Firearm safety is Education

Firearm Safety is Education Firearm Safety is Education The great President F.D.R. said on his first inauguration speech, “What do we have to fear, but fear itself”. This historical quote is a classic and is as valuable today as it was during that period in our nation’s history. This statement rings of education, that if we truly understand something, we in essence take away the power that the “fear” of it has, and our mind and eyes become more opened and we begin to tame the item we are scared of. Much of safety in any form is common sense, but unfortunately we live in a time where sense is not so common. We should never take anything for granted or grow to become complacent. There are two things’ which lead to firearm accidents; do you know what they are? Lack of knowledge (ignorance) and Complacency are the two. Ignorance or lack of knowledge if you like, is what we see in new people introduced to firearms without any form of structure training. We see them on the range or in a shop, they “sweep” the muzzle at things they should not, they handle the firearm in a manner that it should not be handled. They just do not know yet how to do it and respect it. This one is easy to fix, if we take the time to “train” them as to what and why of firearm safety fundamentals. One should never take a new person to the range and say, “Okay, it’s loaded, hold it like this and pull the trigger”. This in itself is an injury waiting to happen. Take the time either informally or formally and educate them, which will “take away the fear” and injury. Complacency is the lack of applying the knowledge that you posses to the task at hand. You have the knowledge and understanding, but you allowed your discipline in applying it become lacks. This is the harder of the two to fix, because many people feel that it will not happen to them or “I have done it this way for years”. It is a learned bad behavior or the laziness of applying safety discipline. Sometimes people just get caught up in the moment and do not notice they are doing it. Sometimes it is the repetition of things over that begin to cause us to become lazy. It takes focus and attention which is why frequent breaks are important. We must begin to “self-trigger” on this and stop for a few minutes. Luckily, we have the luxury of having structured formal training. There are a few of us whom learned firearm education the hard way. Either by our family member taking us out to the range or hunting, then when they feel we are mature enough allow us to handle the firearm, then when we make a mistake, we get “rapped” on the side of the head and scolded. The other is through the graces of the military,where the drill instructor is more than happen to point out our short comings in a manner we will remember. It does not matter if you have education through the hard school or a class in a controlled formal inviting environment, you have training. In 1871, an organization was formed for the primary purpose of training people in firearm safety and fundamental’s of marksmanship. That was the National Rifle Association (N.R.A.), though it is reconized today as our guardian angels of the right to keep and bear arms, keeping politicians at bay from the 2nd amendment. The primary focus of the Association was and always will be the training and education of people to firearms. It was the N.R.A. who developed the three main firearm safety rules, can you name them? 1. Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction. 2. Always keep the finger off the trigger, till sights are on target. 3. Always keep the firearm unloaded, untill you are ready to use it. These three fundamentals of firearm safety are pretty simple, yet people will often break at least one of them, why? One reason is people become involved with fixing ans issue and loose sight of where the muzzle should be. Another is that most firearms are designed to be egronomic and it takes a concious effort to keep the finger off the trigger. I can guarantee to you, if nothing else at a minimum you follow these three rules (laws), you will not have an injury from a firearm. Along with those three, there is actually three more for a total of six (yes I went to public school). The reason why the basic three is taught that way it human’s on average will remember three easier than a whole list, called the rule of 3. The next three as with the first, is common sense, but need’s to be understood, so they really sink in. 1) Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. 2) Never have ammunition around when cleaning or dry fire practicing. 3) Once dry fire practice is over, IT IS OVER! Warning, next picture is little graphic! Injury cause by assuming it was unloaded! Treat every firearm as if it is loaded- never assume (we know what that means) that it is. Anytime you pick a firearm up, check it! Ensure the chamber is empty and clear. Some say this is redundant, I say it is a great habit and every time you do are you not practicing and created a safe behavior and habit. If you do it every time, it will be second nature to you. Never have ammunition around when cleaning- If we applied the rules we learned so far with this one, how can we have any accidents when cleaning? Every year there are scores of people who have “accidents” because of this. There is no reason for it, period! When you’re going to clean your firearm, follow protocol, then take any ammunition you have and place it in another room or area. This is not only to keep a cartridge from jumping into the firearm, but help keep that curiosity of “what-if” down, and we know what happen to the cat. Also, it keeps your cleaning material from getting onto your ammunition and we know what happens then, right? Once dry fire practice is over, IT’S OVER! - Dry fire practice is often under rated by the vast majority of people. It is cheap, easily done when following safety rules and can be done almost any where. It develops muscle memory and good practices. Find a safe back stop area of your home, put up a post-it note. Follow the safety rules, the firearm unloaded and clear ammunition in another room. Then practice, where working on trigger press, sights picture, malfunction drills, or even drawing is gone over. When you are done put the firearm away. If you intend to load the firearm either for personal defense, think of doing the following; 1) After loading the firearm, tell yourself three times out loud, “this firearm is loaded” 2) Set it down and back away for few minutes. 