There are 5 basic rules to gun safety, the 2 most principal rules were violated in this instance.
- Don’t muzzle anything you are not willing to destroy or part with.
- Keep your booger hook off the bang switch until you’re ready to fire.
I feel for this man for having lost his wife because it is such a heavy punishment for a mistake. That’s the thing with firearms though. They are unforgiving, harsh, and require strict attention. Often I see people get careless while handling a firearm using the excuse that it’s unloaded. The bottom line is even when you know it’s unloaded, unless doing something such as cleaning, you should always be following good muzzle control. It helps keep the habit solid and helps prevent allowing your brain to be careless.
If you’re handling a firearm and you’re not immediately disassembling it to clean it, treat it like it’s loaded even if its not. Train your brain to think about where the muzzle is at all times. Even when cleaning I avoid muzzling anything until disassembly has started. For example in an AR, upper and lower is separated, a 1911 or XD has the slide and barrel removed, in a revolver the cylinder is removed. As long as the hammer can find the firing pin, I treat the firearm as if it is “loaded”, since it has the potential energy in all the right places that if a round was in the chamber, it would go bang. Same thing goes for reassembly, once that condition becomes true again, muzzle control is strictly enforced.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The bottom line is you act how you train, if you train your mind to always know where the muzzle is and avoid things you care about it goes a long way to preventing accidents like this. Your brain can recognize a condition and correct it without you even realizing it. Make your brain know what you want to happen subconsciously. The bottom line is form habits of good gun handling and stick to them.
For those who don’t know rule 5, here’s a reminder. Don’t try and catch a falling gun.
A note: I hate doing posts like this cause I don’t like standing up and calling someone an idiot who just lost his wife over a stupid mistake. I made a dumb mistake and almost lost my wife, it was with a car not a gun, but I know how the thought of the decision lingers. Seriously, it lingers more than anyone could possibly imagine. My situation was different but it still boils down to the following: it’s a lesson people can learn from. The above is a perfect example as to why the rules are so damn important. A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes. Learn from this mans mistake, watch your muzzle and booger hook.
TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.
Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.