Guns 101, part VII: Safety

Part I: "Evil Guns"
Part II: "Why?"
Part III: The Law
Part IV: The 4 Commandments
Part V: Which type?
Part VI: Calibers

It's hard to have any discussion of firearms and not talk safety, which is a good thing. The big bad in terms of weapon safety is called an unintended discharge, or UD. In this post I'll address direct weapon safety, storage, as well as that age old question of whether or not you should have a loaded gun in the home.

The safety on a gun is usually a mechanical switch (see pic) that prevents the weapon from firing. Most gun owners and potential buyers like the idea of this, however I want you to think about it in a little different way.

For starters, no matter what kind of gun you get, there are always two safeties that come with it. The first one is your trigger finger; if you obey the 3rd commandment (keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on your target), this won't be a problem. Having good trigger discipline is a must when talking gun safety. The second safety you have is located between your ears, which for most people is their brain. Your trigger finger is controlled by this, as is the rest of your actions. Constantly reminding yourself of the 4 rules when a firearm is in your hands can save lives and make you more efficient if a crisis occurs and you must use deadly force to save your life or the lives of your family.

While those psychological safeties are in place, most manufacturers include mechanical safety switches, usually located toward the back of the gun near where the thumb is positioned when the gun is gripped (on semi-automatics; to my knowledge, there isn't such a safety on revolvers). When the safety is on, the gun is not able to fire.

Probably the most important safety on today's guns that I do look for is the internal safety. Most older guns lack this; if dropped at just the right angle, they will discharge sending a bullet in whatever direction the muzzle was pointed in. On some guns, like Glocks and Springfield XDs, this is used in conjunction with a trigger safety. These safeties have a little piece on the trigger that must be pressed down in order for the trigger to move at all (click the pic to the right for a much larger view; note there is also a grip safety that ensures the gun is in a hand before the firing pin is released).

With all that said, if it makes you feel better to have a gun with a lot of safeties, then by all means go that route. Just don't put your faith in them and allow that to compromise your following of the 4 firearm commandments.

The question of whether or not to have a loaded weapon in the house is one that always raises a few eyebrows. There's just something about having a "loaded gun" around that makes some people nervous - maybe they're afraid that it'll just magically go boom for whatever reason, or worse, they're afraid little hands may get on it.

We'll just debunk the magical discharge thing real quick - cops carry their weapon fully loaded every day. Soldiers carry their weapons fully loaded. Every law enforcement officer around carries a loaded weapon. When was the last time you heard of a gun discharging in a holster? If all those fully loaded guns can handle the bumps and grinds of daily life in the police force, I'm pretty sure it'll handle laying peacefully in a safe, under a car seat, or in the nightstand.

That said, this issue takes on a whole new meaning if you have young kids in the house - while a high shelf in the closet may have worked in the old days, it's just not suitable today. A safe is always a great idea, though I would recommend something that you can open quickly. A number of safes come with keys so that you may bypass the number pad or combination style lock. There are also a few that are made explicitly for quick access to your firearm. The key point to keep in mind is that the weapon is for self defense; in a crisis, will you have time to fumble with a lock to retrieve the weapon?

Here endeth the lesson. Get out to the range and have some fun, safely.