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Mastering Gun Safety with Expert Insights, Part 2

Overview

Season 1, Episode 1, Part 2

Finally… Jim reunites with Denis in this episode to finally wrap up their discussion on gun safety. After nearly a year since their first chat, they dive back into the critical rules that every gun owner should know and practice. From Jeff Cooper’s top four safety commandments to the NRA’s guidelines and even the golden rules for handling firearms, Jim and Denis leave no stone unturned.

Listeners will find themselves engrossed as the duo covers a myriad of scenarios, from range safety and hunting protocols to the do’s and don’ts of gun shops. They also touch on the importance of gun maintenance and cleaning, emphasizing that a clean gun is a safe gun. And for those with children, they delve into the NRA’s Eddie the Eagle program, ensuring even the youngest members of the household know what to do if they encounter a firearm.

Whether you’re a seasoned shooter or new to the world of firearms, this episode promises valuable insights and practical advice, all delivered with a mix of seriousness and camaraderie. Tune in and make sure you’re equipped with the knowledge to handle guns safely and responsibly.

Transcript

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Music.

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Hello and welcome to another episode of The Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien. Episode 10, we finally get back around to continuing

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on the topic of gun safety.

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Part 2, we’ve got Denis Haynes back with us, my good buddy back with us,

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to continue the discussion of gun safety again. How are you, Denis?

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Hey, Jim. Thank you for having me back. This has been a long time coming.

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We said we were going to immediately have Part 2, And here we are almost a year

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later, finally getting around to wrapping up the discussion of gun safety.

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Finally, at last. So good times. Yeah. So in our first part,

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I think we primarily covered Jeff Cooper’s top four gun safety rules.

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And so just real quick before we get into tonight’s topics, because we’ve got

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some other rules to cover.

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And, you know, we joked around some last time, I think, about the redundancy.

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You know, and I say it a lot too, redundancy, redundancy, redundancy, right?

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So across these different, depending on the source of the gun safety rules that

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we talk about, there are some overlaps.

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There is some redundancies, but that’s okay.

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So Jeff Cooper’s four rules, number one, we’re just going to breeze through

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these as a recap. Number one is all guns are always loaded.

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You treat every gun as if it was loaded at all times.

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And like I’ve said before, that kind of of sets the precedence in my mind for the rest of these.

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But number two is never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

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Always be aware of the business end of that barrel and where it’s pointing and

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make sure it’s pointing at not at anything you don’t want to shoot intentionally

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or accidentally or otherwise.

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Number three, keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target

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and you’re ready to shoot.

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Self-explanatory, fingers should be off the trigger and outside the trigger guard.

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And last but not least, number four, be sure of your target and what’s around it.

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In other words, don’t take the shot unless you’re sure you’ve got a clear shot

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and there’s nothing behind that target that you’re going to hit that you’re

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not meaning to hit. Do you have anything to add to that?

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No, I think you hit it spot on. You know, being familiar with the rules myself,

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you know, the third rule, keep your finger off the trigger, I think is most important.

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And, you know, we see a lot of stories on the news and even in television where

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a lot of accidental discharges is primarily because someone had their finger

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on the trigger when they’re not ready to pull the trigger. And it causes an accidental discharge.

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Absolutely. And, you know, I think we briefly touched on that in the first podcast.

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And, you know, part one of gun safety was actually the very first podcast that

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we ever did, the self-initiative project.

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So that’s kind of exciting in and of itself. But I remember us talking about

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the trigger and, you know, it seems like in Hollywood and on TV and the movies,

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whatever, anytime somebody is handling a firearm,

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whether a good guy or a bad guy, their finger seems to be more oftentimes than

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not on the trigger, even when they’re not shooting, even when they’re just holding

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or carrying the firearm with them, their fingers always on the trigger.

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So you make an excellent point.

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Keep that, you know, some of the guys say, keep the booger picker off the bang switch.

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And I couldn’t agree more. That’s an important one for sure.

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You know, Jim, I have to say, I’m a big zombie guy, right?

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And one of my favorite movies is World War Z. Brad Pitt, right?

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Yes, Brad Pitt. The scientist that was supposed to save the world because he

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knew what was going on, when they got into the heat of it, he got scared,

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turned around and ran away, had his firearm,

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his pistol out, and tripped and fell.

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On because his hand was on his finger was on the trigger he shot

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himself in the head yeah yeah i thought i

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thought i thought you don’t follow gun safety at all

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just just the basic yeah that that happened so i and in in fairness there have

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been some shows and you know i’m not going to name show names or anything like

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that but there have been some shows in more recent past where if i I were honest,

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I can say that some have done a better job in depicting the proper way of handling.

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In other words, you see the finger off the triggers.

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But by and large, more often times than not, I can’t tell you how many scenes…

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Even going back to that famous, you know, the debate is, is it a Christmas movie?

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Is it not a Christmas movie? But that big high dollar action Christmas movie

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that we just watched again over the holidays, even in that movie,

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they’ve got their fingers on the trigger, even when they’re not shooting and

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they’re just walking around carrying the firearms.

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So, yeah, certainly important to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re

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ready to shoot and you’re sure of your target.

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It. So there’s some other list of rules and I want to breeze through a couple

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of sets of these and you’ll see the similarities, the overlap,

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the redundancy, whatever you want to call.

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And one of those, and this is more complete. So Jeff Cooper kind of came up with those four.

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If you follow those four, it’ll kind of keep you out of the trouble,

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out of trouble the rest of the time. And I completely agree.

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And it’s certainly the four that I think it’s safe to say you and I subscribe

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to certainly, but the, the other lists are a little longer.

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There’s typically 10 to 12 overall rules.

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And I think it’s important to cover these just so you understand there are some

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others that you should think about and be aware of.

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The first set, and just going to cover these real quickly, feel free to interrupt

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me and highlight something that stands out to you.

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But the first set of rules, there’s 12, and they’re actually called the 12 golden

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rules for safe gun handling.

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And I’m not a hundred percent certain of the origin of these other than you can find them.

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And anytime you do research on a mag tech, as in mag tech ammunitions website comes up all the time.

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If somebody wants to chime in later and comment or send us an email and let

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us know what the origin is, that’s great.

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I think actually the NRA is kind of borrowed or copied some of these for their

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own, but the 12 golden rules for safe gun handling are one,

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always treat the gun as if it was loaded to always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

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Three, always keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready

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to shoot for always keep the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it.

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And I think that’s a, you know, that’s a good, good one to stop on because I

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understand what they’re saying there.

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You know, if you’re not using your guns, especially in, you know,

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if you’re not carrying or not planning to use it in a self-defense scenario,

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you’re hunting or you’re target shooting, then it’s a good, I think you would agree,

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it’s a good idea to keep that gun unloaded until you’re actually ready to use it.

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Yeah, I think if any of these were controversial, it would be number four amongst

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the gun community, right?

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Because based on what you’re doing with your weapon, if you’re carrying,

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do you necessarily not want to keep around loaded in the chamber?

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So we’ve talked about this before. I think the Israelis do not keep around chambered,

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right? So they train to chamber around before pulling the trigger.

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So I think, you know, that one should take that rule in perspective to what

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they’re applying it to. Yeah.

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I personally, on my carry weapon, I keep around loaded in the chamber. Absolutely.

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My home defense weapons have around in the chamber.

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I know that if my

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loved ones had to pick up a weapon and engage

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they’re probably not going to be in clear

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mind under the stress to route to to uh chamber around and that’s just one thing

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they one less thing they have to worry about or even load the even load the

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firearm in the first place right like you can’t keep unloaded weapons around

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the house and expect to not only get to them in time,

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but load them in order to use them to defend yourself. So you’re right.

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Contextually, I think in hunting or just going to the range and shooting,

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you know, your fun guns, so to speak, or your hunting guns, I think this rule makes a lot of sense.

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Number five, never point the gun at anything you don’t intend to destroy.

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Number six, be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

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Number seven learn the mechanical and

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handling characteristics of the gun you’re using i

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think that’s a great one right you know they like

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a lot of things and of course men have a horrible time with it i know i do you

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know read the instructions before you attempt this thing right and so you know

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when you purchase a firearm it comes with a manual you may not read the entire

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thing cover to cover but you probably should right because there’s a lot of

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pointers in there there’s a lot of safety tips, a lot of warnings.

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You learn how to break down the weapon correctly and put it back together.

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They’ll briefly touch upon, not necessarily gun safety rules per se,

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but they’ll touch upon how to use that particular weapon, you know,

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is it a striker fire versus having a hammer, et cetera. So it’s a good idea to read that manual.

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And so, you know, that manual and that information contained in that manual

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helps you begin to get familiar with the mechanical and handling characteristics

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of the gun you’re using, right?

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I agree. And again, you have to follow the previous rules before that because

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we’ve all known people trying to become familiar with a gun and the gun is loaded

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and they have an accidental discharge.

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But when you’re getting to know your weapon, first thing is make sure it’s unloaded.

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But I think it’s very important that you handle a weapon that you plan on carrying

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or even going to the range and shooting, you know, often you should become very

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familiar with it, you know, play with it, break it down, make sure it’s safe,

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put it in your hand, dry fire it, you know, it should become second nature.

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Yeah, absolutely. And you bring up an excellent point too.

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And we’ll talk more about this on some of the other subjects that we plan on

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covering in this podcast, but when you’re learning that weapon for the first time.

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You know, you mentioned making sure that that firearm is clear and free of ammunition.

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100% agree, but I’d take it a step further. There shouldn’t even be any ammunition in the area, right?

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You’re playing with this gun, as you say. You’re taking it apart, possibly.

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You’re learning, you know, if it’s a hammer, if it’s got a hammer,

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you’re learning how that hammer works, what the trigger reset’s like,

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where the manual safety is.

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If it does have an external safety, you know, all those things.

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You’re maybe inserting the magazine and taking it back out again,

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racking the slide, you know, becoming familiar with that mechanical device,

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because at the end of the day, that’s what it is.

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And you want to become familiar with it before you shoot it for the first time.

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Ammo shouldn’t even be introduced into the area that you’re playing,

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so to speak, with that firearm.

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And I think that’s a good policy to follow.

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Number eight, I think this is a good one, too. And it’s, you know,

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we can talk about this one at length, but just real quickly here,

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always use the proper ammunition.

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You know, the general rule is a smaller caliber weapon cannot shoot a larger

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caliber bullet, larger caliber ammunition.

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There are some instances, for example, if you have an AR that’s a 5.56 caliber,

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you can also shoot .223, but you can’t shoot 5.56 out of a .223.

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You’d blow it up because it’s not set for those pressures.

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It’s not designed to shoot 5.56.

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So in some cases, a larger caliber weapon can shoot a lower caliber bullet,

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but you can’t shoot a larger caliber out of a smaller. And the same,

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for example, is the .357 Magnum pistol, for example.

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Yeah, you can shoot a .38 Special out of a .357 Magnum, but you certainly can’t

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shoot a .357 Magnum out of a .38 Special.

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So when you’re becoming familiar with your firearms, be certain what ammo it

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shoots and know what you can and cannot shoot out of it.

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Yeah, I think that’s very important because there are some weapons out there

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that, you know, can shoot multiple types of ammunition and you should know what they are.

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Absolutely. Number nine, be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before loading and shooting.

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You know, when I get a new gun, I have a habit,

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and sometimes I don’t do it, but I generally have a habit of at least shining

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a light down that barrel even before I get it to the range to make sure there

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hasn’t been some cotton ball or some sort of cardboard something lodged in the end of that barrel.

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I’m actually pretty rigorous about following this

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one and I think it becomes even more important if you’re

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outdoors especially hunting if you were to trip and

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fall or drop your firearm on the

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ground or in the mud or in the swamp you know whatever it

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is you want to make sure that barrel is clear of obstructions because that can

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be bad news if you were to fire that weapon and that barrel have something in

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it blocking it up number 10 if your gun fails to fire when the trigger is pulled

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Hold your shooting position for several seconds,

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then with the muzzle pointed in the safe direction. Very important.

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Carefully unload the gun. This is another one that I think trips some folks up.

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A lot of times, you know, for center-fired weapons that have a primer,

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they hit light primer strikes by the firing pin.

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You know, it doesn’t necessarily discharge the bullet the first time.

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And so, you know, they may try again a couple of times before they just figure

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the bullet, you know, the ammo is a dud and they throw it away.

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But and it becomes even more important with center with rim fired ammunition,

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sorry, rim fired ammunition like your 22 longs and shorts, et cetera.

