For those who will not read this entire post,
here is the #1 safety lesson you need to know about any gun:

A gun is ALWAYS loaded.

It doesn't matter if you completely emptied your gun of ammo over an hour ago and have been sitting there cleaning its empty barrel and chamber ever since; that gun is still loaded.

With this said, you would obviously never point a loaded gun at anybody ever. And since all guns are always loaded no matter what, no gun should ever be pointed at anyone. Ever. That is, unless you intend on (possibly) shooting them. And even then, still, you should not put your finger on the trigger until you are certain you will need to shoot.

This was the first and biggest lesson I ever learned about guns. I grew up with guns. I have pictures of my grandfather teaching me how to shoot a .22 rifle at their farm when I was six years old. I had my first BB gun when I was 7 and soon after got a pistol pellet gun. I got a Buck Knife that same year for Christmas. (I was taught knife safety as well.)
I also knew my entire life exactly where my father kept his loaded guns in the house. I knew that I was never to go in there, especially with a friend. The only time I would have ever gone in there was if I was home alone and someone was breaking in. Luckily, that never happened.

I was in Indian Guides with my dad when I was younger. I remember one particular camp out we went to every year had a shooting range. The first time we went they had all of us kids line up in a row to go over basic gun safety before ever stepping foot on the range. The first thing the instructor did was walk down the line with an unloaded single barrel 12 gauge shotgun. You could see straight down the open barrel and could see that it was not loaded. The instructor asked every kid 'Is this gun loaded?' Every one of my friends said 'no' as he went down the line. I was towards the end, but when he asked me, 'Is this gun loaded?' I said 'Yes.' He asked, 'Why?' I said, 'Because a gun is always loaded.' The instructor was very impressed and immediately commented to my dad that he did a good job of teaching me.

This is the exact kind of training and knowledge that we need to make sure our kids and younger generations receive. They do not need to be kept in fear and ignorance, NOR do guns need to be glorified. Even if you don't own a gun or ever want to own a gun, you should still be made aware of proper gun safety just in case of the event that you ever needed it.

We make 15 year old kids take a year of 'driver education' before ever officially having a drivers license. (And yet driving fatalities are still larger than gun fatalities.) So it only makes sense to spend at least a little time learning how to properly handle a weapon.

At least,
that's what I think.

cheers.

I can add another rule: when you are shooting, cleaning, loading, or unloading a gun, tolerate NO interruptions!

Interruptions take your attention away from where it should be, and hopefully your mind will go back where was, but what if the interruption gets interrupted, and so on, and so on. Keep your mind on what you're doing, and reach a position of total safety before dealing with any interruption.

Example:
My dad and I went black-powder shooting with a muzzle-loading, single-shot, cap & ball pistol he had made from a kit. He had done a good job on it, and I had the most fun shooting I had ever had. Later, he said it was time to pack up and go home. I was interrupted, you see. We packed up, went home, unpacked, and proceeded to clean our guns. I started on the cap & ball pistol, and then I saw it - there was the lead ball 'way down the bore (it was a fairly large bore). Yikes! My dad took it out somewhere isolated later, and fired it off, since we didn't have a puller. Lesson learned.

S&F!

Anything can be dangerous...and education is the only way to learn how to deal with such things.

I had to take a mandatory hunting safety class in middle school. We learned all about gun safety, and that rule "A gun is always loaded" was one of the most repeated phrase.

It was also taught to me by my father. He took me shooting at an early age, and it was serious business.

I had a couple of close calls with being dead, in my youth.

Once was when a friend and I were in the neighbor's house, and before you know it, there's a little snub nose something or other being passed back and forth in our kiddy hands. Gee. I wonder if it's loaded...? We didn't explore further, thank God. Of course it was. Nothing more useless....

The other was when I watched a guy turn around and follow me, after taking his foot off the gas, leaving an ominous 'I have no purpose today other than to look for a real live glory hole' exhaust note sound. He was an older guy, probably just confusing me for a young LGBT sex trooper looking for someone to marry, except that I was 10.

