Guns are excellent for home defense, sports, and hunting. They come in different shapes and sizes, and many people can get licenses to carry and purchase firearms.
About one-third of homes in the U.S. own a firearm. This can be risky for young children to access guns and cause harm. So, practicing firearm safety is essential for everybody.
Here are ten gun safety tips you must know if you own a gun.
1. The Gun Is Always Loaded
One of the first things to firearm safety is always treating the gun as if it’s always loaded. Even if it’s empty, keep the mindset that there’s a bullet in the firearm.
If there was something as non-lethal as an airsoft gun, you want to treat it the same as you would a live firearm. Airsoft guns are used to fire at other people for games and sports, but you must ensure you do it safely. If an airsoft gun is loaded, and you look down the barrel, you can risk injuring yourself or others.
2. Always Point the Muzzle in a Safe Direction
This goes along with treating your gun as always loaded. So, you wouldn’t want it to be pointed towards someone or something and risk the firearm to discharge. When holding your firearm, you want to be extra safe by pointing the gun away from anything you wouldn’t want to shoot.
In other words, don’t point your gun and something you don’t intend to shoot. So, if an accidental discharge were to occur, you know you won’t be a danger to yourself or others.
You should always be in control of your gun. Know where it’s pointing and make sure it’s safely being handled.
3. Know Your Target
Guns are great for protection. If an intruder breaks into your home and threatens to hurt you and your family, your firearm has you covered.
But just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you can fire away freely. You may end up hurting your family member. This also applies to objects.
Identify your target and whatever is behind it. You don’t want to accidentally shoot someone who isn’t meant to be shot at.
4. Never Rely on the Safety
The safety of a gun is meant to prevent it from being discharged. However, it doesn’t mean you should always expect the weapon not to go off. If the safety is on, it has a chance of slipping and going off during unexpected times if not handled carefully.
Along with the safety mechanism, you must also know how to hold a gun. Unless you intend to shoot at the time, your trigger finger must not make contact with the trigger.
So, treat a gun as if the safety is off. You have to rely on your personal skills and firearm safety that you learned.
5. Ensure Barrel Is Clear Before Shooting
Before shooting a gun, you must safely check if the barrel is clean of any obstructions. These obstructions can be anything from mud, snow, or oil.
If the firearm has anything in the way of the barrel, it’s at risk of bursting when firing. This can lead to personal injury or injury to bystanders. And if the gun sounds off or “weak,” be sure to check if there’s nothing stuck in the barrel.
Along with ensuring proper gun maintenance is practiced with clearing the barrel, you must use the correct ammo for a firearm. If a smaller cartridge were to be placed in a gun, it’s at risk of a bullet getting loose in the barrel.
6. Make Sure It’s Empty When Not in Use
After you’re finished handling a gun, always empty it of any ammunition. Clear the gun, check for anything off, and store your ammo away to practice proper firearm maintenance and safety.
You also don’t want to leave a gun unattended, even if it’s empty. It can be dangerous to children and other unauthorized users.
7. Lock It Away From Children and Keep It Separate From Ammunition
Firearms are dangerous in the wrong hands. A young child or untrained person with a gun causes safety risks. It can lead to injury or death.
To practice good firearm safety, always have gun storage that you can securely lock away from others. On the other hand, you also want to separate your gun and ammo, locked away from each other.
This way, the firearm is stored unloaded and makes it harder for the wrong person to put ammo in it.
8. Always Wear Protection
Whenever you’re handling a gun, you must wear protection. This includes items such as shooting glasses and ear protection.
If a firearm malfunctions, it can burst and send particles toward your eyes. Along with that, firearms are loud and can permanently injure your hearing. So wearing shooting glasses and ear protection is a must.
9. Regularly Clean Your Gun
Gun cleaning is essential to keeping your gun in tip-top shape and promoting firearm safety.
As mentioned earlier, you should wear protection when handling a gun, including cleaning one. When disassembling a firearm for cleaning, parts like springs or solvents can make contact with your eyes.
Also, being in contact with lead for some time can bring health issues. So, it’s ideal for cleaning your firearm in a ventilated area. And don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after being exposed to these things.
10. Additional Gun Safety Tips
Last but not least, you must learn gun maintenance. Without knowing how to maintain your firearm, it ignores essential gun safety tips and everything else mentioned before.
Take a firearm safety course with an expert. Learn the ins and outs of your gun and others. Once you get acquainted with these firearms, you will have learned valuable life lessons. You can also check out this homepage to learn more about guns.
Learn More
Here are the gun safety tips for everyone to learn. You must always assume a firearm is loaded, practice trigger discipline, and ensure it’s pointed in a safe direction. You should always wear protection when handling guns and regularly clean them to ensure it’s safe to use and properly store.
If you found this information about firearms helpful, check out our other blog posts for more.