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Because with rim fires you can get what

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they call hang fires where the firing pin hits

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the rim like it should but the powder

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doesn’t charge doesn’t discharge like it

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should and 22s especially

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have been known for hang fires in other words the firing

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pin hits the rim nothing happens and

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then a few seconds later bang the bullet goes

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off so i know when i was growing up learning to

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shoot 22s at camp they’d tell us if we ever had

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a misfire in other words you know the we pulled

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the trigger the firing pin hit we were to keep

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that barrel pointed down range for 30

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seconds to allow that powder time to ignite if it was going to and then after

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that you know pull the bolt back or eject around or whatever and you know at

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that point you could assume it was a dud but i think it’s important to remember

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that when your bullet doesn’t go bang when you pull the trigger

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just give it a few seconds keep that barrel pointed in a safe direction give

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it a minute because it may have a delayed uh it it may go off in a delayed fashion

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and that wouldn’t be good for anybody well listen i think jim you said you went to camp yeah right.

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Shoot, I grew up in the South Bronx in the 70s, so I guess that was kind of

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a camp. That was camp, right?

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22s in the street, right? Let’s

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see, number 11, don’t rely on the gun’s safety to keep it from firing.

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You know, this was, I think, on yours and my NRA basic pistol instructor test is,

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you know, even when a firearm, whether it be a pistol or a rifle,

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even if it has an external safety switch on it and you’ve got it on safe,

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those mechanical safeties are never 100 percent or you should never,

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ever assume they’re 100 percent certain.

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Because at the end of the day, it’s a mechanical device subject to failure.

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And so the safety is there for peace of mind, but there’s never 100% guarantee with them.

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I think, you know, one of Cooper’s quotes that I remember is,

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safety happens between your ears and not in your hand.

239
00:16:36,651 –> 00:16:40,911
Yeah. And I think that’s to this, right? You have to be conscious of safety.

240
00:16:41,471 –> 00:16:44,851
Absolutely. And you made that point in the first podcast. And I think it’s an

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important one. It’s really what goes on upstairs between your ears, right?

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And, you know, regardless of what state the firearm’s in, it’s always ultimately

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up to the handler of that firearm to handle it safely.

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And number 12 is be aware of your surroundings when handling guns so you don’t

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trip or lose your balance and accidentally point and or fire the gun at anyone or anything.

246
00:17:09,631 –> 00:17:14,991
And I think that’s just a matter of you know Trying not trying to be less clumsy

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if you have a tendency to be clumsy and you have a firearm This goes back to

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why you know, especially if you’re out hunting why it’s important to keep that firearm.

249
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Unloaded or especially on safe if it has a external safety, so when accidents

250
00:17:30,591 –> 00:17:32,931
do happen like you trip and fall and,

251
00:17:33,520 –> 00:17:39,460
Additional accidents are less likely to happen, but again, being extra careful

252
00:17:39,460 –> 00:17:44,800
and being aware of where that muzzle is pointing is especially key.

253
00:17:45,580 –> 00:17:49,840
One thing I want to mention, I’m sorry, go ahead. Not that I agree.

254
00:17:50,740 –> 00:17:52,380
Well, good. You should. Good.

255
00:17:54,980 –> 00:17:59,240
One thing I want to mention talking about out of the 12 golden rules,

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number 10, if the gun fails to fire when the trigger is pulled,

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holding your shooting position for several seconds.

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Tied to that, there’s a condition that occurs, and you typically don’t see it

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in factory ammunition so much, although it’s possible, but you see it more in

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remanufactured or reloads.

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There’s a there’s a an occurrence

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called squibs and this is when you

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pull the trigger the firing pin hits the

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primer for example but the

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you know the gun doesn’t sound right the

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gun makes a pop or a very soft quiet bang

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and maybe you think it shot but it

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didn’t our or it didn’t and shoot

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regularly and so what a squib is is when

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you pull the trigger the cartridge you know

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the the powder burns in the cartridge and it actually fires the bullet but it

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shoots it at a very low velocity because there’s something went wrong inside

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the casing right and and it’s probably due to a very low amount of powder compared

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to what should be in there and so what happens is

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that bullet actually doesn’t even make it out of the end of the barrel.

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It gets lodged inside the barrel.

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And so if you’re not really paying attention, you can follow that shot up because

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everything up to that point seems normal.

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The shell may even eject, right?

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But if you shot that second shot after that squib occurrence,

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you’re likely to have a gun blow up in your hands because that second bullet

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00:19:35,700 –> 00:19:38,180
wants to get out of that barrel like it always does.

283
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And if there’s a squib bullet stuck inside that bullet, that’s bad news.

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So that’s a rare thing. It doesn’t happen often.

285
00:19:45,800 –> 00:19:52,040
It typically happens with remanufactured ammo or reloads, but that is something to be aware of.

286
00:19:52,857 –> 00:19:57,157
Yeah, it is. I think black powder also is common.

287
00:19:57,377 –> 00:20:01,177
But yeah, so, you know, that’s back to knowing your ammunition, right?

288
00:20:01,317 –> 00:20:05,597
And being familiar with the weapon and how the ammunition that you’re firing

289
00:20:05,597 –> 00:20:09,677
should react once you pull the trigger, right? For a novice,

290
00:20:09,737 –> 00:20:10,917
they probably wouldn’t know that.

291
00:20:11,077 –> 00:20:15,337
So, you know, it’s good that they at least read up and become familiar before

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00:20:15,337 –> 00:20:20,277
they just go out to the range or even out to a field and start using a weapon

293
00:20:20,277 –> 00:20:23,057
that they’re not familiar with and the ammunition that they’re using,

294
00:20:23,097 –> 00:20:24,777
right? You should be familiar with both.

295
00:20:25,017 –> 00:20:30,297
Well, you know, it’s especially an issue because, you know, remanufactured or

296
00:20:30,297 –> 00:20:34,417
reloaded ammunition is typically a lot less expensive than first,

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00:20:34,457 –> 00:20:36,517
you know, first quality factory ammunition.

298
00:20:36,517 –> 00:20:40,557
And so that makes it very appealing, even for the first time shooter.

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00:20:40,637 –> 00:20:44,457
And they may not know of that concept and be aware of that concept because it’s

300
00:20:44,457 –> 00:20:48,977
not necessarily something mentioned in the firearms manual, for example.

301
00:20:48,977 –> 00:20:53,237
And unless you’ve heard that or stumbled upon it before you went to shoot,

302
00:20:53,337 –> 00:20:55,277
you may not know to look out for that.

303
00:20:55,357 –> 00:20:59,397
If you’ve bought thousands of rounds of remanufactured ammo.

304
00:20:59,677 –> 00:21:04,517
You need to be aware of the squib and what to do in that case.

305
00:21:04,517 –> 00:21:09,057
And so, you know, to that end, what you should do is immediately stop,

306
00:21:09,297 –> 00:21:14,577
unload that weapon, unchamber any round that you may have chambered after that,

307
00:21:14,737 –> 00:21:18,657
and then you’re going to have to get that stuck bullet unlodged somehow.

308
00:21:18,837 –> 00:21:24,597
And so, yeah, certainly a good point to know, which is why I wanted to mention it here.

309
00:21:25,397 –> 00:21:30,237
So just real quickly, covering the NRA’s rules, and again, you’re going to see

310
00:21:30,237 –> 00:21:34,177
some overlap, redundancies, some themes here, and I think that’s good,

311
00:21:34,277 –> 00:21:35,517
but just to cover the basics.

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00:21:35,817 –> 00:21:40,057
And the NRA is a big organization, so a lot of times you’ll hear those rules

313
00:21:40,057 –> 00:21:42,777
come up as much or more than anyone else’s.

314
00:21:43,137 –> 00:21:47,097
The first one is always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

315
00:21:47,377 –> 00:21:51,277
We’ve heard that one. Keep seeing that one. That’s key, because if something

316
00:21:51,277 –> 00:21:55,497
did happen and there was a negligent discharge or an accidental discharge,

317
00:21:55,897 –> 00:22:01,257
then as long as that muzzle’s pointed in a safe direction, no one’s going to get hurt, hopefully.

318
00:22:01,877 –> 00:22:05,037
Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

319
00:22:05,117 –> 00:22:06,657
We’ve heard that one a few times.

320
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Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use, and I think for the NRA, that’s probably,

321
00:22:13,004 –> 00:22:18,004
Probably a good one. I get the sense that the NRA is more competition,

322
00:22:18,464 –> 00:22:23,984
fun target shooting, hunting than it is tactical self-defense oriented.

323
00:22:24,204 –> 00:22:28,364
I mean, they have some things for home defense and some self-defense,

324
00:22:28,524 –> 00:22:33,724
but I think by and large and historically the NRA has been leaning more towards

325
00:22:33,724 –> 00:22:37,764
the target, the fun shooting, the hunting. So that makes sense.

326
00:22:37,864 –> 00:22:41,584
And so that’s their top three. And then after that, they have some others and

327
00:22:41,584 –> 00:22:44,644
some of these are really good. So again, some overlap.

328
00:22:44,844 –> 00:22:46,824
Know your target and what’s beyond it.

329
00:22:47,104 –> 00:22:52,744
Know how to use the gun safely. And I think that’s a following these gun safety

330
00:22:52,744 –> 00:22:54,104
rules we’re talking about.

331
00:22:54,104 –> 00:22:59,724
And in addition to anything you’ve picked up on or learned online about your

332
00:22:59,724 –> 00:23:06,424
firearm or in its manual be sure the gun is safe to operate again I think that’s

333
00:23:06,424 –> 00:23:11,284
making sure the barrel is clear of obstructions keeping your firearms clean etc.

334
00:23:12,644 –> 00:23:18,924
On that one right because I think that’s a good one to talk about it a little

335
00:23:18,924 –> 00:23:23,004
bit because you know you get a lot of guys that get at hand-me-down guns,

336
00:23:23,264 –> 00:23:26,524
their grandfather’s gun, his father’s gun, an old World War II gun,

337
00:23:26,764 –> 00:23:31,604
or some loop, something that’s been in storage for who knows how long, right?

338
00:23:31,684 –> 00:23:34,904
They finally get their hands on it, and the first thing they want to do is go out and shoot it.

339
00:23:36,024 –> 00:23:40,224
And they’re not even sure if the gun’s operational. And I think that I think

340
00:23:40,224 –> 00:23:43,444
that’s important, you know, that before you do something like that,

341
00:23:43,844 –> 00:23:47,504
take it to an armorer, get it checked, or, you know, at least inspect the gun yourself.

342
00:23:48,064 –> 00:23:51,444
You know, make sure it has the proper maintenance, put some oil in it.

343
00:23:51,644 –> 00:23:57,344
How many times I’ve had people come to the range and have a gun that was given

344
00:23:57,344 –> 00:24:02,964
to them and the thing is rusty, it’s dried out and they shoot it and it doesn’t operate correctly.

345
00:24:03,164 –> 00:24:07,704
And we spend more time just trying to get it in a condition that it will fire,

346
00:24:07,724 –> 00:24:11,804
right, than they do shooting it. Actually shooting it, yeah.

347
00:24:12,536 –> 00:24:16,016
So I think that’s important here. That’s an excellent point.

348
00:24:16,156 –> 00:24:21,556
Yeah, those old surplus weapons is another one that you’ll see a lot of.

349
00:24:21,676 –> 00:24:25,976
And certainly we’ve seen our share of hand-me-down weapons or,

350
00:24:26,076 –> 00:24:30,516
you know, things that have been willed to children, etc. So, yeah, absolutely.

351
00:24:30,776 –> 00:24:36,296
Take it to the armor. It’s a little extra precaution goes a long way towards safe shooting for sure.

352
00:24:36,896 –> 00:24:38,696
This one we’ve seen again and again.

353
00:24:39,316 –> 00:24:43,316
Use only the correct ammunition for your gun. This one’s important,

354
00:24:43,456 –> 00:24:46,056
especially when you’re shooting on the range in a lot of situations,

355
00:24:46,376 –> 00:24:49,116
wear eye and ear protection as appropriate.

356
00:24:49,356 –> 00:24:53,636
Again, in a self-defense situation, yeah, if you’re in your safe room in your

357
00:24:53,636 –> 00:24:59,216
home, which we’ve talked about in another podcast, but you might have some hearing

358
00:24:59,216 –> 00:25:02,076
protection that you might have time to get to.

359
00:25:02,256 –> 00:25:05,796
But certainly when you’re shooting at a range, whether it’s indoor or outdoor,

360
00:25:06,056 –> 00:25:11,396
you want to make certain that you have eye and ear protection on your eyes and

361
00:25:11,396 –> 00:25:16,336
ears. And the good news is they’re most any range is going to enforce that rule.

