Changing the Rules: Revisiting the Basics of Safe Gun Handling

June 14, 2015

Submitted from George Harris of International Firearms Consultants

TL;DR
The concepts of Muzzle Management and Trigger-Finger Discipline works as an all-encompassing approach to safety and better shooting.

Changing the Rules: Revisiting the Basics of Safe Gun Handling
by Kevin Michalowski

You know the rules. They are: 1. Treat every gun as if it is loaded. 2. Never point your firearm at something you are not willing to destroy. 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you have made a decision to shoot. 4. Know your target and beyond.

So, do you agree with all those rules? Do they make sense in every situation?

I contend that the four cardinal safety rules work well for flat, square ranges but could be amended for personal defense situations and for the training required in such situations.

John Tate
Jun 15, 2015 @ 09:15:47

I feel compelled to endorse this. I think we all learned over time to make the unwritten adaptations mentioned (and endorsed?) by George Harris and Kevin Michalowski.

As my students know, I do NOT use blue guns. I tried once – aside from the fact that some member(s) of the class stole the guns – there seemed no real benefit.

Rule #2 is adequate as written

Rule #3 is my big buggaboo. Only in a Keith Sanderson video have I ever heard anyone else advocate starting your trigger squeeze/press/pull while still moving a handgun toward the target … so that when you actually get near/on target the gun will discharge. On a “quick-draw” shoot, I begin to take the slack out of my (1911) trigger as soon as the safety is off. Same applies to a Glock. The same applies even more to a first shot double action pistol like the Beretta M9 or Makarov.

BUT – you don’t start off a pure novice with quick-draw techniques! And, techniques that are appropriate for a square-range, bench rest environment are not appropriate for combat.

I remember one of the Schofield Barracks range rules was guns were to be carried to and from the firing line unloaded and cased. Let’s try that in Fallujah … or Cleveland … or Los Lunas. Images come to mind of the shootout between Robin Williams and Jerry Reed in The Survivors:
Williams: “Time out, OK?”
Reed: “What do you mean, ‘time out?'”
Williams: “Donald: You’re not gonna believe this. I was in a hurry when I left the cabin this morning, and, well, silly me, I got the wrong bullets. I have these little bullets; I need to get the other big ones.”

Rule #4 is, like #2, adequate as written.

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