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I might tend to agree with you if I only had one or two guns. But I literally have random guns in most of the rooms of my house. Some of them are actually loaded and some aren't. I might go a year between touching some of them... For that reason, I treat every gun as if it's loaded. When I pick up one of my guns, I always make sure it's clear.Carry over from last night's discussion...
One of the 'sacred rules' of gun handling is "All Guns are ALWAYS Loaded". While I get the need to consider the lowest common denominator (i.e. Idiots) when setting rules, I think this rule is absolute horse doo doo.
What say you?
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This has always made more sense to me... It is basically saying, even if you know the firearm is unloaded, keep following Rules 2, 3 and 4!The wording is a bit convoluted, it was taught to me as "Treat every gun as if it were loaded". Even a bb gun hurts at close range when careless. But the concept makes sense. Obviously if no round has been chambered then the gun is not truly loaded, however, by treating every gun in the same manner when handling it we build on that concept.
I was taught to shoot 52 years ago at the age of 12 by my uncle, a WW2 Marine combat veteran of the South Pacific Theater. The basic rules were drilled into my head and were sacred, never to be violated. I was corrected quickly and "memorably" by him if I was lax in observing the rules. Funny how what you learn from a 6'3", 220 lb Marine has a way of sticking with you throughout one's life! That man could swear for 2 minutes straight and never use the same word twice!
I might tend to agree with you if I only had one or two guns. But I literally have random guns in most of the rooms of my house. Some of them are actually loaded and some aren't. I might go a year between touching some of them... For that reason, I treat every gun as if it's loaded. When I pick up one of my guns, I always make sure it's clear.
Also, when friends or family come to my house and want to look at some of my guns, I always clear every weapon and leave the action open before I hand it to them. Even when I already know it wasn't really loaded.
It's the safe thing to do and it sets a good precedent for my friends and family who are not as accustomed to gun handling as I am.
Maybe they'll think, "If alabamacoastie does it, I should do it too." Hopefully it'll make them safer in the future.
bingoThat saying is one of those dumb rules that doesn’t make sense if taken literally. Dryfire practice and a substantial amount of gunsmithing work violates the “always treat every gun as loaded” maxim.
The actual rule in practice is “assume every firearm is loaded unless manually and visually cleared.”
Once a gun is clear, it’s clear until it leaves your control.
I must have misunderstood. You and I are on the same page. Guns don't load themselves...Based on what you've said, I'd posit that you don't actually believe in that "rule" as it is written.
What you say sounds more to me like my preferred, "Know the condition of your weapon" or "treat every gun as if it's loaded, until you've verified it isn't" or some reasonable variation of that. The point being, if YOU have cleared it, you KNOW it's unloaded, there's no reason to continue treating it as if it were loaded.
My poll question is obviously worded like all polls, with a clear indication of my bias. But I think the analogy I used is appropriate. The gun either is or is not loaded, that's just a fact. It can't identify as loaded if it is not in fact loaded. It's not a transtrender issue.
I'm a 6'4" 250# Seabee. I win.Funny how what you learn from a 6'3", 220 lb Marine has a way of sticking with you throughout one's life!
Carry over from last night's discussion...
One of the 'sacred rules' of gun handling is "All Guns are ALWAYS Loaded". While I get the need to consider the lowest common denominator (i.e. Idiots) when setting rules, I think this rule is absolute horse doo doo.
What say you?
View attachment 553159
Same with the guns: that one time that you were in too much of a hurry or made a wrong assumption, you'll pay dearly for the mistake.
If you think you know, you won't try to find out.Some Devil's Advocate here...wouldn't a 'rule' that incorporates knowing the condition be preferable to one that assumes a condition?
All Guns Are Always Loaded assumes that the gun IS loaded.
Know the condition of your gun removes the assumption in favor of actively knowing.
That (knowing) seems to me to be a better standard to prevent ND.
I have a lot of guns that are loaded. I treat all guns as if they were loaded. When someone hands me a gun, the first thing that I do is to check if it's loaded.
To be 100% honest, I would have to admit that I do pass a certain line of saying "this gun is clear" when working on or just simply fondling a gun. I don't check it every 30 seconds or before each trigger pull after I've already cleared it. So at risk of splitting the gnat's hair even further, I'd just say that I think @keepcalmandcarryon 's post is most appropriate and more accurately reflects my set of rules: TREAT every gun AS IF loaded. NOT every gun IS loaded. Again, mindset is what we're trying to instill. Even when I KNOW a gun is unloaded, I still don't point it at anyone. I'm still treating it like it's "loaded."Some Devil's Advocate here...wouldn't a 'rule' that incorporates knowing the condition be preferable to one that assumes a condition?
All Guns Are Always Loaded assumes that the gun IS loaded.
Know the condition of your gun removes the assumption in favor of actively knowing.
That (knowing) seems to me to be a better standard to prevent ND.