362
00:25:16,496 –> 00:25:19,476
If they enforce nothing else, they’re going to make sure you have your eyes

363
00:25:19,476 –> 00:25:21,416
and ears on before you go out to shoot.

364
00:25:21,816 –> 00:25:27,376
This one’s a big one that we’ve talked about, and I’m surprised how many people do try.

365
00:25:27,496 –> 00:25:32,136
Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that often, but I have seen it happen multiple times.

366
00:25:32,296 –> 00:25:36,756
Never use alcohol, over-the-counter drugs, or prescription drugs.

367
00:25:36,756 –> 00:25:42,096
And I would add to the list illegal drugs, especially before or while shooting.

368
00:25:42,316 –> 00:25:45,496
And that’s a big one. You know, it’s funny.

369
00:25:45,556 –> 00:25:53,396
When I was a kid and in that same summer camp, we used to have to go through the 10 or so NRA rules.

370
00:25:53,716 –> 00:25:58,856
And I remember when we got to this one, the rule that they taught us,

371
00:25:58,916 –> 00:26:03,776
which was a variance of this, is never mix alcohol and gunpowder together.

372
00:26:03,776 –> 00:26:08,896
And I always thought, you know, being the 12 year old, I thought they literally

373
00:26:08,896 –> 00:26:12,356
meant don’t mix alcohol and gunpowder together.

374
00:26:12,876 –> 00:26:18,736
I don’t know. I don’t know why. But now I get it. Like, you don’t want to be

375
00:26:18,736 –> 00:26:19,756
drunk when you’re shooting.

376
00:26:19,876 –> 00:26:22,496
You don’t want to be high when you’re shooting. You know, a lot of the,

377
00:26:22,596 –> 00:26:27,356
even the over-the-counter drugs, sinus medicines and stuff, or NyQuil,

378
00:26:27,436 –> 00:26:29,656
you know, they have a tendency to make some people loopy.

379
00:26:29,676 –> 00:26:34,496
So, choose another time to go shoot, certainly, if you’re under the influence of anything.

380
00:26:35,516 –> 00:26:39,456
Absolutely. And I think we’ve both experienced range safety officers where we’ve

381
00:26:39,456 –> 00:26:44,596
had to make a decision on whether someone is intoxicated or,

382
00:26:44,696 –> 00:26:45,876
you know, smells like alcohol.

383
00:26:46,096 –> 00:26:50,336
And now they should be on the range, right? And that’s more common than people think. Yeah.

384
00:26:50,769 –> 00:26:55,089
Yeah, absolutely. So I’ve seen it a few times. I’ve been in the booth.

385
00:26:55,229 –> 00:27:00,309
I’ve gone into the booth with folks and there’s a strong smell of alcohol.

386
00:27:00,389 –> 00:27:04,089
And I’ve also been on the range where there’s a strong smell of weed.

387
00:27:04,189 –> 00:27:10,269
And, you know, the, the, the gun range folks should be cognizant and paying

388
00:27:10,269 –> 00:27:15,129
closer attention to those that come in smelling like it, if nothing else.

389
00:27:15,749 –> 00:27:19,209
So that’s the top rules for the NRA. That’s the 10.

390
00:27:19,689 –> 00:27:22,849
You know, they talk about cleaning your weapons, which we’re going to talk about

391
00:27:22,849 –> 00:27:25,349
some here in this podcast as well.

392
00:27:25,369 –> 00:27:29,749
And some, you know, paying attention to additional safety precautions.

393
00:27:29,749 –> 00:27:34,649
You know, you bring up the fact that we’ve both served as volunteer range safety

394
00:27:34,649 –> 00:27:40,829
officers at a range and what they mean by at least what I take it to mean when

395
00:27:40,829 –> 00:27:43,209
they talk about following additional safety precautions,

396
00:27:43,549 –> 00:27:48,589
you know, is every every gun range has a standard set of operating procedures

397
00:27:48,589 –> 00:27:52,929
that they want people to follow and and abide by.

398
00:27:52,929 –> 00:27:59,029
And so, you know, when you go to the range, be sure you know what that range’s safety rules are.

399
00:27:59,129 –> 00:28:02,969
If they do have additional safety rules or any safety rules at all that they

400
00:28:02,969 –> 00:28:08,669
want you to pay special attention to, they’ll generally post them somewhere for you.

401
00:28:08,709 –> 00:28:12,109
So take a moment, read over that list, and more importantly,

402
00:28:12,309 –> 00:28:13,949
follow what’s on that list.

403
00:28:14,629 –> 00:28:17,469
I agree. As I should.

404
00:28:18,509 –> 00:28:23,289
Say again? I said I agree as I should. Right, as you should.

405
00:28:24,213 –> 00:28:29,613
So that’s a good segue talking about RSO and following any additional safety

406
00:28:29,613 –> 00:28:31,293
rules that a range may have.

407
00:28:32,253 –> 00:28:37,253
Let’s talk about range safety. What should I do when I go to shoot?

408
00:28:37,393 –> 00:28:40,433
And again, it doesn’t really matter if it’s indoor or outdoor.

409
00:28:40,853 –> 00:28:46,093
It’s just safety rules that I should be following, things that I should be cognizant of.

410
00:28:46,233 –> 00:28:50,693
And then we can also talk about some of the things we’ve seen firsthand as range

411
00:28:50,693 –> 00:28:54,713
safety officers as well. But just real quick, going through the list here.

412
00:28:54,893 –> 00:29:01,173
So, you know, the first rule is following, certainly following Jeff Cooper’s top four.

413
00:29:01,493 –> 00:29:06,533
But, you know, following the 12 golden rules, certainly. Don’t come to the range drunk.

414
00:29:06,833 –> 00:29:10,353
Know your weapons. Be at least familiar with them ahead of time.

415
00:29:10,833 –> 00:29:16,913
Ask questions. Get training and be prepared to handle those firearms safe.

416
00:29:16,913 –> 00:29:22,973
And to that point, number two is know and follow all the ranges shooting rules,

417
00:29:23,213 –> 00:29:28,853
all the rules that that particular range may have in place for itself.

418
00:29:28,933 –> 00:29:30,353
And they’re generally all the same.

419
00:29:30,473 –> 00:29:35,293
They’re generally just the basic firearm safety rules. rules,

420
00:29:35,373 –> 00:29:39,073
but they’ll also have other things like when it comes to kids,

421
00:29:39,273 –> 00:29:45,173
young children, you shouldn’t have them beyond arm’s length at all times, those sorts of things.

422
00:29:45,293 –> 00:29:47,853
So be aware of those and follow them.

423
00:29:48,213 –> 00:29:54,053
If there is a range master or a range safety officer, as Dennis and I have both

424
00:29:54,053 –> 00:29:56,553
been, listen and do what they say.

425
00:29:56,753 –> 00:30:01,173
Those guys are there to monitor, keep an eye over everything at all times and

426
00:30:01,173 –> 00:30:05,533
if they tell you to do something just follow it you can ask them questions or

427
00:30:05,533 –> 00:30:09,953
debate with them after you’re through shooting or after they’re off duty but

428
00:30:09,953 –> 00:30:13,453
in that moment in time just know that they’re trying to keep the place as safe

429
00:30:13,453 –> 00:30:15,853
as possible for you they’re not trying to be.

430
00:30:16,593 –> 00:30:21,173
Tough on you or anything like that they’re just trying to be keep the place

431
00:30:21,173 –> 00:30:27,033
safe and keep you and anybody that you’re shooting with safe absolutely and

432
00:30:27,033 –> 00:30:30,173
that’s a big one in our books right because we’ve both been there and done it.

433
00:30:30,233 –> 00:30:35,473
So, you know, we appreciate when people do abide by what we tell them.

434
00:30:35,613 –> 00:30:39,953
This is a big one for me and something that I saw all the time at the range

435
00:30:39,953 –> 00:30:42,273
and still continue to see.

436
00:30:43,433 –> 00:30:48,253
Uncase, encase your guns in the shooting, at the shooting bench,

437
00:30:48,473 –> 00:30:52,313
inside your booth, inside your aisle, whatever you want to call it,

438
00:30:52,353 –> 00:30:54,713
and not behind the safety line.

439
00:30:54,873 –> 00:30:57,913
Don’t do it at the table, at the counter, at the bench, back behind.

440
00:30:58,393 –> 00:31:01,773
I know you’re going to come in with bags. Take your bag into your booth,

441
00:31:01,893 –> 00:31:03,873
into your aisle, put it up on the deck.

442
00:31:04,768 –> 00:31:09,068
Take out whatever firearms you’re going to shoot. Put them up on the table that’s

443
00:31:09,068 –> 00:31:15,148
in the aisle in your area, in your booth, and then take your bags back to the table.

444
00:31:15,288 –> 00:31:17,768
Stop getting your weapons out back there.

445
00:31:17,908 –> 00:31:21,968
And more importantly, don’t load and unload your weapons at those tables or

446
00:31:21,968 –> 00:31:25,308
anywhere outside the booth or the aisles, for that matter.

447
00:31:25,428 –> 00:31:28,128
And I know you and I have both seen a lot of that.

448
00:31:28,728 –> 00:31:32,728
That makes me real nervous when I’m on a range and I hear a slide go forward

449
00:31:32,728 –> 00:31:36,848
and they’re not on the line. That makes me real nervous. Yeah, absolutely.

450
00:31:37,248 –> 00:31:41,128
And for that matter, when you’re shooting at the range yourself,

451
00:31:41,288 –> 00:31:45,068
you need to be aware of what’s going on behind you at all times because you

452
00:31:45,068 –> 00:31:48,288
never know when someone’s loading and unloading their firearms behind you.

453
00:31:48,308 –> 00:31:54,668
They shouldn’t be, but some ranges aren’t as strict as monitoring safe environment

454
00:31:54,668 –> 00:31:57,468
as they should. And a lot of times folks do what they do.

455
00:31:57,588 –> 00:31:59,868
And so you’re responsible for yourself ultimately.

456
00:32:00,048 –> 00:32:03,428
So take a few minutes and be aware of what’s going on behind you.

457
00:32:03,428 –> 00:32:05,228
That rule works both ways.

458
00:32:05,748 –> 00:32:09,148
This is another one. Always keep the barrel pointed downrange.

459
00:32:09,308 –> 00:32:13,308
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen barrels, muzzles, the business end

460
00:32:13,308 –> 00:32:17,788
of the barrel, flagging everybody, pointing at everybody in the range outside

461
00:32:17,788 –> 00:32:20,628
the booth, outside the aisle.

462
00:32:20,828 –> 00:32:24,968
So keep that barrel pointed downrange. Go ahead.

463
00:32:25,868 –> 00:32:29,908
I think that’s more common in new shooters. I think I’ve seen that where a new

464
00:32:29,908 –> 00:32:34,848
shooter has shot, hit the target, gets excited, turns around and starts facing

465
00:32:34,848 –> 00:32:39,028
everyone excited with the gun, flagging and waving the gun,

466
00:32:39,148 –> 00:32:43,128
finger on the trigger, and they’re not even conscious of what’s going on. Yeah.

467
00:32:43,608 –> 00:32:47,608
Yeah. No, it’s something to be aware of. You know, that finger off the trigger

468
00:32:47,608 –> 00:32:51,288
and making sure that muzzle’s pointed in a safe direction,

469
00:32:51,548 –> 00:32:56,488
meaning when you’re at the range shooting, safe direction means downrange towards

470
00:32:56,488 –> 00:33:00,948
the target, not back out towards the shop, and certainly not back out behind

471
00:33:00,948 –> 00:33:02,508
you where everyone else is.

472
00:33:02,808 –> 00:33:06,248
Always keep the gun on safe until you intend to shoot. Well,

473
00:33:06,448 –> 00:33:13,908
yes, guns have some guns have external safeties and certainly that’s extra step of precaution.

474
00:33:13,948 –> 00:33:17,328
Like we talked about earlier, they’re not 100 percent.

475
00:33:17,808 –> 00:33:23,848
The keeping the gun on safe ultimately has to do with the user and what’s between

476
00:33:23,848 –> 00:33:26,588
your ears and being cognizant that they’re following.

477
00:33:26,668 –> 00:33:28,788
I’ll say those top four rules.

478
00:33:29,777 –> 00:33:32,757
Always wear ear and eye protection when shooting.

479
00:33:32,977 –> 00:33:36,757
Well, that goes without saying. And again, most ranges are going to enforce

480
00:33:36,757 –> 00:33:38,837
that if they enforce nothing else.

481
00:33:39,717 –> 00:33:43,437
And this is one that we see violated on YouTube all the time.

482
00:33:43,597 –> 00:33:46,837
Never shoot at water or hard surfaces.

