Let’s Talk Firearms Safety

Author: Graham Dunne

Background: From the Marine Corps, to police work, to private contracting, I have been involved in formal firearms training since the 1980’s. I have been a firearms instructor since 1999. I worked on a police range full-time for years, and I continue to teach firearms classes weekly, year-round. I am an adamant 2nd amendment advocate. I believe the 2nd amendment is our most important constitutional right, as it ensures our other rights can exist. All that said, I believe that the average gun owner has poor firearms skills, and their safety is atrocious. 

I’m going to preface the next statement with this: anyone in the U.S. Military is a hero, no matter what their role, and I have the highest respect for them. That said, criticism of the military firearms training culture is warranted. In the Marine Corps it was not uncommon to see Marines “muzzle” other Marines with their rifles outside of the firing range. Yes, there was strict enforcement on the firing range, but that seemed to be forgotten when we knew the guns were “unloaded.” Over the years I have trained with members of the other branches of the military, and found the same lack of awareness.  

I challenge you to enter any gun store or gun show, and set your watch. I bet you a dollar you will see a violation of the firearms safety rules within 2 minutes. Often times it is the guy working behind the counter, or an instructor, with the 4 firearms safety rules pasted on the wall behind them. 

I have found Law Enforcement to be the safest, as they have liability beat into their heads constantly. Although there are exceptions, police departments generally adhere to strict firearms safety enforcement. Coming out of the military, I was not nearly as strict with my firearms safety until I went into police work and had it continually drilled in my head during the Academy. I believe LE has come along way over the years due to tragedies, in which officers were injured or died due to poor safety. 

It is refreshing to see that competition shoots are also generally very strict on safety.  Similar to LE training, safety violations are not tolerated. 

Let’s discuss the universal firearms safety rules, first written by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper. 

  1. All guns are treated as if they are always loaded.
  2. Never let the muzzle of your weapon cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger, and out of the trigger guard, until your sights are on your target and you are prepared to shoot.
  4. Be certain of your target and what is beyond.

Let’s get deep in the weeds with the above rules. 

All guns are always loaded: I have seen instructors unload a firearm, lock the slide to the rear, check that’s it’s unloaded, then proceed to point the firearm at their students as they demonstrated techniques. There is an old saying in the gun world: “it is the unloaded gun that kills.” In my police career I worked hundreds of shootings, mostly intentional. In the rare unintentional shooting, I often heard “it was unloaded.” Well apparently not, judging by the hole in your foot. I don’t care if the gun has been checked. I don’t care if the slide or bolt is locked to the rear. I don’t care if there’s a safety plug in the ejection port. Keep your finger off the trigger and don’t point it at anything you’re not willing to kill. Period. 

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy: This goes hand in hand with rule number 1. Imagine there is a light saber in your hand, and whatever you point it at, it will cut. The common violations of this rule are less conspicuous, such as people putting their hand in front of their muzzle, or pointing the muzzle at their feet, or the guy standing next to them’ s feet. 

Keep your finger off the trigger, and out of the trigger guard, until your sights are on the target: Through our central nervous system we have startle reflexes, sympathetic responses etc… These flinches come in three ways: each time we are startled there is a potential for us to flinch. Each time we trip there is a potential for us to flinch. Each time we grab something subconsciously there is a potential for the other hand to contract. It all comes down to this: keep your finger off trigger. I put my trigger finger up on the pistol slide, or on the rifle frame, no-where near the trigger. Studies show that it takes roughly 1 to 2 tenths of a second to move your finger to the trigger, which is negligible, as compared to killing someone, or killing yourself, with negligence. The true lag in time is not the actual movement of the finger, it is the decisional process to move the finger. Research the OODA loop. 

Be sure of your target and beyond: We have to make target identification. You can’t just shoot in the dark, or through a door or wall, without knowing your target. I know of no statistics regarding armed citizen shootings, but Law Enforcement in the U.S. has a roughly 50% hit ratio. The other 50% are misses. That’s not a knock on LE, as their targets are not a static piece of paper, “the Davinci man”. It’s moving, you’re moving, you’re getting shot at etc…(Interestingly, new statistics are showing LE hit ratios with pistol red dots are as high as 70%.) 

I have mixed feelings regarding citizens being required to get training to buy weapons and ammo, and to acquire a concealed weapons permit. In theory, if you’re an adult with no legal reasons why you shouldn’t own a firearm, I don’t think you should have to go through any sort of legal process to buy or to carry. Where I struggle is this: over 25 years of teaching permit and other classes, I have found that the overwhelming majority of armed citizens not only have very poor skills, but more concerningly have non-existent safety habits. If there is a way in which citizens would be required to get proper training, yet without jumping through bureaucratic hoops and becoming part of a database, that would be optimal.  If anyone figures that out, let me know. 

In the meantime, take formal training and continue to train. Don’t give ammunition, (pun intended,) to those who wish to take away our 2nd amendment rights. Training is a lifelong endeavor with a destination you will never reach. Enjoy the journey.

About the author:

Sergeant Dunne is a former Marine and police officer, with 30 years of service. He has served as a SWAT operator and sniper, and was a full time academy instructor for 8 years. A police Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross recipient, he is founder and lead instructor for Ragnar Tactical.