rec.guns (moderated) #161782 (7 + 201 more) (1)+-(1) From: johnclif@ix.netcom.com (John Clifford ) |-(1)--(1)--[1] [1] Re: Bob shot himself! |-(1) Date: Tue Dec 26 08:04:01 CST 1995 |-(1) Organization: Netcom |-[1] Lines: 76 |-[1] ###4. Remember, there is no way to make carrying a gun 100% safe. ###You must be quite objective in your evaluation whether the risk I disagree. Carrying a gun CAN be 100% safe IF you follow the four basic rules of gun safety... and you use a little common sense. Guns that are mechanically sound do not discharge by themselves. Someone, or something, activates the firing mechanism. If your gun is not mechanically sound, get it fixed or junk it and get one that is. If your finger is on the trigger when you reholster, then you are that someone. If your holster incorrectly protrudes into the trigger guard of your handgun, then it is that something. Make sure that your holster is not that something... and then make sure that you are not that someone. Refuse to accept "acceptable risk." There is no such thing! Proper equipment, proper training, and proper practicing will remove risk. If you feel that there is some unavoidable risk involved in your carrying of a firearm, then you need to upgrade one of these three categories. Spend the extra money and buy a quality handgun. Own proper leather. So you spend a couple hundred dollars more by the time you"re done -- is your life not worth more than a couple hundred dollars? Spend money on quality training taught by people who have the credentials and experience to know what they"re doing. Most people need to learn how to properly carry a handgun -- how to draw, reholster, and load in both administrative and tactical situations. You can"t learn this from a book or TV. You have to have someone show you the proper way, watch you and correct you until you can demonstrate you understand and can repeat the procedure, and then watch you some more while you practice 50 or 100 times to start the process of ingraining proper technique into your subconscious. Sure, it will cost money, and take time. Isn"t your life worth a little money and time? And besides, taking classes is fun! Then, on your own, invest five to ten minutes an evening for the two-week period following the class slowly practicing everything WITH AN UNLOADED WEAPON and be your own worst critic. Be critical of sweeping your body, of not removing your finger from the trigger (and decocking, and/or applying the safety if appropriate) when you take the gun off target. Have one standard, perfection, and go EXTREMELY slowly until you commit no safety violations during the draw, reholster, and reload. Then do them 50 times. Sure, the repetition may be a little tedious... but what"s an hour over two weeks if it prevents you from shooting yourself? After two weeks, proper techniques should be embedded in you so that no conscious thought is required to draw the gun and acquire a target without committing safety violations. You should be able to reholster with one hand while keeping your head up and looking out for threats without committing any safety violations (without threatening a kidney, for instance, or reholstering with your finger on the trigger). Guns are like power tools. They"re perfectly safe... unless YOU do something stupid or careless. Then they bite, and bite hard. I feel for Bob, as I"m sure he"s both embarrassed and in some pain. But... every Bob out there is more ammunition for the antigunners who claim guns are too dangerous for "average people." Every Bob who shoots himself accidentally paints all of us with the same brush. Don"t be a Bob! John Clifford Weapons Safety, Inc. 13215 SE 30th Street Bellevue WA 98005 phone: 206-649-8623 fax: 206-644-5302 email: johnclif@ix.netcom.com url: http://www.accessone.com/wsi/wsi.htm Disclaimer: Who needs "em? I represent myself now!