By Christine Cunningham, by the Redoubt Reporter
Photo courtesy of Christine Cunningham. Sadie Hallmark carefully sights in during target practice. Anyone failing to observe the rules of firearms safety is an easy target for getting sharply reprimanded.
I mounted my trap gun and made sure that my eye was focused just over the barrel in the mirror.
I wasn’t taking my cue so much from the scene in “Taxi Driver,” where a young Robert De Niro points his gun and asks the image in his mirror, “You talkin’ to me?” I had it on good advice that if I was mounting my shotgun correctly, my eye would be just over the bead. But, since I was alone, I went ahead and asked the famous question. Somewhere in my imagination, a bright orange clay target quivered in fear at my intimidation.
The first of the four basic firearms safety rules is, “All guns are always loaded.” It doesn’t mean, “Always keep your gun loaded,” although it could be taken to have this meaning. The rules are verbatim, so I cannot amend the first rule of guns, or I probably would. The rules have been memorized by countless firearms instructors, and adding to them would require a commentary equal to the entire Western Canon.
But I take things literally. The first rule of guns makes more sense adding a few words: “act as if” all guns are always loaded. I’m not one to believe against reality that a gun I know isn’t loaded is, just to be safe. A literal reading of the rule — without commentary — implies that the first rule of guns … is a lie. All guns are not always loaded, but they should be considered as such. With a full explanation, I am not left with a distrust of rules that have exceptions, such as “‘I’ before ‘E’ except after ‘C.’” (I neither seize nor forfeit my neighbor’s caffeine).
The next basic rule of firearms safety is: “Never allow the muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy” (i.e., because all guns are always loaded). This makes mounting my gun and pointing it at my mirror verboten. I wouldn’t intend to destroy my mirror. It’s a very nice mirror. The rule acts as a second safety — even if the gun is loaded, if the muzzle never covers anything that you don’t intend to destroy, you’re safe.
“Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target and you have made the decision to shoot” is the third rule. Those who have experience with guns index the trigger finger (“your finger lives on the receiver, it only visits the trigger”). One of the reasons is that when people are excited, they tend to clench. If your finger is on the trigger when that happens, hopefully the muzzle is in a safe direction. No matter what you’ve seen in movies, if you go to a gun counter and watch trigger fingers, which my uncle calls “the booger hook,” you can easily pick out those inexperienced with firearms.
Note: the words “pick out” have nothing to do with the “booger hook” reference.
The fourth rule: “Be sure of your target as well as your surroundings.” This rule seems simple, but it has a meaning forged in accidents. When hunter safety instructors advise against shooting a silhouetted animal, it is because the surroundings are unknown. There was an incident on Kalgan Island where a hunter shot a moose and was not aware that behind the moose was his daughter. A bullet continues on after the target and every bullet, as my favorite instructor says, “Has your name on it.”
There are other safety rules besides the basic four. But if there are only four to remember, these are the lifesavers. For instance, “All guns are always loaded” means that when someone hands me a gun, I have to assume it’s loaded, so I have to check it. If he says, “It’s not loaded,” I have to ignore him and check it anyway. Not because I don’t take his word or because I’m a type-A personality, but because anyone who says a gun isn’t loaded doesn’t know the four basic rules and just might have overlooked something else.
One of the things I like about gun ranges is that they are one place where, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” does not apply. I’ve been looking for an exception to this rule since I first heard it. Those who know me might say I tend toward cattiness. There have been so many times in my life I’ve turned to the person next to me and said, “Are you not saying what I’m thinking?” In the world of firearms safety, not saying something nice might get you killed.
Now, I’m sure it’s possible to find a nice way of insisting that someone follow important rules, but the thing about being nice is that it’s very time consuming. It’s also less effective. For example, “Cease fire!” has more impact than, “Would you mind ceasing fire?” or, “I don’t mean to be rude, but if you continue to shoot, it may endanger my entire existence.” By the way, the cease fire command is one anyone can give on a gun range.
Back in front of my mirror, I mount my shotgun again. This time my eye lines up perfectly over the barrel. “You make a move,” I said. “I’m the only one here.”
Christine Cunningham was born in Alaska and has lived on the Kenai Peninsula for the last 20 years, where she enjoys fishing, hunting and outdoors recreation. She can be reached at christineemal@hotmail.com.
