The 4 Laws of Gun Safety
The 1st Law – Consider every firearm loaded at all times and treat it accordingly.
It doesn’t matter if you just checked the chamber seconds ago, always assume that it is loaded. (Note that NRA has decided not to teach this rule in their safety courses and brochures).
The 2nd Law – Never Point The Gun At Something You Are Not Prepared To Destroy! Always keep firearms pointed in a safe direction.
A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle is pointed at all times. This rule directly correlates to the first rule; pretend that every firearm is loaded and that it will go off. Pay attention to where your muzzle is pointed; don’t go waving it around. Keep it pointed in a safe direction even when checking out the sights or dry-fire practicing.
The 3rd Law – Always Be Sure Of Your Target And What Is Behind It!
This means don’t shoot at things your bullet could bounce off of (ricochet) and hurt someone or something that you don’t intend to shoot. It also means don’t rely on your target to stop the projectile; be sure that if your bullet passes completely through your target that it will not continue on and hurt someone or something that you don’t intend to shoot. It also means being sure that if you miss your target your bullet will not continue on its path and hit something or someone you don’t intend to shoot.
Be sure you have a good, bulletproof backstop. If you can’t be sure of your projectile’s trajectory from the time it leaves your firearm until it comes safely to rest, DON”T SHOOT!
The 4th Law – Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until You Are Ready to Fire!
The best way I’ve heard this put is “Keep your booger hook off the bang switch!” When holding a firearm, rest your finger on the trigger guard or along the side of the gun. Until you are actually ready to fire, do not touch the trigger. You don’t want a muscle twitch, a sneeze or a light trigger causing your firearm to go off and end in tragedy.
These rules won’t protect you from all firearm mishaps, accidental discharges (ADs) or negligent discharges (NDs) but, when combined with common sense (e.g. don’t use drugs or alcohol when handling firearms, know how to correctly operate the firearms you are handling), they will put you well on your way to being a safe shooter.
Firearms Are NOT Inherently Dangerous!
We’ve had a few recent stories on our forums that I thought we’d make more accessible by posting about on the blog.
The first item was a link to an NSSF release giving some stats about how hunting is safer than most other recreational activities. For example, did you know that you are 25 times more likely to be injured while riding a bicycle than while hunting or that your chances of getting injured playing soccer are 34 times that of getting injured while hunting. And football? Forget about it! You’re over 100 times more likely to get injured playing tackle football than you are while hunting.
Just because it’s “safer” doesn’t mean that it’s completely safe, though. You still need to take precautions while out hunting. Continue reading
NRA’s “Big Wins” for Gun Owners Might Not Be So Big
Unclear reporting muddies the water on shotgun import bans and “sporting purpose”
An article recently released by the NRA-ILA entitled “Rumor Alert: Appropriations Bill Blocks New Shotgun Ban—Does Not Repeal ‘Sporting Purposes’ Test” doesn’t go far toward clearing up “inaccurate reporting”. The earlier article, Twelve Big Wins for Gun Owners, Nov 18, 2011, described “big wins” for gun rights provided by the conference report on the combined Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science and Transportation/Housing/Urban Development Appropriations bills (also known as the “mini-bus”).
The article states that the conference report added two new provisions that bolster gun rights and protect the Second Amendment. One such provision touted by the article was listed under the heading of “Shotgun Importation Protections”, where the NRA states that the report “Prohibits the Department of Justice from requiring imported shotguns to meet a ‘sporting purposes’ test that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has used to prohibit the importation of shotguns.” Continue reading
GunLink Blog Entries on Twitter
GunLink blog entries and articles should now appear in our twitter stream. You readers sure are lucky.
This is just a test message. It may self destruct in 5 seconds.
GunLink Ads Make Their Way to Blog
Alright, we’ve got ads on the blog now. Our advertisers should be happy. We’ve also tried to keep them as unobtrusive (for those of you in Rio Linda – that means they’re out of the way) as possible, so readers should be happy too.
If you’re one of our advertisers: the blog ads currently work the same way as they do across the rest of the site as far as selection and impressions go. We will incorporating blog advertising into our overall advertising program and possibly adding new advertising options. If you are interested in starting a new advertising campaign on GunLink or changing your current campaign details, contact us at advertising at GunLink.info
We’re just trying this out temporarily for now, so they may not be there for long. We will be working various options as we get the ball rolling on this new site feature, so don’t be surprised if you see some things changing. As usual, we’d love to hear feedback on our progress.
The Countdown to SHOT Show is On
Tick tock tick tock… The countdown to the 2012 NSSF SHOT Show is on and GunLink is headed there!
If you didn’t already know, the SHOT Show is being held Januay 17-20, 2012 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas and it’s the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports, hunting and law enforcement industries. Last year’s show drew a total attendance of close to 60,000 with well over 1,500 exhibitors.
We at GunLink are excited to have the opportunity to cover the show this year. It should be a lot of fun, both for us as well as you, the readers. We’ve already got a list of places to go and people to see but, to make sure that our SHOT Show coverage is tailored to you, we want to hear which exhibitors and other show features YOU want to see covered. Let us know here on the blog, over on the forums or via Twitter what you want to get out of our SHOT coverage.
We’ll be posting show updates and news before, during and after the show through our various channels. We have various opportunities for interested parties to syndicate our SHOT Show content through their own blogs and media as well as opportunities for GunLink SHOT Show coverage sponsorship. If you’d like more information about these opportunities, please let us know as soon as possible and we can send you the details.
