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1) Never hand someone a gun with a closed chamber.
I ALWAYS open the chamber of a gun and check that it is clear then show the person I am handing the gun to that the chamber is clear and get their confirmation that it is clear before releasing my grip on the weapon. Very simple but effective. If everyone would do this there would be a lot fewer accidental discharges. It ticks me off that every gun store does not do this.
I have a couple of pistols that do not have slide stops so I have to hold the slide back during the above procedure.
I was at a Portland OR gun show by the speedway back in the 90's where a class III dealer handed a potential customer a rifle and the potential customer proceeded to send a round through the roof of the building. The class III vendor was packed and out of there in under an hour and never returned for future shows... not by his own choice! Simply opening the action and confirming it was clear would have prevented this accidental discharge and the dealer really should have known better.
2) Don't be a pain in the rear idiot!
If you see someone doing something wrong correct them without being a cocky as. Back in the 90's I was at the local range (Isaac Walton) and there were 2 other groups. One was a couple of guys sighting in a hunting rifle at the far end and a second was a guy showing his kids how to shoot a 22 at the other end. The guy with his kids just starts walking down range to his target which was at about 10 yards on the 500 yard range. I immediately called "Going down range" at the guys sighting in the hunting rifle just as they were about to pull the trigger. They stopped, gave me the WTF look, opened their chamber then saw the guy walking down range and stopped scowling at me. The guy with kids changed his target and on his way back glanced over at me. I gave him a head nod and that was all there was to it before I called out "all clear". No fuss, no nastiness the guy got the point and I know he will never do that again.
3) Don't be a know it all! Be humble!
If someone wants to explain something to you that you already know let them finish and just say thank you. Guys that have been around for a while (think "Hickhock45") don't claim to know everything and are open to listening. The guys that have a couple of years of knowledge under their belt are the ones that think they now know everything... like I did when I was at that point in my journey with firearms.
I ALWAYS open the chamber of a gun and check that it is clear then show the person I am handing the gun to that the chamber is clear and get their confirmation that it is clear before releasing my grip on the weapon. Very simple but effective. If everyone would do this there would be a lot fewer accidental discharges. It ticks me off that every gun store does not do this.
I have a couple of pistols that do not have slide stops so I have to hold the slide back during the above procedure.
I was at a Portland OR gun show by the speedway back in the 90's where a class III dealer handed a potential customer a rifle and the potential customer proceeded to send a round through the roof of the building. The class III vendor was packed and out of there in under an hour and never returned for future shows... not by his own choice! Simply opening the action and confirming it was clear would have prevented this accidental discharge and the dealer really should have known better.
2) Don't be a pain in the rear idiot!
If you see someone doing something wrong correct them without being a cocky as. Back in the 90's I was at the local range (Isaac Walton) and there were 2 other groups. One was a couple of guys sighting in a hunting rifle at the far end and a second was a guy showing his kids how to shoot a 22 at the other end. The guy with his kids just starts walking down range to his target which was at about 10 yards on the 500 yard range. I immediately called "Going down range" at the guys sighting in the hunting rifle just as they were about to pull the trigger. They stopped, gave me the WTF look, opened their chamber then saw the guy walking down range and stopped scowling at me. The guy with kids changed his target and on his way back glanced over at me. I gave him a head nod and that was all there was to it before I called out "all clear". No fuss, no nastiness the guy got the point and I know he will never do that again.
3) Don't be a know it all! Be humble!
If someone wants to explain something to you that you already know let them finish and just say thank you. Guys that have been around for a while (think "Hickhock45") don't claim to know everything and are open to listening. The guys that have a couple of years of knowledge under their belt are the ones that think they now know everything... like I did when I was at that point in my journey with firearms.
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