By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
Did you ever notice the pilot of any commercial airliner inspecting wing flaps, tires, engines, etc. as part of pre-flight safety checks? Certainly the pilot understands that other qualified people have already given the airplane a thorough inspection replete with myriad checklists. Is the pilot’s work then redundant? Yes! However, when the pilot’s own life – and that of passengers and crew – depend on a physical assessment, everyone has a vested interest in the process. When it comes to handling firearms, safety is paramount for the same reason.
Recently, on the movie set “Rust” innocent people were shot because foundational protocol relative to gun safety was ignored. Let’s put aside any politics and any personal bashing. Blame will never call back the bullet and the devastation redundancy could have avoided. Quite obviously, someone put a live round into a real firearm in their world of make-believe.
Had the unsuspecting actor and any handlers of the ill-fated firearm done a “pre-flight” check such as all good pilots perform, the error would have been discovered and tragedy averted. Believe it or not, I knew what had gone wrong before sifting through the erroneous reports of misfires and prop guns. A loaded firearm had been pointed at something the operator did not want to shoot and the trigger was pulled.
Over the next month or so, hundreds of thousands of Michiganders will be “piloting” their own deer hunting experiences. Firearms will be shared with friends for examination of the latest calibers, ammunition and optics. Although we may have been made aware of the 10 rules of gun safety somewhere along the way, we have to be smarter than that; we must embrace and live safety or risk the possibility of becoming or creating a haunting statistic.
Whenever you handle a firearm or hand one to someone, always open the action immediately, and visually check the chamber, receiver and magazine to be certain they do not contain any ammunition. Always keep actions open when not in use for all to see.
If the person handing the firearm to you has not demonstrated that the firearm is unloaded, do not accept it!
Never assume any gun is unloaded — check for yourself! This is considered a mark of an experienced gun handler!
Never point your gun at anything you do not intend to shoot. This is particularly important when loading or unloading a firearm. In the event of an accidental discharge, no injury can occur as long as the muzzle is pointing in a safe direction.
Safety is everyone’s job. If you see someone handling a firearm irresponsibly, say so. Waving any firearm around carelessly – without regard for where the muzzle is pointing 100-percent of the time – is inexcusable and nobody present should remain quiet.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is recognized nationally as the gold standard for safe firearm training and continues to develop millions of safe, ethical, responsible shooters and instructors. Although hunting-related accidents continue to decline, it would be wise for those deer hunters among us to reacquaint themselves with the NRA’s 10 rules of firearms safety and to adopt them as policy. Foolproof firearms have yet to be invented.