It was a little terrifying to be riding a ten speed through people's back yards for 6 blocks, dragging it over fences, out of breath, and seeing this God damned 1968 mold metallic green Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 keeping perfect pace with me, every time I glanced between houses. I don't think the woman quite believed me, but the following day the man returned to the house I sought shelter at (they were our former Chicago neighbors with the gun) and I learned that he had some things to say that aren't printable. I must have really turned him on, with my yellow Schwinn and blue cut-offs, examining a dead garter snake in the curb..... I was about 6 miles from home and 10 years old at the time. I was glad that I knew where these friends lived, and glad they were packed. It was a suburban area surrounded by woods, bordering O'Hare on it's north side. Gacy was a little to the south, and Silas Jayne had his Green Tree stables next door, and Idle Hour Ranch up north. Kids showed up in the woods, dead, frequently. See Peterson-Schuessler murders.

LESSON #2: Never Point a Gun at someone unless you intend to shoot and kill that person (related to #1 that the gun is loaded)...but worthy of rephrasing as #2 because it emphasizes the potential lethality of a loaded gun and the intent to kill versus carelessly pointing a loaded weapon at someone.

I also grew up around guns. My grandfather kept his .410 shotguns (we hunted small game) in an unlocked closet on an unlocked back screen porch for many years. With four grandsons and all the neighbors, nobody ever touched them - never thought about it.

I took Hunter education classes and gun safety classes as a member of a youth program sponsored by our Sheriff's department. I learned to respect the tool.

Great post! Thanks for reminding me of some of the best times of my childhood!

OP is so right, that was the first one my dad taught me as a kid, with plastic guns. I actually have a video of my cousins and me playing soldiers as kids, we'd be marching around the house with the guns, making poses for pictures, and at one point my dad got really mad because I pointed the gun at someone. Watching that video still gives me chills, it's something I'll never do unless self defense and really hope not to, ever.

There are two other rules he never told us, but I learned from watching:

1- Never give a loaded gun to someone else.

2- Never give your gun to someone else unless there is a high degree of trust, and never lose sight of that weapon. Be ready to disarm that person if needed.

This two rules I picked up because in the country I was born you are required to register all weapons. If your weapon is used in a crime you will be in trouble no questions asked.

I remember this particular day where at a police highway checkpoint a cop asked my dad to see both gun and permit. My dad gave the permit but refused to give the gun - at least he tried, even called his lawyer. In the end, and after verifying this was a genuine cop (beause there are fakes ones over there) he gave in, but the first thing he did was remove the clip, and clear the chamber. The cop just watched in amazement and what he said I will remember forever: "Forget it sir, you're the first one I've seen doing it correctly and you are free to go".

Edit just to add: That country is El Salvador, "assault weapons" are illegal unless with special permit and all guns must be registered. Still, murder rates are up the roof and it's (I think) the 2nd most violent country in the world. regulation did nothing, gang members run around with AK-47s (as president Obama would say) but these weapons are not registered so not one regulation in the world could ever make a difference.

Suffix to "always loaded": Never point a gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy.

Range safety:

Always determine a "firing line" and target area with good backstop.

After firing, no firearm is allowed behind that line without removing magazine and looking into the chamber to see if unloaded. Then return to the rear, barrel pointing up.

Nobody is allowed forward of the firing line until all guns cleared and range declared "clear". Then check your targets.

Not much to add to the OP. Grew up the same way. Bringing back fond memories of the Indian guides. That is were I learned to shoot for the first time also.

ACT
Assume the firearm is loaded at all times.
Control muzzle direction at all times.
Trigger finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard.

Originally posted by eleven44
For those who will not read this entire post,
here is the #1 safety lesson you need to know about any gun:

A gun is ALWAYS loaded.

It doesn't matter if you completely emptied your gun of ammo over an hour ago and have been sitting there cleaning its empty barrel and chamber ever since; that gun is still loaded.

With this said, you would obviously never point a loaded gun at anybody ever. And since all guns are always loaded no matter what, no gun should ever be pointed at anyone. Ever. That is, unless you intend on (possibly) shooting them. And even then, still, you should not put your finger on the trigger until you are certain you will need to shoot.

