This is not the first article that we have written concerning firearm training and it most certainly will not be the last.
There is one thing education, training and practice cannot safeguard against and that’s complacency. As a general rule complacency will target (no pun intended) the most knowledgeable and trained firearm owner; which means complacency can be more dangerous than ignorance. ALWAYS assume that the firearm you are handling is loaded and ready to fire. Unfortunately many of the “incidents” that we hear about with a seasoned firearm owner all boils down to not taking the few seconds to ensure that the firearm is not loaded before proceeding. Which is yes, complacency. A good example of this could be the individual that always unloads their weapon before placing it in the safe. One day they remove said firearm and do not take the time to double check that the firearm is unloaded…….I don’t think I need to go on.
Children and firearms can be a deadly combination but it doesn’t have to be. The deadly combination just boils down to a firearm and a child that has not been educated on how to respect and handle that firearm. To a child that has never been around a firearm, finding an unsecured firearm is going to invoke all sorts of curiosity. They are going to want to touch it, pick it up and try to figure out how it works. An educated child is going to come across that unsecured firearm and realize that they should not touch it and go find an adult to let them know what they found………crisis averted, see how wonderful education can be! Proper education and training will save more lives than any law our politicians can dream up; but even this will not stop the gun-grabbers from making up statistics. If you remove “gun” from “gun control” you will understand why they are spending so much money and making up so many lies to restrict our Second Amendment Rights.
A vast majority of firearm owners enjoy shooting as a hobby, sport, career, and hunting. For these individuals firearms are a part of their life and their family’s life. Firearm education and safety started at a very early age and has been handed down like a family heirloom. Then we have the firearm owners that purchased a firearm for self-protection, usually from a knee-jerk reaction to something that happened in their community and these folks now would like to protect themselves and their families. These folks learned the basics from the gun shop, then took the firearm home and placed it in a dark corner of their closet, thinking they would retrieve it when they need to protect themselves, family and property. This is a disaster waiting to happen. There are many possible outcomes and none are particularly favorable. No one knows the firearm is in your closet. No one in your home is familiar with it. No one knows how to operate it. Does it have a safety? Is there a round in the chamber? How do I reload and where the extra ammunition? What’s a proper sight picture? If you purchased a firearm solely for self-protection, you owe it to yourself and your family to be educated and trained on its use. You need to make regular trips to the gun range to become familiar with it and then you must educate and train your family members; only then will you be able to successfully use the firearm for self-protection.
Gun Safety – Education not Legislation!
