfights are chaos and confusion enough. Having to worry about friendly fire from your comrades in arms does not help the situation. And this is the very foundation of these rules. Military and Law Enforcement officers must have tight discipline and respect for their direction of aim and the impact of their rounds. If they are in a closed in area such as a living room and they have to go to guns. Pointing their gun at their partner with their finger on the trigger could end in disaster. And if they did have to fire their gun then if they miss and hit an innocent bystander a clear violation of rule four then they have also failed.

As civilians we are not covered by the same insurances and legal backing as the Police or Military, so we have to be very careful of how we handle our weapons and deploy them. We are far less trained and much more liable. So, if we follow these four rules we can stay out of a lot of trouble. Trouble that can impact our lives as well as many other lives if we make a grave error.

If you have to repeat these rules over and over each time you handle a gun or perform a function with a gun, then you will more then likely get confused or forget them. In a lot of people, the brain is wired to respond to pressure and confusion by doing the opposite. The more your brain hears don’t and can’t the more it wants to do it. Sometimes anyway. So we have come up with one word to surmise all four rules. The word is. THINK!

THINK about whether the gun is loaded. “Have I cleared it? Have I looked into the port to see if there is a shell loaded? Is there a magazine in it?

THINK about whether your gun is pointed in a safe direction?

THINK about whether your finger should be on the trigger at this time.

THINK about whether the area beyond and around the target is clear of anything you are not willing to destroy.

Knowing the four rules is crucial to being a successful shooter at all levels. Without them you will fail miserably. If you can get into the habit of thinking while handling weapons, then you will be much better off than someone that just meanders through the process because they have had it mandated through their head and don’t comprehend the whys and wherefores of each one. Safety is a culture. And it is second nature if you just THINK about it.

With all that being said. If you use safe solid techniques each and every time you are around a firearm or any weapon you will look and become much more professional. And you just may be able to do it at the worst moment of your life when the whole world is caving in and you only have one chance to save it.

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