Gun Safety Rules

Gun safety is important and pivotal to the exercise of your Second Amendment right. The majority of “accidents” that occur happen from either ignorance or disregard of firearm rules and function. If someone is new to firearms, them not knowing the function of a gun or the safety rules can set them up for failure. Unfortunately, failure when it comes to firearms can lead to death. Therefore it’s important that you take this matter very seriously. Disregard of firearm rules is something that happens when an “experienced” person has a level of complacency and elects to ignore what they know they should be doing. Don’t ever allow your ego to get in the way of safe gun handling!

There are many schools of thought and camps when it comes to firearm safety education. Here at Self Defense Shooting Academy, we utilize the “Cooper Rules” of gun handling. The Cooper Rules are named after the late Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper.

These are the four rules that Cooper developed:

1. All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
4. Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.

All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.

This rule is incredibly important. What it does is instill the proper mentality that firearm users should have at all times. If you treat a firearm with the correct amount of respect it deserves, by treating it as if it’s always loaded, then the other rules should be followed naturally. That is, if a gun is loaded, you would not point it at another person in a non-self-defense situation. You get the idea. If you engrain this one rule into your sub conscious and deliberately follow it at all times, you should not fall subject to a negligent situation due to complacency or ignorance.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)

We’d think that this rule is a “no brainer”, but unfortunately, it’s not. If you exercise what is called proper muzzle discipline, that is being aware of what direction the firearm is pointed, you would not negligently shoot something that you don’t want to. On long guns it’s much easier to keep track of where your muzzle, the end of the barrel, is pointed. On handguns, it’s easy to slip up and point a gun where you do not intend to. Turning to look somewhere with your entire body will cause the muzzle of a firearm to move with you. So be deliberate with how you handle any firearm and be mindful of your movements.

Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.

The trigger on a firearm is not a resting place for your index finger. The trigger is sometimes colloquially referred to as the “boom switch.” Movement of the trigger will cause the gun to fire. Only when you have your firearm aimed properly, with the sights on your intended target, should you place your finger on the trigger. What you do with your “trigger finger” (index finger) when you’re not ready to fire? You place it on the frame or receiver of the firearm just above the trigger. This action is known as “indexing”. This is one of the rules that beginners most often break. Be vigilant in your gun handling from day one to make sure you keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.

Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.

You need to know what you’re shooting at. If you’re at the range, the simple answer to this is obviously the target that you’ve brought to shoot at. Well, what is beyond your target? There should be some sort of a safety berm/backstop and beyond that uninhabited land. Indoor ranges have backstops designed to absorb the energy of bullets and safely keep them at the end of the range.

Where this rule gets very important is in two situations; hunting and self-defense.

While hunting, there are a whole host of other rules and regulations that need to be followed.  One of them is establishing a safe shooting lane that includes the area beyond your intended game. Should you miss or overpenetrate, you want to make sure your bullet does not travel to an area that may have people etc. See a deer toward the top of a hill? Best not to take that shot, as a miss would allow the round to travel over the hill into an area that may have people. What’s on the other side of that hill?

In self-defense situations you really need to be mindful of where your round will go should you miss a threat. In the home this could mean bullets going through walls into the bedrooms of children, or even through an exterior wall into your neighbor’s home. Outside the home, the number of unintended targets are nearly unlimited.

So, being mindful of your target and beyond is an important rule and concept that you need to pay attention to.

These are just four rules of many when it comes to firearm use. These four will guide you and need to be a staple in your mentality of gun use and handling. Different disciplines and situations warrant more rules, as mentioned, hunting for example. Committing these to memory and dutifully following them will help keep you and those around you safe.