This was the first and biggest lesson I ever learned about guns. I grew up with guns. I have pictures of my grandfather teaching me how to shoot a .22 rifle at their farm when I was six years old. I had my first BB gun when I was 7 and soon after got a pistol pellet gun. I got a Buck Knife that same year for Christmas. (I was taught knife safety as well.)
I also knew my entire life exactly where my father kept his loaded guns in the house. I knew that I was never to go in there, especially with a friend. The only time I would have ever gone in there was if I was home alone and someone was breaking in. Luckily, that never happened.

I was in Indian Guides with my dad when I was younger. I remember one particular camp out we went to every year had a shooting range. The first time we went they had all of us kids line up in a row to go over basic gun safety before ever stepping foot on the range. The first thing the instructor did was walk down the line with an unloaded single barrel 12 gauge shotgun. You could see straight down the open barrel and could see that it was not loaded. The instructor asked every kid 'Is this gun loaded?' Every one of my friends said 'no' as he went down the line. I was towards the end, but when he asked me, 'Is this gun loaded?' I said 'Yes.' He asked, 'Why?' I said, 'Because a gun is always loaded.' The instructor was very impressed and immediately commented to my dad that he did a good job of teaching me.

This is the exact kind of training and knowledge that we need to make sure our kids and younger generations receive. They do not need to be kept in fear and ignorance, NOR do guns need to be glorified. Even if you don't own a gun or ever want to own a gun, you should still be made aware of proper gun safety just in case of the event that you ever needed it.

We make 15 year old kids take a year of 'driver education' before ever officially having a drivers license. (And yet driving fatalities are still larger than gun fatalities.) So it only makes sense to spend at least a little time learning how to properly handle a weapon.

At least,
that's what I think.

cheers.

edit on 26-1-2013 by eleven44 because: (no reason given)

That is kind of what I learned growing up.
And that is a good point is to always treat a gun as a loaded weapon,no matter what.
I have passed that knowledge to my 11 year old son,who is into knives and just got his first gun,a 22 rifle.
He went to a camp and learned about gun safety,and got his junior hunting license when he was 9.

Now,when I was about his age,my dad and my uncles would go out and shoot up jugs of gas with high powered rifles.
I'm not letting him know about that bit of fun.

I couldn't agree more. My step dad has slept with a pistol next to him since the day I met him. Growing up my stepbrothers and I disobeyed pretty much every rule they put down. The one we never did was "you touch my gun, I will kick your a**es". He never had to lock it up because we honestly believed him when he said that. And even now 15 years later we don't touch any of his guns, unless he hands it to us.

Point is, teach your kids responsible gun ownership and safety. Even if you have to promise them an a** whipping.

Being born in 1951, I too was involved in things such as Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts. In these we learned about knife & gun safety. I think most kids of the era had some parental influence that paid special attention to our safety in some measure, it was simply practiced in those times.
My Uncle taught me gun safety, and in 1965 I went to a gun safety class held by a civic group. Needless to say, the basics were always taught... that of a weapon always being considered loaded, and not to point a weapon at anyone but rather it was best to have the barrel pointed skyward. I grew up in Southern California, and I believe.... trying to remember back 55 years......... that in order to get a hunting license which 'If I remember correctly', would only be issued once a gun safety class had been attended and a certificate issued.
My opinion is that in those days parents were usually more involved with their children's welfare, where in todays world, more and more it has become the task of the states to educate, thus more kids fall through the cracks without being required to participate in effective gun safety education. Also it those days, there was always the draft or military where most males learned the basics of firearms, albeit at an advanced age.

This was my first rule I learned growing up, and because of the rule I still get extremely jumpy anytime the trigger pull part of field stripping my glock comes into play. I don't know why, but for some reason tmy head tells me a magical bullet is going to find its way into the chamber, although I have already checked 3-4 times.



I will say that the gun is always loaded way the most distinct and important rule I learned on gun safety thoug

ETA: I should probably note that I am 24 years old, so would probably be considered in the "newer" generation.