3) Come back pick up the firearm and do a press check, to reconfirm loaded, then store either in safe or holster. Why? We all experience times when practice doesn’t go so well. Then after few minutes of thinking you figure it out and pick it back up, this is why I suggest doing what I said, to keep from having and accident. Telling yourself three time’s out loud it is loaded, let’s you and anyone else around know. Stepping away for few minutes allows it to sink in. Then you come back and confirm really drives it home, and reaffirms your defensive mindset. We live in an era of communication. More than ever we have to ability to research and become informed on just about anything at the tap of our fingers. There is a lot of good information out there, and as always some that is totally wrong. When it comes to firearm education, there is nothing that can substitute a good qualified instructor. He or She should be able to break down the information to your level so you can grasp it and know it. I urge any and even my students to take more training even after the basic level. It has nothing to do with me being an Instructor I even encourage students to take other people’s training to get a different perspective. Can a person learn on there own the firearm safety and marksmanship? Absolutely, however your journey will be slow, take up more time and harder learning. A good Instructor will mentor you, seeing your grow and become more proficient. Taking formal training at times brings freshness back into your firearm craft. It ensures your not developing bad habits and should introduce you to something different for your level of training, (yes, once a year I still seek out and take training, I have even been known to sit in a basic class too). The other big reason is judicious. If you are in the unfortunate situation of an accident or defensive incident, can you articulate why you did what you had done? Taking formal training is discoverable evidence that will demonstrate or back what you did and why. I hope you are never in the situation where you have to articulate why you had to take action in defense of yourself, but if you are would it not be nice to have a way to demonstrate it with certifications? Any good instructor that you take training from should be willing to explain the training you went through if the need comes. I have more than enough examples which may come at a future time. “What can you fear that you understand”, I have said on more than one occasion. Proper training, coupled with wisdom and discipline of responsibility will allow you to train, practice and foster the firearm both enjoyably and safely. I often tell people before you spend your hard earned money, research the instructor and the training. Is it right for you? Will it fill what you need? Is the instructor teaching what I need right now? Can I sit in on a class for a while? These are just a few things to think about. Stay Safe, Stay alert, and get trained. Todd R. Mendenhall N.R.A. Instructor Chief Instructor I.S.C.A.P.E. The great President F.D.R. said on his first inauguration speech, “What do we have to fear, but fear itself”. This historical quote is a classic and is as valuable today as it was during that period in our nation’s history. This statement rings of education, that if we truly understand something, we in essence take away the power that the “fear” of it has, and our mind and eyes become more opened and we begin to tame the item we are scared of. Much of safety in any form is common sense, but unfortunately we live in a time where sense is not so common. We should never take anything for granted or grow to become complacent. There are two things’ which lead to firearm accidents; do you know what they are? Lack of knowledge (ignorance) and Complacency are the two. Ignorance or lack of knowledge if you like, is what we see in new people introduced to firearms without any form of structure training. We see them on the range or in a shop, they “sweep” the muzzle at things they should not, they handle the firearm in a manner that it should not be handled. They just do not know yet how to do it and respect it. This one is easy to fix, if we take the time to “train” them as to what and why of firearm safety fundamentals. One should never take a new person to the range and say, “Okay, it’s loaded, hold it like this and pull the trigger”. This in itself is an injury waiting to happen. Take the time either informally or formally and educate them, which will “take away the fear” and injury. Complacency is the lack of applying the knowledge that you posses to the task at hand. You have the knowledge and understanding, but you allowed your discipline in applying it become lacks. This is the harder of the two to fix, because many people feel that it will not happen to them or “I have done it this way for years”. It is a learned bad behavior or the laziness of applying safety discipline. Sometimes people just get caught up in the moment and do not notice they are doing it. Sometimes it is the repetition of things over that begin to cause us to become lazy. It takes focus and attention which is why frequent breaks are important. We must begin to “self-trigger” on this and stop for a few minutes. Luckily, we have the luxury of having structured formal training. There are a few of us whom learned firearm education the hard way. Either by our family member taking us out to the range or hunting, then when they feel we are mature enough allow us to handle the firearm, then when we make a mistake, we get “rapped” on the side of the head and scolded. The other is through the graces of the military,where the drill instructor is more than happen to point out our short comings in a manner we will remember. It does not matter if you have education through the hard school or a class in a controlled formal inviting environment, you have training. In 1871, an organization was formed for the primary purpose of training people in firearm safety and fundamental’s of marksmanship. That was the National Rifle Association (N.R.A.), though it is reconized today as our guardian angels of the right to keep and bear arms, keeping politicians at bay from the 2nd amendment. The primary focus of the Association was and always will be the training and education of people to firearms. It was the N.R.A. who developed the three main firearm safety rules, can you name them? 1. Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction. 2. Always keep the finger off the trigger, till sights are on target. 3. Always keep the firearm unloaded, untill you are ready to use it. These three fundamentals of firearm safety are pretty simple, yet people will often break at least one of them, why? One reason is people become involved with fixing ans issue and loose sight of where the muzzle should be. Another is that most firearms are designed to be egronomic and it takes a concious effort to keep the finger off the trigger. I can guarantee to you, if nothing else at a minimum you follow these three rules (laws), you will not have an injury from a firearm. Along with those three, there is actually three more for a total of six (yes I went to public school). The reason why the basic three is taught that way it human’s on average will remember three easier than a whole list, called the rule of 3. The next three as with the first, is common sense, but need’s to be understood, so they really sink in. 1) Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. 2) Never have ammunition around when cleaning or dry fire practicing. 3) Once dry fire practice is over, IT IS OVER! Warning, next picture is little graphic! Injury cause by assuming it was unloaded! Treat every firearm as if it is loaded- never assume (we know what that means) that it is. Anytime you pick a firearm up, check it! Ensure the chamber is empty and clear. Some say this is redundant, I say it is a great habit and every time you do are you not practicing and created a safe behavior and habit. If you do it every time, it will be second nature to you. Never have ammunition around when cleaning- If we applied the rules we learned so far with this one, how can we have any accidents when cleaning? Every year there are scores of people who have “accidents” because of this. There is no reason for it, period! When you’re going to clean your firearm, follow protocol, then take any ammunition you have and place it in another room or area. This is not only to keep a cartridge from jumping into the firearm, but help keep that curiosity of “what-if” down, and we know what happen to the cat. Also, it keeps your cleaning material from getting onto your ammunition and we know what happens then, right? Once dry fire practice is over, IT’S OVER! - Dry fire practice is often under rated by the vast majority of people. It is cheap, easily done when following safety rules and can be done almost any where. It develops muscle memory and good practices. Find a safe back stop area of your home, put up a post-it note. Follow the safety rules, the firearm unloaded and clear ammunition in another room. Then practice, where working on trigger press, sights picture, malfunction drills, or even drawing is gone over. When you are done put the firearm away. If you intend to load the firearm either for personal defense, think of doing the following; 1) After loading the firearm, tell yourself three times out loud, “this firearm is loaded” 2) Set it down and back away for few minutes. 3) Come back pick up the firearm and do a press check, to reconfirm loaded, then store either in safe or holster. Why? We all experience times when practice doesn’t go so well. Then after few minutes of thinking you figure it out and pick it back up, this is why I suggest doing what I said, to keep from having and accident. Telling yourself three time’s out loud it is loaded, let’s you and anyone else around know. Stepping away for few minutes allows it to sink in. Then you come back and confirm really drives it home, and reaffirms your defensive mindset. We live in an era of communication. More than ever we have to ability to research and become informed on just about anything at the tap of our fingers. There is a lot of good information out there, and as always some that is totally wrong. When it comes to firearm education, there is nothing that can substitute a good qualified instructor. He or She should be able to break down the information to your level so you can grasp it and know it. I urge any and even my students to take more training even after the basic level. It has nothing to do with me being an Instructor I even encourage students to take other people’s training to get a different perspective. Can a person learn on there own the firearm safety and marksmanship? Absolutely, however your journey will be slow, take up more time and harder learning. A good Instructor will mentor you, seeing your grow and become more proficient. Taking formal training at times brings freshness back into your firearm craft. It ensures your not developing bad habits and should introduce you to something different for your level of training, (yes, once a year I still seek out and take training, I have even been known to sit in a basic class too). The other big reason is judicious. If you are in the unfortunate situation of an accident or defensive incident, can you articulate why you did what you had done? Taking formal training is discoverable evidence that will demonstrate or back what you did and why. I hope you are never in the situation where you have to articulate why you had to take action in defense of yourself, but if you are would it not be nice to have a way to demonstrate it with certifications? Any good instructor that you take training from should be willing to explain the training you went through if the need comes. I have more than enough examples which may come at a future time. “What can you fear that you understand”, I have said on more than one occasion. Proper training, coupled with wisdom and discipline of responsibility will allow you to train, practice and foster the firearm both enjoyably and safely. I often tell people before you spend your hard earned money, research the instructor and the training. Is it right for you? Will it fill what you need? Is the instructor teaching what I need right now? Can I sit in on a class for a while? These are just a few things to think about. Stay Safe, Stay alert, and get trained. Todd R. Mendenhall N.R.A. Instructor Chief Instructor I.S.C.A.P.E.