483
00:33:48,037 –> 00:33:53,017
It’s just, and this is obviously pertaining more towards outdoor ranges,

484
00:33:53,137 –> 00:33:56,377
but this is one that just happens too much.

485
00:33:56,477 –> 00:34:01,417
I see too many idiot videos on YouTube. the guy is shooting multiple rounds

486
00:34:01,417 –> 00:34:04,677
just as fast as they can pull the trigger into a body of water.

487
00:34:05,577 –> 00:34:11,217
One word, people, ricochet. Where are those bullets ending up?

488
00:34:11,817 –> 00:34:17,037
Right. So, you know, I think you would agree with me on most of these,

489
00:34:17,117 –> 00:34:22,737
but having worked on occasion for a little over a year and a half on a volunteer

490
00:34:22,737 –> 00:34:25,997
basis at a local range that you and I have shot a lot at,

491
00:34:26,517 –> 00:34:31,917
I would have to say these are the things that I’ve seen the most that I would

492
00:34:31,917 –> 00:34:36,637
caution people to be most cognizant of when they’re at the range shooting.

493
00:34:37,197 –> 00:34:39,617
Watching that muzzle, we talked about that.

494
00:34:40,737 –> 00:34:45,497
Only loading and unloading your firearms in the shooting booth,

495
00:34:45,737 –> 00:34:49,037
in the shooting stall, and not on the tables, not at the chairs,

496
00:34:49,237 –> 00:34:50,837
not behind the firing line.

497
00:34:51,357 –> 00:34:54,397
Keeping your finger off the trigger. I’ve seen that a whole lot.

498
00:34:54,397 –> 00:34:57,657
I was actually not working as an RSO.

499
00:34:57,917 –> 00:35:02,337
I was there shooting with another buddy of mine one day and was back at a table

500
00:35:02,337 –> 00:35:05,357
loading my magazine to shoot.

501
00:35:05,537 –> 00:35:10,077
And I had a woman approach me. She came straight out of her booth,

502
00:35:10,237 –> 00:35:11,557
her and her boyfriend or husband.

503
00:35:11,677 –> 00:35:14,297
I don’t remember which. It doesn’t matter. There were new shooters.

504
00:35:14,677 –> 00:35:19,557
I think had gotten a Groupon deal or something. And she came out of the booth

505
00:35:19,557 –> 00:35:27,637
with a loaded HK pistol with her finger on the trigger headed straight towards me. And…

506
00:35:28,382 –> 00:35:35,022
I came close to having a diamond ring on my hand when she did that because I

507
00:35:35,022 –> 00:35:36,782
had no idea what her intent was.

508
00:35:38,022 –> 00:35:42,162
But she didn’t know how to put the gun on safe because her and her husband wanted

509
00:35:42,162 –> 00:35:44,682
to take a break. She was quote unquote done shooting.

510
00:35:44,802 –> 00:35:48,182
And she just came out of the booth with a loaded gun and her finger on the trigger

511
00:35:48,182 –> 00:35:51,502
pointed, you know, heading, making a beeline towards me.

512
00:35:51,962 –> 00:35:57,602
And so I made eye contact with her without even looking. I reached down,

513
00:35:57,662 –> 00:36:00,902
I took the firearm out of her hand, and I walked her back in the booth,

514
00:36:01,062 –> 00:36:04,682
and I gave her explicit instructions not to ever do that again.

515
00:36:04,802 –> 00:36:10,282
And I showed her how to operate the firearm on a basic level and wished them

516
00:36:10,282 –> 00:36:12,822
well, and hopefully they made it home safe.

517
00:36:12,962 –> 00:36:16,942
But keeping your finger off the trigger as well as being aware of where that

518
00:36:16,942 –> 00:36:18,142
muzzle’s pointing is key.

519
00:36:18,702 –> 00:36:23,582
And, you know, as a range safety officer, what we say goes.

520
00:36:23,862 –> 00:36:29,142
And if you don’t like it, you can always leave. You’re not above following the basic safety rules.

521
00:36:29,322 –> 00:36:34,222
So I just wanted to add that to the end of the range safety discussion.

522
00:36:34,622 –> 00:36:35,982
You got anything to add to that?

523
00:36:36,622 –> 00:36:41,302
I think I remember you telling me a story also about a gentleman that was taking

524
00:36:41,302 –> 00:36:46,242
his weapon out of the case behind the fire line on the bench and wasn’t sure

525
00:36:46,242 –> 00:36:51,022
if he had a round in the weapon and pulled the trigger and ended up having a

526
00:36:51,022 –> 00:36:52,762
round in the weapon and it went off.

527
00:36:52,922 –> 00:36:57,842
I think you told me he shot his girlfriend’s purse or something and went into the wall. Yeah.

528
00:36:57,942 –> 00:37:03,502
The guy, quote unquote, could not remember if the pistol was loaded or not.

529
00:37:03,542 –> 00:37:08,282
And to test whether or not it was loaded, he just decided that it was best if

530
00:37:08,282 –> 00:37:10,502
he pulled the trigger to see.

531
00:37:10,922 –> 00:37:16,722
And when he did, fortunately, the barrel, and I don’t think because he was being

532
00:37:16,722 –> 00:37:19,742
overly cautious, I just think it was luck.

533
00:37:19,742 –> 00:37:24,422
But fortunately, he was not pointing the barrel at his two friends that were

534
00:37:24,422 –> 00:37:28,822
with him, and it wound up shooting one of his friend’s purses,

535
00:37:28,842 –> 00:37:31,602
her purse, and it went into the wall.

536
00:37:31,802 –> 00:37:37,602
So she lost a perfectly good leather purse, but that’s better than one of the

537
00:37:37,602 –> 00:37:39,162
three of them getting hurt, I suppose.

538
00:37:39,382 –> 00:37:45,102
But yeah, see all kinds of nonsense, working a range. So it’s important that we follow these rules.

539
00:37:45,342 –> 00:37:47,682
I think it’s safe to say.

540
00:37:50,542 –> 00:37:53,742
So i’m not a hunter i don’t hunt i haven’t

541
00:37:53,742 –> 00:37:56,662
shot and killed any animals since

542
00:37:56,662 –> 00:38:00,622
i was a kid i used to hunt when i was younger but went a different way but i

543
00:38:00,622 –> 00:38:04,722
think it’s important we cover the topic of hunting safety and i know you hunt

544
00:38:04,722 –> 00:38:10,602
some so just to breeze through these and again number one is following those

545
00:38:10,602 –> 00:38:14,282
top safety rules i think those set you up mostly for success us.

546
00:38:14,702 –> 00:38:18,262
I think this is a good one, especially in the spirit of being an RSO.

547
00:38:18,442 –> 00:38:25,342
When hunting in a group, always pick one or more people to act as a safety officer for that trip.

548
00:38:26,078 –> 00:38:29,438
And I think that’s an excellent idea. Put somebody in charge of safety.

549
00:38:29,518 –> 00:38:33,078
Make sure they’re overseeing what everyone’s doing. Make sure no one’s pointing

550
00:38:33,078 –> 00:38:37,678
the barrel at their buddy accidentally or just apathetically.

551
00:38:37,798 –> 00:38:42,518
I think apathy plays as much of a role as not paying attention.

552
00:38:43,538 –> 00:38:47,958
I agree. I’ve been on some trips, in particular, quail hunting.

553
00:38:48,238 –> 00:38:52,878
An open field, four or five guys walking the lane and, you know,

554
00:38:52,898 –> 00:38:54,478
the dog flushing the birds.

555
00:38:54,518 –> 00:38:59,198
And, you know, for us, luckily we did follow this rule and someone was standing

556
00:38:59,198 –> 00:39:00,538
behind us. He wasn’t engaging.

557
00:39:00,658 –> 00:39:03,058
He was watching to make sure everyone else was being safe.

558
00:39:03,398 –> 00:39:07,178
And a lot of times you get someone that’ll fly, come across their lane,

559
00:39:07,218 –> 00:39:10,998
right? Instead of staying in their sector of fire. And that’s important.

560
00:39:11,398 –> 00:39:17,298
So, you know, one of my rules is, I typically won’t hunt with people I’m not

561
00:39:17,298 –> 00:39:18,998
familiar with or know, right?

562
00:39:19,298 –> 00:39:22,198
To go hunt with, But like, you know, if someone said, hey, you want to go hunt

563
00:39:22,198 –> 00:39:26,298
with me and I’m not familiar with how they are safety-wise, right,

564
00:39:26,358 –> 00:39:28,658
I’m very reluctant in doing so.

565
00:39:29,058 –> 00:39:32,198
Yeah, it’s probably a good personal policy to have.

566
00:39:32,738 –> 00:39:39,158
And you mentioned this, and that segues into another rule that’s important is,

567
00:39:39,298 –> 00:39:44,218
you know, when you’re hunting, especially in groups of two or more,

568
00:39:44,378 –> 00:39:47,918
you need to know where everyone is out in the range, out in the field.

569
00:39:47,918 –> 00:39:51,698
And so it’s important that you communicate where you’re going,

570
00:39:51,898 –> 00:39:56,398
where you are, and you’re sure not to aim in anyone’s direction, right?

571
00:39:56,498 –> 00:40:00,498
That can save a lot of heartache because you don’t want to be shooting across

572
00:40:00,498 –> 00:40:05,478
the field where your buddy is and him be shooting back across the field in your direction.

573
00:40:05,598 –> 00:40:09,258
So it’s important you communicate that, you stay where you say you’re going

574
00:40:09,258 –> 00:40:14,258
to be, and if you do move, you communicate that and you’re not shooting in a

575
00:40:14,258 –> 00:40:17,238
direction where you know or think your buddies may be.

576
00:40:17,958 –> 00:40:22,398
Well, a good way of doing that too, again, going out to the field and especially

577
00:40:22,398 –> 00:40:25,898
in a field that I’ve not been in. I’ve been in South Georgia hunting pig before.

578
00:40:25,978 –> 00:40:30,938
And, you know, I like to go out the day before the day, the morning of early

579
00:40:30,938 –> 00:40:34,858
and walk where we’re going to go and, you know, establish where everyone’s going

580
00:40:34,858 –> 00:40:39,138
to be set up at. So I know my zone of fire and everyone else’s zone of fire.

581
00:40:39,278 –> 00:40:43,538
So we’re not, like you mentioned, not firing back into an area where we know someone may be.

582
00:40:43,898 –> 00:40:47,758
And that’s very important, right? So, again, it’s important to be familiar with

583
00:40:47,758 –> 00:40:49,218
the terrain that you’re going to be hunting in.

584
00:40:49,558 –> 00:40:54,418
Yeah, that’s a very good point. And I think it’s awesome that you go out and

585
00:40:54,418 –> 00:40:59,478
do a pre-check of the area and get familiar with it ahead of time because that just helps.

586
00:41:00,198 –> 00:41:04,738
This is where the keeping your gun on safe rule really comes in.

587
00:41:04,738 –> 00:41:08,938
I think hunting is especially important, especially when you’re in groups and

588
00:41:08,938 –> 00:41:13,318
you might be out there trudging through the woods together. Keep your firearms on safe.

589
00:41:13,578 –> 00:41:15,558
Most hunting rifles that I’m

590
00:41:15,558 –> 00:41:19,878
aware of all have external safeties and while nothing’s a hundred percent.

591
00:41:21,153 –> 00:41:25,613
Having that firearm unsafe, it’s not a tactical situation.

592
00:41:26,173 –> 00:41:29,613
Bambi’s not going to be jumping out to mug you from behind a tree.

593
00:41:30,113 –> 00:41:35,253
You’re not trying to go on a split seconds notice.

594
00:41:35,433 –> 00:41:40,533
You’ve got time to flip that safety off when the time does come to shoot.

595
00:41:40,733 –> 00:41:43,953
It’s not like you’re shooting a whole lot when you’re out hunting anyway.

596
00:41:44,073 –> 00:41:48,473
You’re waiting to make a kill shot. You’re not shooting 20, 30 rounds,

597
00:41:48,733 –> 00:41:53,473
you know, a box of 50 downrange to target practice like you are at the range.

598
00:41:53,633 –> 00:41:57,853
You’re shooting sometimes nothing, no shots.

599
00:41:58,053 –> 00:42:03,633
So keeping that gun on safe, the safety engaged until you need it is important

600
00:42:03,633 –> 00:42:04,713
when you’re out hunting.

601
00:42:05,133 –> 00:42:10,213
I agree. I definitely agree. And to be honest with you, when I’m hunting and

602
00:42:10,213 –> 00:42:13,913
I’m in a hide and I have a bolt-action rifle, a lot of times I don’t even chamber

603
00:42:13,913 –> 00:42:15,353
a round until I’m ready to fire.

