Leave it to gun manufacturers to give us practical information in a fun way. What kind of practical information? The kind of practical information that can save a life by preventing gun accidents.
Glock recently posted a short video that is a parody of the intro to the old Brady Bunch television show. In the video, they give us four great rules to remember when it comes to firearms. These four rules are:
- Handle all firearms as if they are loaded at all times.
- Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
- Always be certain of your target and what is behind it.
- Always keep your fingers off the trigger and outside of the trigger guard until your sights are aligned and you are ready to fire.
Now, let’s break this down for those new to the gun scene.
The first rule is important because a gun owner needs to be in the habit of thinking of his or her gun as dangerous because, if it is loaded, it is dangerous. Mistakes happen when people assume that they will remember when they have the weapon loaded or not. It’s simply better to be in the habit of always treating the gun like it is loaded so that you never make the mistake of treating it as unloaded when, in actuality, it is loaded.
The second rule is based on the same thinking. Put another way, never point the gun at anyone or anything that you are not willing to destroy in that moment. Why? Again, you need to be in the habit of thinking that the weapon could be loaded and treating the weapon as loaded so that you don’t accidentally put a round into someone. That’s the kind of accident that can be fatal.
The third rule builds off of the second rule and has to do with awareness and that willingness to destroy. You need to be aware of what you could potentially destroy when you point that weapon and pull that trigger. If you don’t know that, you don’t know whose life you may unintentionally take. It’s a horrible enough thing to have to take a life in self-defense, but to do it through a careless accident can only be worse.
And the fourth rule is about making sure that, when you actually fire your weapon, that it happens only when you know exactly what you are doing and to what or whom. If your finger stays completely away from that trigger, you aren’t going to accidentally pull it because you were startled. You aren’t going to make some other kind of mistake. You are only going to pull that trigger when you have made that conscious decision because only then will your finger be on the trigger.
Now, for a fun review, watch the video below.