604
00:42:16,033 –> 00:42:19,613
Yeah, good policy to have. Again, there’s no urgency.

605
00:42:20,033 –> 00:42:24,833
It’s not tactical. It’s not self-defense. It’s not concealed carry.

606
00:42:25,653 –> 00:42:30,333
It’s okay if you don’t chamber that round until you come into that field of

607
00:42:30,333 –> 00:42:36,113
big, beautiful bucks or whatever, or hogs, whatever it is you’re trying to kill.

608
00:42:36,493 –> 00:42:39,013
Some of these are still pretty good.

609
00:42:39,633 –> 00:42:43,893
Never climb over anything with a loaded gun in your hand or on your person.

610
00:42:44,093 –> 00:42:49,393
You know, if you’re by yourself, just go ahead and put your rifle through to

611
00:42:49,393 –> 00:42:52,913
the other side on the ground or prop it up on the fence.

612
00:42:52,973 –> 00:42:56,093
Again, you want to make sure it’s on safe.

613
00:42:57,253 –> 00:42:59,353
There may not even be a round chambered,

614
00:42:59,353 –> 00:43:02,113
doesn’t really need to be a round chambered when you’re hunting.

615
00:43:02,393 –> 00:43:07,153
If you’re with a partner, hold their firearm for them, let them go over the

616
00:43:07,153 –> 00:43:09,553
fence or under the fence, whatever through the fence,

617
00:43:09,893 –> 00:43:17,613
hand them their firearm and then hand them your firearm and then you go through that fence.

618
00:43:18,073 –> 00:43:23,353
Don’t try going through a fence or climbing a tree into your tree stand with a loaded weapon.

619
00:43:23,353 –> 00:43:28,033
And so I would extend this to say that when you’re going up into your tree stand,

620
00:43:28,273 –> 00:43:33,893
don’t don’t hoist your firearm up loaded, unload it, put it on safe,

621
00:43:34,113 –> 00:43:35,873
then bring it up with you. Right.

622
00:43:35,973 –> 00:43:40,033
But don’t carry it on your back loaded and certainly don’t cross or go through

623
00:43:40,033 –> 00:43:42,533
or under a fence with with your firearm.

624
00:43:42,693 –> 00:43:44,893
Get it to the other side and then go through. room.

625
00:43:45,493 –> 00:43:50,593
Absolutely. You should, you should not be climbing any type of obstacle out

626
00:43:50,593 –> 00:43:52,993
in the field with a loaded weapon around in the chamber.

627
00:43:53,453 –> 00:43:59,193
Right. So, you know, I don’t think I’ve experienced that now.

628
00:43:59,273 –> 00:44:03,733
I’ve, you know, climbed up in the heights before and I make sure, you know.

629
00:44:04,393 –> 00:44:09,993
All according to what weapon I may have at the time, if it’s an assault rifle I may have with

630
00:44:10,073 –> 00:44:13,473
me for whatever reason you know magazines out both

631
00:44:13,473 –> 00:44:16,313
blocks of the rear and you know get where

632
00:44:16,313 –> 00:44:19,113
i need to go and then when i get up there you know

633
00:44:19,113 –> 00:44:21,713
usually any good hunter is going to be in

634
00:44:21,713 –> 00:44:24,773
the hide well before he thinks the game’s coming so he

635
00:44:24,773 –> 00:44:28,193
can make as much noise as he needs but once he’s settled in you know some time

636
00:44:28,193 –> 00:44:32,693
goes by you know it really won’t make a difference but the last thing you want

637
00:44:32,693 –> 00:44:38,013
to do is climb over friends climb up into a hide with the with a round in the

638
00:44:38,013 –> 00:44:41,533
chamber because just because it’s unsafe if the weapon happens to fall does

639
00:44:41,533 –> 00:44:42,973
not mean it’s not going to go off.

640
00:44:44,182 –> 00:44:48,642
Absolutely. And there’s been some accidental discharges, we know,

641
00:44:48,762 –> 00:44:51,062
with firearms, even with safeties on.

642
00:44:51,202 –> 00:44:57,302
That firing pin gets released and hits that primer and it doesn’t even necessarily

643
00:44:57,302 –> 00:44:59,302
require the trigger to be pulled.

644
00:45:00,702 –> 00:45:05,202
Old going back and we’ve talked about this one previously but you know if you trip or fall,

645
00:45:05,702 –> 00:45:10,862
check your weapon make sure it’s still in good working condition and most importantly

646
00:45:10,862 –> 00:45:16,922
make sure that barrel is free of obstructions if by chance it were clogged and

647
00:45:16,922 –> 00:45:19,962
you weren’t paying attention and were to pull the trigger because you thought

648
00:45:19,962 –> 00:45:24,902
you had the shot of your life on that 20 point buck,

649
00:45:25,122 –> 00:45:31,682
and your barrel was clogged of mud or whatever, rocks, and you pulled the trigger,

650
00:45:31,882 –> 00:45:33,622
you’d have a bad day on your hand.

651
00:45:33,782 –> 00:45:37,202
It is likely that gun’s going to blow up, the barrel’s going to blow up,

652
00:45:37,282 –> 00:45:44,842
and at very least, scare you to death, probably hurt you pretty bad, and it could kill you.

653
00:45:44,942 –> 00:45:50,762
So if you do fall, first of all, be situationally aware, pay attention,

654
00:45:51,082 –> 00:45:54,182
try to reduce your clumsiness.

655
00:45:54,762 –> 00:46:01,042
But if you do fall, don’t just assume your firearm’s fine, especially if you know you did drop it.

656
00:46:01,082 –> 00:46:04,342
Pick it up, inspect it, make sure it’s in good working order.

657
00:46:04,462 –> 00:46:07,862
But most importantly, make sure that barrel is free of obstruction.

658
00:46:08,982 –> 00:46:13,662
Absolutely. You know, hunting, I don’t think I’ve gone through terrain or had

659
00:46:13,662 –> 00:46:20,722
a situation where I had a chance of getting debris or anything down my barrel.

660
00:46:20,782 –> 00:46:25,022
I’m not saying that it can’t happen, but in the service, being in the field,

661
00:46:25,142 –> 00:46:27,182
that happened quite often.

662
00:46:27,602 –> 00:46:35,042
It was second nature for us to clear the weapon and make sure that the bore

663
00:46:35,042 –> 00:46:37,342
was clear before we fired.

664
00:46:38,302 –> 00:46:44,122
A lot of times we had a round in the chamber, so empty the chamber, drop the magazine,

665
00:46:45,242 –> 00:46:50,462
knock the weapon, check the bore, and reload before you before you engage because

666
00:46:50,462 –> 00:46:54,442
you’re right if you don’t do that and you pull the trigger you’re more apt to

667
00:46:54,442 –> 00:47:00,002
hurt yourself and the folks around you absolutely and so you know if you are

668
00:47:00,002 –> 00:47:04,662
super clumsy or you know accidents do happen you trip on that slippery route.

669
00:47:06,062 –> 00:47:12,162
Whatever it is that caused you maybe to fall down be sure you’re in control of that weapon,

670
00:47:13,313 –> 00:47:19,833
Be sure that that barrel remains pointing in a safe direction and not towards

671
00:47:19,833 –> 00:47:21,933
your buddy or anything you don’t want to shoot.

672
00:47:23,253 –> 00:47:28,673
To your point, if you’re carrying it unloaded, then it’s less of an issue.

673
00:47:28,933 –> 00:47:33,333
And if it’s on safe, that’s even better. But at the end of the day,

674
00:47:33,573 –> 00:47:37,533
a gun barrel only needs to be pointing in a safe direction.

675
00:47:37,873 –> 00:47:40,873
And so when you fall, it’s important.

676
00:47:40,873 –> 00:47:44,253
It’s just like if you’re carrying an axe, you know, I learned in the Boy Scouts,

677
00:47:44,253 –> 00:47:48,673
when you’re carrying an axe and you trip and fall, you need to be aware of where

678
00:47:48,673 –> 00:47:53,473
that axe blade is and, you know, pay attention to that at all times because

679
00:47:53,473 –> 00:47:55,533
you don’t want to wind up falling on the axe blade.

680
00:47:55,633 –> 00:47:57,813
Well, the same applies to the guns, right?

681
00:47:57,953 –> 00:48:01,873
You don’t want to fall and the barrel of the gun wind up pointing straight at your buddy’s head.

682
00:48:03,313 –> 00:48:09,153
And the last one is, you know, the short version is, is when in doubt, don’t take the shot.

683
00:48:09,153 –> 00:48:11,853
And you know this goes back to the

684
00:48:11,853 –> 00:48:14,853
basic rules be sure of your target and what’s beyond

685
00:48:14,853 –> 00:48:17,493
it you know if you’re not sure your buddy’s not on the

686
00:48:17,493 –> 00:48:20,193
field across from the 20 point buck that you’re

687
00:48:20,193 –> 00:48:23,033
trying to take the shot at then you don’t need to be taking the shot

688
00:48:23,033 –> 00:48:25,753
i think you talked about a story when you

689
00:48:25,753 –> 00:48:28,833
were hunting once where you weren’t you you heard and

690
00:48:28,833 –> 00:48:31,693
you were pretty sure there was something out ahead of you but

691
00:48:31,693 –> 00:48:34,713
because you couldn’t see clearly what it was you

692
00:48:34,713 –> 00:48:37,453
weren’t going to just shoot and so i think

693
00:48:37,453 –> 00:48:40,533
that’s a important to remember when you’re out hunting too

694
00:48:40,533 –> 00:48:43,333
you if you don’t know what you’re shooting at

695
00:48:43,333 –> 00:48:49,313
or you are are you’re not sure what’s beyond what you’re shooting at or if you

696
00:48:49,313 –> 00:48:54,973
know that something that’s beyond what you’re shooting at shouldn’t get shot

697
00:48:54,973 –> 00:49:00,493
then you shouldn’t take the shot and that’s uh oh yeah the story was we We were

698
00:49:00,493 –> 00:49:02,133
out pig hunting, and, you know,

699
00:49:02,273 –> 00:49:05,033
we’re out down by the 20,

700
00:49:05,253 –> 00:49:08,553
and, you know, there shouldn’t be anything else out there other than, you know, game.

701
00:49:08,693 –> 00:49:13,613
And it was dusk, and I saw several figures come through my scope,

702
00:49:13,633 –> 00:49:17,953
and I had to be pig, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

703
00:49:18,573 –> 00:49:22,973
And I did not take the shot until my buddy was able to.

704
00:49:23,093 –> 00:49:26,033
It just so happened he was walking up and had a green light,

705
00:49:26,093 –> 00:49:29,233
and he was able to illuminate the area, and then I took the shot,

706
00:49:29,353 –> 00:49:31,893
right? Right. And, you know, most hunters won’t do that.

707
00:49:31,953 –> 00:49:34,673
I can tell you that right now. They probably would have taken that shot,

708
00:49:34,773 –> 00:49:36,293
but I’m just a little bit more cautious.

709
00:49:36,333 –> 00:49:42,233
You know, everything told me that 95 percent sure is probably,

710
00:49:42,333 –> 00:49:45,533
you know, something I could do that some wild pig or something.

711
00:49:45,593 –> 00:49:49,013
But in my gut, I just could not pull that trigger. Yeah.

712
00:49:49,453 –> 00:49:51,193
Yeah. It’s better safe than sorry.

713
00:49:52,050 –> 00:49:56,430
So this next topic I think is important because we’re all talking about guns.

714
00:49:56,490 –> 00:49:59,330
Well, you got to get a gun at some point, so you got to go look at them.

715
00:49:59,370 –> 00:50:04,510
You’re hopefully going to buy one or n number of firearms before it’s over with.

716
00:50:05,030 –> 00:50:08,070
I have a couple myself. I’ve done this a few times.

717
00:50:08,810 –> 00:50:14,490
Gun safety is just as important at the gun shop as it is anywhere else.

718
00:50:14,610 –> 00:50:18,890
And as a matter of fact, it’s kind of a fine line between safety and etiquette

719
00:50:18,890 –> 00:50:20,030
because Because everyone in that

720
00:50:20,030 –> 00:50:24,730
shop potentially stands in the way of you really trying out that weapon.

721
00:50:25,290 –> 00:50:31,350
And so you’ve got to be very conscientious about where you’re pointing a weapon in the gun shop,

722
00:50:31,570 –> 00:50:37,550
being sure that you’re not pointing the muzzle at someone when you’re checking

723
00:50:37,550 –> 00:50:41,090
it out, especially when you’re dry firing and testing out the trigger.

724
00:50:41,090 –> 00:50:47,950
And you also want to show some etiquette, have some respect for the persons

725
00:50:47,950 –> 00:50:50,070
working behind the counter as well.

726
00:50:50,190 –> 00:50:55,290
So this is my list of gun safety rules for the gun shop.

727
00:50:55,470 –> 00:51:02,090
And, of course, the top four rules apply always because even an unloaded gun

728
00:51:02,090 –> 00:51:04,530
should be treated as though it was loaded.

729
00:51:04,810 –> 00:51:10,930
First of all, make sure any firearm that you’re going to be handling in a gun shop is empty.

730
00:51:11,090 –> 00:51:15,550
If it’s a revolver, you know, you’re going to be opening up the cylinder,

731
00:51:15,670 –> 00:51:17,770
making sure there’s no rounds in the cylinder.

732
00:51:17,790 –> 00:51:21,630
If it’s a semi-automatic, you’re going to drop the magazine or at least at the

733
00:51:21,630 –> 00:51:26,250
very least pull the slide back and ensure the magazine doesn’t have any rounds

734
00:51:26,250 –> 00:51:28,070
and that there’s no rounds in the chamber.

735
00:51:28,290 –> 00:51:32,330
If it’s a rifle, you’re going to make sure there’s no rounds in the chamber

736
00:51:32,330 –> 00:51:35,570
and or the magazines out of it as well.

737
00:51:35,570 –> 00:51:41,330
Well, and, you know, as we were talking about earlier, and I joke about often

738
00:51:41,330 –> 00:51:43,350
redundancy is your friend.

739
00:51:43,810 –> 00:51:48,430
I said that before. And so, you know, there’s going to be a lot of handling

740
00:51:48,430 –> 00:51:51,530
of firearms back and forth between people in a gun shop.

741
00:51:51,770 –> 00:51:54,930
The person behind the counter is going to hand you a gun.

742
00:51:55,490 –> 00:51:59,110
You may hand the you’re going to hand the gun back to the person behind the

743
00:51:59,110 –> 00:52:03,450
counter. But before that, you may pass the gun off to your buddy that’s shopping

744
00:52:03,450 –> 00:52:07,550
with you or looking with you, and then he’s going to give it either back to

745
00:52:07,550 –> 00:52:09,510
you or back to the person behind the counter.

746
00:52:09,630 –> 00:52:15,210
And so this is where redundancy, this is one area where redundancy comes in, and it’s important.

747
00:52:15,410 –> 00:52:20,090
So what you should expect as a shopper when you go into a gun shop and you want

748
00:52:20,090 –> 00:52:24,330
to look at pistols, rifles, whatever, is that person behind the counter should

749
00:52:24,330 –> 00:52:26,090
ensure that that weapon is clear.

750
00:52:26,090 –> 00:52:28,710
They’re going to open the bolt, they’re going to pull back the slide,

751
00:52:28,910 –> 00:52:33,410
they’re going to open up the cylinder and make sure there’s no ammunition in

752
00:52:33,410 –> 00:52:35,850
that gun before they hand it off to you.

753
00:52:36,450 –> 00:52:42,130
When you get that gun, you’re going to make sure that you’re cognizant of where

754
00:52:42,130 –> 00:52:46,830
that barrel is, where that muzzle is at all times, and that you don’t flag anyone.

755
00:52:46,990 –> 00:52:50,450
And by flagging, we mean pointing that gun at anyone. Right.

756
00:52:50,907 –> 00:52:56,087
And, you know, that ties over to the trigger, right?

757
00:52:56,247 –> 00:53:00,407
A lot of times you want to test the trigger pull on a firearm to see what it

758
00:53:00,407 –> 00:53:04,027
feels like, to see what the travel is, to see what the reset is,

759
00:53:04,247 –> 00:53:09,267
to see what it feels like when it goes click, when the firing pin goes click,

760
00:53:09,327 –> 00:53:12,767
and then what the reset feels like when you let it go again.

761
00:53:12,767 –> 00:53:18,627
Again, you need to make especially sure of where that muzzle is and ensure you’re

762
00:53:18,627 –> 00:53:22,207
not pointing at anything or anyone, especially in the gun shop,

763
00:53:22,347 –> 00:53:25,027
that you’re not wanting to shoot.

764
00:53:25,167 –> 00:53:29,227
Plus, other people in the shop never appreciate it when you point a gun at them.

765
00:53:29,367 –> 00:53:33,987
The redundancy comes in because when I pass that firearm either back to the

766
00:53:33,987 –> 00:53:38,547
person behind the counter or to my buddy, I’m going to check even though I quote

767
00:53:38,547 –> 00:53:43,067
unquote know that weapon’s unloaded, I’m going to check, and I always do,

768
00:53:43,227 –> 00:53:48,687
I’m going to check briefly to see and make sure that firearm still is unloaded

769
00:53:48,687 –> 00:53:50,827
before I pass it to the next person.

770
00:53:51,007 –> 00:53:55,447
And even though we know that weapon’s unloaded, it’s just courtesy.

771
00:53:56,107 –> 00:54:00,447
It’s just courtesy. They’ve done it for you. You do it to them to show them

772
00:54:00,447 –> 00:54:04,147
that you’re conscientious and that you’re safety-oriented,

773
00:54:04,147 –> 00:54:07,347
you’re safety minded and that’s where the redundancy

774
00:54:07,347 –> 00:54:10,967
comes in and then the last one i’m gonna say and

775
00:54:10,967 –> 00:54:15,827
then you can add what you want dennis is never unholster your firearm in a gun

776
00:54:15,827 –> 00:54:19,587
shop unless you’ve gotten permission you’ve asked and gotten permission to do

777
00:54:19,587 –> 00:54:24,887
so they kind of take offense to that and you may not have the sort of response

778
00:54:24,887 –> 00:54:30,347
that you like if you were to unholster your firearm without asking first.

779
00:54:31,607 –> 00:54:36,887
I agree. And a lot of gun stores now have that in there, that all firearms need

780
00:54:36,887 –> 00:54:43,287
to be holstered, right, or in some sort of container or something when entering the store.

781
00:54:43,427 –> 00:54:46,847
And I think that just puts everyone at a peace of mind, right,

782
00:54:46,927 –> 00:54:50,727
rather than someone coming in with a pistol in their hand.

783
00:54:50,807 –> 00:54:56,427
I think you might be greeted differently if you do that. Yeah. Bad news.

784
00:54:58,107 –> 00:54:59,947
And so, you know,

785
00:55:00,972 –> 00:55:05,412
That’s a short list. Of course, you’re following all gun safety rules at all

786
00:55:05,412 –> 00:55:07,532
times, especially those four, right?

787
00:55:07,652 –> 00:55:11,432
But those are kind of the ones that pop into my head when I’m in a gun shop

788
00:55:11,432 –> 00:55:12,652
and I’m looking at weapons.

789
00:55:12,812 –> 00:55:17,212
But, you know, part of that is the flip side of the coin, right?

790
00:55:17,512 –> 00:55:24,792
And part of gun shop safety is being aware of what others are doing around you, right?

791
00:55:24,952 –> 00:55:30,792
And And sometimes that may mean that you need to step back or forward out of

792
00:55:30,792 –> 00:55:36,292
the way of someone that’s not keeping an eye of where the muzzle of the firearm

793
00:55:36,292 –> 00:55:37,592
that they’re handling is.

794
00:55:37,892 –> 00:55:43,432
And, you know, safety is always the responsible, you know, it’s always the responsibility

795
00:55:43,432 –> 00:55:45,972
of you that it’s on both ends. Right.

796
00:55:46,072 –> 00:55:51,372
So you always need to be situationally aware and paying attention to others

797
00:55:51,372 –> 00:55:56,972
because, you know, The cat that’s up at the counter checking out the new spring-filled

798
00:55:56,972 –> 00:55:58,632
pistol. I don’t know why he’d be doing that.

799
00:55:58,712 –> 00:56:04,572
Spring-filled pistol, he may not be even aware that the muzzle of that pistol

800
00:56:04,572 –> 00:56:05,792
is pointing right at you.

801
00:56:05,852 –> 00:56:09,572
And you’re just standing at the counter eyeballing the Glocks next to him.

802
00:56:10,012 –> 00:56:15,492
So it’s your job to pay attention to that and know, hey, you’ve got the option

803
00:56:15,492 –> 00:56:19,972
to either confront him and say, hey, be mindful of the muzzle of that gun.

804
00:56:19,972 –> 00:56:25,192
Gun or, you know, just go ahead and take the effort yourself to back up out

805
00:56:25,192 –> 00:56:31,352
of the way and then maybe decide to tell, tell them to pay better attention to what they’re doing.

806
00:56:31,432 –> 00:56:34,512
But you know, the, the onus is on you at the end of the day,

807
00:56:34,552 –> 00:56:36,812
a gun safety. And so it works both ways.

808
00:56:37,452 –> 00:56:39,932
You just had to go there with spring full and clock, didn’t you?

809
00:56:42,392 –> 00:56:45,512
They’re both great guns. They really are. Yeah.

810
00:56:46,112 –> 00:56:49,832
So let’s talk about kids for a minute, Right. And we said at the beginning,

811
00:56:49,892 –> 00:56:54,252
I think I said, I know I said at the beginning of my very first podcast when

812
00:56:54,252 –> 00:56:56,012
we first talked about gun safety.

813
00:56:57,083 –> 00:57:01,983
I said, you know, the cool part, the interesting part of this discussion on

814
00:57:01,983 –> 00:57:06,443
gun safety is it applies not just to the gun community,

815
00:57:06,603 –> 00:57:12,203
but also for the gun opposition, right?

816
00:57:12,283 –> 00:57:16,423
Those that don’t want guns, those that want to limit guns, those that don’t

817
00:57:16,423 –> 00:57:17,903
have anything to do with guns.

818
00:57:18,443 –> 00:57:23,303
It applies across the board because, especially as a parent or otherwise,

819
00:57:23,683 –> 00:57:25,643
you kind of need to know what to do.

820
00:57:25,643 –> 00:57:29,923
You need to know, even if you’re not handling the firearm directly yourself,

821
00:57:30,323 –> 00:57:36,843
you kind of need to know how to go about handling them or telling someone how

822
00:57:36,843 –> 00:57:38,103
to handle them appropriately.

823
00:57:38,383 –> 00:57:42,743
So gun safety affects us all and we should all know how to do it.

824
00:57:42,803 –> 00:57:47,463
So I say that for those that may otherwise think that this doesn’t apply to

825
00:57:47,463 –> 00:57:48,603
them, but it really does.

826
00:57:48,603 –> 00:57:59,483
And so I say that because part of safe gun ownership is teaching children what to do.

827
00:57:59,643 –> 00:58:04,823
And when they get old enough, how to handle a gun safely.

828
00:58:06,383 –> 00:58:10,003
And of course, at that point, the normal gun safety rules apply.

829
00:58:10,003 –> 00:58:15,363
But what happens to really young children or children that know nothing about

830
00:58:15,363 –> 00:58:18,923
guns yet because their parents don’t have anything to do with them or maybe

831
00:58:18,923 –> 00:58:20,603
just haven’t discussed it with them yet?

832
00:58:21,023 –> 00:58:28,583
Or what happens when a family that’s not a proponent of guns has a friend stay

833
00:58:28,583 –> 00:58:32,963
over, has their children stay over at a friend’s house that maybe does have

834
00:58:32,963 –> 00:58:34,863
guns in the house? What should they do?

835
00:58:35,363 –> 00:58:38,403
What should they do? What do you tell them? and so

836
00:58:38,403 –> 00:58:41,463
you know instead of thinking through this i just

837
00:58:41,463 –> 00:58:44,423
defaulted to the nra program i think it’s fantastic

838
00:58:44,423 –> 00:58:47,343
for what it is and again if you got a kid old enough to

839
00:58:47,343 –> 00:58:50,303
be learning about guns or handling guns then it’s

840
00:58:50,303 –> 00:58:55,563
not going to apply to them but i think for super young children or for children

841
00:58:55,563 –> 00:59:01,163
who’s never gonna learn about guns directly because their parents don’t want

842
00:59:01,163 –> 00:59:05,503
anything to do with them i think this program’s great and so the nra has a program

843
00:59:05,503 –> 00:59:08,043
called eddie the eagle Have you ever heard of this before?

844
00:59:08,523 –> 00:59:14,423
Yeah. So it’s basically, well, it is three simple steps.

845
00:59:14,743 –> 00:59:21,243
Number one is stop. If a child comes across a gun, they should just stop, freeze in their tracks.

846
00:59:21,743 –> 00:59:26,863
Number two is do not touch. Whatever you do, there’s no reason for you to touch that firearm.

847
00:59:27,123 –> 00:59:30,003
You’ve seen it. You stop. You don’t touch it.

848
00:59:30,063 –> 00:59:35,623
And you go get an adult and tell them. And then hopefully they’ll know what to do.

849
00:59:36,676 –> 00:59:40,596
Well, this podcast benefits those that wouldn’t otherwise know what to do,

850
00:59:40,656 –> 00:59:44,876
because if they listen to this, then those adults that that child goes and tells

851
00:59:44,876 –> 00:59:46,696
will hopefully know what to do.

852
00:59:47,436 –> 00:59:51,296
But it’s important that they don’t touch the gun, especially if they don’t know

853
00:59:51,296 –> 00:59:53,916
what they’re doing, if they haven’t learned about firearms yet.

854
00:59:54,356 –> 01:00:01,536
And that goes for the group of kids, too, right? Because sometimes peer pressure comes into play.

855
01:00:01,816 –> 01:00:03,536
But I think that’s a pretty good program.

856
01:00:04,636 –> 01:00:08,156
Yeah, I think so. So, you know, it’s great to teach the kids,

857
01:00:08,256 –> 01:00:12,556
but I think further steps of prevention is if you know that you have children,

858
01:00:12,696 –> 01:00:18,576
especially children that are not your own, in your home and you have guns out,

859
01:00:18,756 –> 01:00:23,216
which a lot of homes do for home protection, that you put them up.

860
01:00:23,316 –> 01:00:29,316
I can tell you right now that any time I have, yes, especially when children

861
01:00:29,316 –> 01:00:34,736
are in the house, I put my guns in the safe. I don’t even want to take a chance about it.

862
01:00:34,756 –> 01:00:39,896
Whether the kid will or will not touch, I don’t care. I don’t want to take a chance.

863
01:00:41,616 –> 01:00:47,716
Of all the news stories that touch me the most is those where you hear these young kids, brothers,

864
01:00:48,356 –> 01:00:53,376
sisters, cousins, happen to come across a weapon and they shoot a family member

865
01:00:53,376 –> 01:00:56,896
because they found a gun and they want to see how it worked.

866
01:00:57,216 –> 01:01:00,876
And that could be avoided simply by locking that gun up. Right.

867
01:01:01,496 –> 01:01:05,896
Good gun ownership. I think that’s I think that’s the priority there first.

868
01:01:06,516 –> 01:01:10,676
And then second, teaching the children about, you know, how to what to do if

869
01:01:10,676 –> 01:01:14,376
they see a gun. Yeah, that’s an excellent point.

870
01:01:14,496 –> 01:01:19,256
You know, that’s kind of like there’s three steps for the kids to follow.

871
01:01:19,356 –> 01:01:23,216
There’s really one step in that scenario for the adults to follow.

872
01:01:23,356 –> 01:01:25,056
And that’s when kids are around.

873
01:01:25,216 –> 01:01:30,656
Keep your guns locked up. And that would prevent all kinds of all kinds of things.

874
01:01:30,656 –> 01:01:34,256
So while we’re on the subject of kids and guns, a lot of times,

875
01:01:34,356 –> 01:01:40,716
more often than not, the question comes up, well, when should I talk to my kids?

876
01:01:41,156 –> 01:01:46,836
And there’s not a particular age to begin that discussion, I don’t think.

877
01:01:46,836 –> 01:01:49,416
I think parents know their children best.

878
01:01:49,496 –> 01:01:56,376
If they’re going to introduce guns to their children, they know best likely when they can do that.

879
01:01:56,476 –> 01:02:01,796
Hopefully the child is showing some signs of maturity and willingness to follow

880
01:02:01,796 –> 01:02:03,916
rules and instructions.

881
01:02:04,316 –> 01:02:07,936
But beyond that, it’s really up to the parents to figure out what’s best.

882
01:02:08,216 –> 01:02:10,396
But to your point again, yeah.

883
01:02:11,470 –> 01:02:17,090
Locking up your firearms is the go-to safety rule to follow for adults when

884
01:02:17,090 –> 01:02:18,030
there’s children around.

885
01:02:18,450 –> 01:02:25,970
Yeah, I agree. And I think that age can be a guideline on determining when it’s

886
01:02:25,970 –> 01:02:30,130
best to introduce your child to a gun if that’s what you intend to do.

887
01:02:30,130 –> 01:02:33,510
But I think you hit it on the nose when you said that maturity,

888
01:02:33,710 –> 01:02:38,270
I think maturity plays a big role because I’ve seen some nine-year-olds that

889
01:02:38,270 –> 01:02:43,510
are a lot, you know, mature and willing to take instruction and, you know, understand.

890
01:02:43,590 –> 01:02:46,890
And I’ve seen 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds, not so much.

891
01:02:47,070 –> 01:02:50,010
Yeah. You know, I wouldn’t trust them with a gun. Right.

892
01:02:50,450 –> 01:02:57,110
I think the first time that I ever shot, I know it was with my dad and my mom’s dad, my granddad.

893
01:02:57,430 –> 01:03:01,870
I think I was nine years old was the first time I shot.

894
01:03:01,910 –> 01:03:05,830
I think I shot 22s and a 12 gauge, believe it or not.

895
01:03:08,510 –> 01:03:12,750
That’s funny because although I told you I was raised in the South Bronx,

896
01:03:12,850 –> 01:03:17,130
the first time I shot a weapon was in the Marine Corps. And it was like a drug to me.

897
01:03:18,070 –> 01:03:22,750
Yeah. Once I got into it, I was like, oh, I have to have this.

898
01:03:22,930 –> 01:03:25,290
It’s a lot of fun. It’s not all

899
01:03:25,290 –> 01:03:31,950
about self-defense and tactical this and tactical that and use for intent.

900
01:03:32,430 –> 01:03:37,750
It’s a lot of fun. I find it to be stress relieving. It’s a lot of fun to shoot

901
01:03:37,750 –> 01:03:39,290
targets and challenge yourself.

902
01:03:39,710 –> 01:03:42,410
There’s an element of bonding.

903
01:03:43,130 –> 01:03:48,090
I think you and I have a great time shooting. I know as an RSO,

904
01:03:48,290 –> 01:03:53,830
I actually enjoyed watching other people shoot and enjoy the activity,

905
01:03:54,130 –> 01:03:55,750
the sport, whatever you want to call it.

906
01:03:56,490 –> 01:04:03,590
Yeah, it could be a drug of sorts. It can be addictive for sure.

907
01:04:03,770 –> 01:04:09,310
I mean, even today, although we’re not actively RSOing, I find myself stepping

908
01:04:09,310 –> 01:04:12,750
back from the line and kind of observing what’s going on with other folks.

909
01:04:12,750 –> 01:04:15,510
And, you know, talking with people about guns and give them some pointers.

910
01:04:15,650 –> 01:04:18,630
And, you know, what people are doing is it’s a community.

911
01:04:18,850 –> 01:04:22,270
Yeah, it is a community. Yeah, definitely. Definitely.

912
01:04:22,970 –> 01:04:28,210
And we want to make it a safe community. Just a random safety rule.

913
01:04:28,390 –> 01:04:32,050
I don’t know if you want to call it a safety rule. I just call it a safety no-no.

914
01:04:32,370 –> 01:04:37,470
And, you know, we’ve even seen and heard some high-ranking political figures

915
01:04:37,470 –> 01:04:41,730
that clearly don’t know what they’re talking about even offer it as a suggestion.

916
01:04:41,730 –> 01:04:47,270
And that’s warning shots or just shooting guns into the air and we see a lot of.

917
01:04:48,568 –> 01:04:54,948
Let’s say third world groups, individuals shooting guns wildly into the air

918
01:04:54,948 –> 01:04:59,088
at celebration of weddings and parties or just intimidation tactics.

919
01:04:59,348 –> 01:05:04,028
And again, we’ve had high ranking political officials here stateside suggest

920
01:05:04,028 –> 01:05:08,748
that to scare off bad guys, you just fire a shot in the air,

921
01:05:08,828 –> 01:05:10,188
a warning shot off in the air.

922
01:05:10,248 –> 01:05:13,948
Well, warning shots are generally illegal.

923
01:05:17,248 –> 01:05:20,548
So that they’re more probably

924
01:05:20,548 –> 01:05:23,688
more often than not ineffective of scaring off

925
01:05:23,688 –> 01:05:27,368
any bad guy and serving any such purpose but the

926
01:05:27,368 –> 01:05:32,448
most important reason if the law wasn’t enough to keep you from doing it is

927
01:05:32,448 –> 01:05:37,168
that everything that goes up most must come down and there’s actually been a

928
01:05:37,168 –> 01:05:42,168
lot of people killed from stray bullets you know not knowing what’s beyond your

929
01:05:42,168 –> 01:05:44,808
target and shooting anyway can get kids.

930
01:05:45,028 –> 01:05:47,848
We’ve seen kids killed in the news, right?

931
01:05:49,068 –> 01:05:53,808
We’ve heard stories of that, but you know, if you shoot a bullet or a bunch

932
01:05:53,808 –> 01:05:56,528
of buckshot in the air, it’s got to come down.

933
01:05:57,328 –> 01:06:02,228
And I’m not going to debate trajectory and velocity of buckshot versus lead

934
01:06:02,228 –> 01:06:07,288
bullets coming back down after having fired a warning shot, but those bullets

935
01:06:07,288 –> 01:06:08,468
have to come down somewhere.

936
01:06:08,548 –> 01:06:12,108
And when they do, they’re going to get, they’re going to hit and they’re going to hit hard.

937
01:06:12,928 –> 01:06:16,248
And I was always amazed because I shot a lot of .22 growing up,

938
01:06:16,248 –> 01:06:17,808
target practice and hunting.

939
01:06:18,128 –> 01:06:24,108
And I was always amazed that a .22 long rimfire has a range.

940
01:06:24,208 –> 01:06:28,868
Of course, it’d have to be ideal, but it has a range of up to a mile and a half.

941
01:06:30,568 –> 01:06:37,768
A mile and a half away, a .22 can reach. A .22 hollow point can go to a mile and a half away. way.

942
01:06:38,268 –> 01:06:44,328
So, you know, imagine walking down the street and suddenly getting killed because

943
01:06:44,328 –> 01:06:50,048
some idiot a mile and a half away shot his 22 off in the air or shot and missed

944
01:06:50,048 –> 01:06:54,788
a squirrel in the tree and it came down and killed you.

945
01:06:55,248 –> 01:07:02,108
So warning shots, shooting guns in the air are not as fun as it may seem, it’s not a good ideal.

946
01:07:02,528 –> 01:07:07,108
It’s illegal most everywhere, so far as I know. And I’m,

947
01:07:08,274 –> 01:07:11,494
you could wind up hurting if not killing someone in doing so.

948
01:07:11,654 –> 01:07:17,994
So just as a sidebar, safety tip there, no warning shots, no shooting guns in the air, please.

949
01:07:18,814 –> 01:07:26,094
Well, that’s back to do not pull the trigger unless you intend to destroy your target, right?

950
01:07:26,194 –> 01:07:29,434
So if you’re shooting the gun in the air, you have no idea what the target is.

951
01:07:30,074 –> 01:07:34,574
Absolutely. Or what’s beyond any target you would be shooting at. That’s correct.

952
01:07:35,114 –> 01:07:41,534
So a last part, we’re almost done here, but the last thing that I wanted to

953
01:07:41,534 –> 01:07:46,394
talk about is cleaning your weapon and the safety around that.

954
01:07:47,714 –> 01:07:52,374
It’s my opinion that a clean weapon is a safe weapon, or at least a safer weapon.

955
01:07:52,634 –> 01:07:58,454
So I think cleaning a weapon, having a clean gun is the right thing to do and

956
01:07:58,454 –> 01:07:59,954
certainly a safe thing to do.

957
01:07:59,954 –> 01:08:06,694
It has to do with keeping that firearm in good working order and you know when

958
01:08:06,694 –> 01:08:10,634
you clean your firearm it gives you an opportunity a really good opportunity

959
01:08:10,634 –> 01:08:12,114
to get familiar with it too,

960
01:08:12,974 –> 01:08:19,314
and you know cleaning and having a clean firearm a clean weapon better ensures

961
01:08:19,314 –> 01:08:23,594
that when you do pull the trigger it actually works and goes bang when the time

962
01:08:23,594 –> 01:08:25,934
comes so there’s a lot of reasons.

963
01:08:26,834 –> 01:08:30,174
As to why you should clean your gun.

964
01:08:30,674 –> 01:08:34,234
When I was growing up and when I first started shooting, and I know when I got

965
01:08:34,234 –> 01:08:41,034
my first .22, which I think it was Christmas of when I was 13, a long time ago,

966
01:08:41,734 –> 01:08:46,174
I was taught, and it seemed like it was kind of an industry thing too,

967
01:08:46,294 –> 01:08:49,914
that you should come home and clean your weapon after every single time you

968
01:08:49,914 –> 01:08:52,594
shoot it, regardless of how many rounds you put through it.

969
01:08:53,385 –> 01:08:57,265
And so, you know, regardless of whether or not you follow that rule or not,

970
01:08:57,325 –> 01:08:59,865
the idea is that you should keep your firearm clean.

971
01:09:00,005 –> 01:09:05,625
And so I admit I own it. I don’t clean my guns every single time I come home from the range.

972
01:09:05,845 –> 01:09:11,425
You know, a lot of my firearms that I have, I know will continue to shoot for

973
01:09:11,425 –> 01:09:16,785
several, several hundred rounds before shutting down due to being dirty.

974
01:09:17,165 –> 01:09:21,025
With that being said, I don’t let them go indefinitely. I do keep them clean,

975
01:09:21,125 –> 01:09:26,025
especially ones that I carry, concealed carry, for personal defense reasons.

976
01:09:26,305 –> 01:09:32,365
But keeping your gun is part of keeping it being safe, in my mind.

977
01:09:33,365 –> 01:09:36,765
Yeah, and even if you don’t do a thorough cleaning, you should at least punch

978
01:09:36,765 –> 01:09:39,705
the bore, wipe it down, get the carbon off of it, right?

979
01:09:39,945 –> 01:09:43,645
Yeah. It’s just good for the gun. You don’t necessarily have to do a detailed

980
01:09:43,645 –> 01:09:44,745
cleaning after every shoot.

981
01:09:44,805 –> 01:09:49,265
But at a minimum, I keep a rag in my range bag.

982
01:09:49,865 –> 01:09:54,805
And before I put any of my weapons back into the case or, you know,

983
01:09:54,805 –> 01:09:58,985
the sleeve that I have it in, I wipe it down, you know, slide up,

984
01:09:59,025 –> 01:10:02,905
wipe it out, make sure it’s clear and then put it, put it away.

985
01:10:03,065 –> 01:10:06,925
Right. That’s at a minimum. You should be doing that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

986
01:10:07,585 –> 01:10:11,425
And, you know, as far as safe handling of the firearm, when you’re actually

987
01:10:11,425 –> 01:10:14,025
cleaning it is before you start to clean.

988
01:10:14,085 –> 01:10:19,445
And I know here recently I read or saw a story online, something about the fact

989
01:10:19,445 –> 01:10:23,965
a guy had shot himself or someone sitting around him nearby because he didn’t

990
01:10:23,965 –> 01:10:27,365
check the weapon before he went to clean it and pulled the trigger or something.

991
01:10:27,445 –> 01:10:31,265
But you need to ensure that that weapon is clear, unloaded.

992
01:10:31,265 –> 01:10:36,845
The cylinder’s empty if it’s a revolver the chamber’s empty if it’s a rifle

993
01:10:36,845 –> 01:10:41,505
the bolt back whatever the case may be the semi-automatic the semi-automatic

994
01:10:41,505 –> 01:10:46,305
rifle or pistols the magazines remove the bolts back the slides back you need

995
01:10:46,305 –> 01:10:49,605
to make sure that weapon is free and clear of ammunition.

996
01:10:50,684 –> 01:10:56,604
And I take it a step further, and I would suggest there’s actually three cases

997
01:10:56,604 –> 01:11:05,624
for this, but I recommend cleaning the firearm in a completely separate room for where your ammo is.

998
01:11:06,044 –> 01:11:10,604
Or if you clean in a different room, leave your ammo wherever it was, right?

999
01:11:10,864 –> 01:11:14,644
Don’t have the ammo even in the vicinity of where you’re cleaning that firearm.

1000
01:11:14,884 –> 01:11:19,944
You can’t use the firearm anyway when you’re cleaning it, so it’s not like you need the ammo.

1001
01:11:19,944 –> 01:11:23,084
Just do it in a separate room so i

1002
01:11:23,084 –> 01:11:26,164
think there’s three cases for separating ammo

1003
01:11:26,164 –> 01:11:29,084
as in you being in a totally different space

1004
01:11:29,084 –> 01:11:31,824
from where the ammo is again does it

1005
01:11:31,824 –> 01:11:37,164
seem like overkill yeah but with safety and firearms they’re not toys i argue

1006
01:11:37,164 –> 01:11:43,504
there is no overkill there is need for redundancy and there is no overkill i

1007
01:11:43,504 –> 01:11:47,584
would say that when you’re first get a firearm and you’re getting familiar with

1008
01:11:47,584 –> 01:11:49,644
it, there’s no reason to have ammo nearby.

1009
01:11:49,764 –> 01:11:52,804
Unless you’re at the range getting ready to shoot it and getting familiar with

1010
01:11:52,804 –> 01:11:55,124
shooting it, there’s no reason to have ammo nearby.

1011
01:11:56,424 –> 01:11:59,884
Don’t have ammo. Play with that gun. Follow the manual.

1012
01:12:00,604 –> 01:12:06,084
Make sure you’re getting some sense of how that weapon performs operationally.

1013
01:12:06,184 –> 01:12:09,664
When you’re cleaning that firearm, when you get home from shooting it the first

1014
01:12:09,664 –> 01:12:13,064
time, you should clean it just to help you further get familiar with it.

1015
01:12:13,104 –> 01:12:18,784
But again, Again, leave the ammo wherever the safe is or wherever you lock it all up at.

1016
01:12:19,224 –> 01:12:24,024
And then lastly, when you dry fire, there’s benefits to dry firing,

1017
01:12:24,144 –> 01:12:29,004
which we can talk about another time, but there’s benefits to dry fire practice with your firearms.

1018
01:12:29,124 –> 01:12:33,504
And you certainly shouldn’t have ammo in the same room where you’re dry firing

1019
01:12:33,504 –> 01:12:37,444
to eliminate any chance of there being an accident with live ammo.

1020
01:12:38,544 –> 01:12:41,364
One of the things and cleaning the weapon

1021
01:12:41,364 –> 01:12:44,544
is that people should be familiar with

1022
01:12:44,544 –> 01:12:47,264
the solvents right that they’re using you know

1023
01:12:47,264 –> 01:12:49,864
again just like your ammo that you’re using if you’re going to

1024
01:12:49,864 –> 01:12:54,904
clean your weapon familiar with the proper solvents to use right do your research

1025
01:12:54,904 –> 01:12:59,764
do what you can use on your weapon if it’s chrome plated or nickel plated whatever

1026
01:12:59,764 –> 01:13:03,824
it is that you’re doing and you got plastic grips you know make sure that whatever

1027
01:13:03,824 –> 01:13:08,144
you’re using to clean your weapon should be used to clean that particular weapon.

1028
01:13:08,804 –> 01:13:13,824
Just don’t, you know, I’m honest with you, again, back in the service,

1029
01:13:13,884 –> 01:13:16,644
we were playing weapons with soap and water, right?

1030
01:13:16,764 –> 01:13:21,184
But, you know, I’m oiling it down too, right? But that’s extreme.

1031
01:13:22,319 –> 01:13:27,239
So just become familiar with the proper cleaning tools for your particular weapon.

1032
01:13:27,919 –> 01:13:32,519
Yeah, that’s important. And I think on those same lines, I would extend safety

1033
01:13:32,519 –> 01:13:37,839
to include ventilation because we know a lot of solvents, to your point,

1034
01:13:37,899 –> 01:13:41,839
that are used to clean firearms are very caustic.

1035
01:13:42,199 –> 01:13:45,819
They can stink up the place. Those fumes are not good.

1036
01:13:45,819 –> 01:13:51,699
And so a lot of those cleaners and cleaner lubricant protectants,

1037
01:13:51,719 –> 01:14:00,459
CLPs as they call them, solvents, they’ll warn you to use only in well-ventilated areas.

1038
01:14:00,659 –> 01:14:03,559
But how many of us go outside to clean?

1039
01:14:03,879 –> 01:14:08,099
Well, we probably don’t. But you do need to be cognizant that some of that stuff

1040
01:14:08,099 –> 01:14:13,239
is pretty strong and has some pretty toxic fumes at times.

1041
01:14:13,239 –> 01:14:19,639
At the same time, there’s some alternatives that do not, but that’s a good point.

1042
01:14:19,719 –> 01:14:23,759
That all comes back to the safety elements of cleaning your firearm.

1043
01:14:24,539 –> 01:14:28,799
Yep, absolutely. You know, in the cleaning, I just thought about this too.

1044
01:14:30,199 –> 01:14:35,899
Lubricants. You see, I think we’ve seen folks come out, buy a weapon brand new.

1045
01:14:35,939 –> 01:14:40,839
It’s got the shipping grease on it, and they just go right into firing a weapon.

1046
01:14:40,839 –> 01:14:42,539
And I think it’s important that,

1047
01:14:42,559 –> 01:14:46,179
again, you would just make sure that your weapon’s lubricated properly.

1048
01:14:46,519 –> 01:14:55,499
I think if I was to see a malfunction in the range, I would say third to half

1049
01:14:55,499 –> 01:15:00,179
of it is probably because the weapon’s not well-maintained and mostly because it’s dry.

1050
01:15:01,668 –> 01:15:04,628
I think that’s important, right? So in cleaning your weapon and maintaining

1051
01:15:04,628 –> 01:15:08,268
your weapon, make sure that you have the proper lubricants on there.

1052
01:15:08,728 –> 01:15:12,748
I’m thinking back through the experiences that just comes up to mind.

1053
01:15:13,228 –> 01:15:19,688
No, absolutely. And that just plays into that part of why keeping a clean weapon

1054
01:15:19,688 –> 01:15:26,708
is important is because it does allow it to perform optimally in the way that it’s supposed to.

1055
01:15:27,008 –> 01:15:30,408
And lubricant certainly plays a big role into that.

1056
01:15:30,408 –> 01:15:33,248
That yep so yeah we’ve

1057
01:15:33,248 –> 01:15:36,828
talked about the rules we’ve talked about firing range

1058
01:15:36,828 –> 01:15:40,008
safety rules gun shop safety rules hunting safety

1059
01:15:40,008 –> 01:15:45,488
rules rules that even small children should be able to follow or be aware of

1060
01:15:45,488 –> 01:15:50,508
and what parents need to know more than likely and then you know the the importance

1061
01:15:50,508 –> 01:15:55,408
of cleaning and the safety around that i think it was a good discussion yeah

1062
01:15:55,408 –> 01:15:59,408
me too i i’m excited Excited that we finally got through the rest of this.

1063
01:15:59,528 –> 01:16:04,968
You know, it’s good that we covered in detail those first four because they are so important.

1064
01:16:05,128 –> 01:16:10,068
You know, again, I said it in the first podcast, the treat all guns as if they

1065
01:16:10,068 –> 01:16:11,268
were loaded at all times.

1066
01:16:11,308 –> 01:16:14,348
It just sets the precedence for everything else.

1067
01:16:14,408 –> 01:16:19,188
But it’s good to do a deep dive and understand that there are others that need

1068
01:16:19,188 –> 01:16:21,568
to be accounted for and that you should follow.

1069
01:16:22,028 –> 01:16:26,148
And that, you know, there’s a place for redundancy. there’s

1070
01:16:26,148 –> 01:16:29,048
a place for folks that aren’t supporters of guns

1071
01:16:29,048 –> 01:16:32,848
to be familiar with gun safety rules and

1072
01:16:32,848 –> 01:16:35,868
you know the importance of upkeep and keeping

1073
01:16:35,868 –> 01:16:39,688
your your firearms clean and maintained all plays

1074
01:16:39,688 –> 01:16:42,528
a role in safety but going back to what

1075
01:16:42,528 –> 01:16:46,528
you said or i should give credit to cooper is

1076
01:16:46,528 –> 01:16:49,748
that you know safety is ultimately what happens between

1077
01:16:49,748 –> 01:16:54,348
your two ears and i couldn’t agree more over that and i think that’s a great

1078
01:16:54,348 –> 01:16:58,888
note to end on yeah well thank you for having me Jim. I appreciate it Denis

1079
01:16:58,888 –> 01:17:04,148
i appreciate it uh thanks thanks for doing this again uh now that we now we

1080
01:17:04,148 –> 01:17:08,508
can say we’re finished up with gun safety finally at last and uh maybe we can

1081
01:17:08,508 –> 01:17:09,628
do something in the future.

1082
01:17:10,960 –> 01:17:32,075
Music.

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