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Safety, safety, safety - are you tired of hearing about it?
I hope not, and if you are, think again. Safety is the single
most important aspect of ensuring our shooting sports' survival.
If
you have been around guns for years and think you know it all, and
are completely familiar with all of the safety rules, and believe
you will never violate any of them, and certainly don't need to
read any further, think again. You are exactly the person this
editorial is aimed at. More and more often I see those new to
the sport listen attentively when safety issues are discussed, but
those who are old hands with guns, spout the right words but are
almost too familiar with guns. If you think you would never
point a firearm at another person by accident, think about how you
and your friends handle firearms every day, especially when
together.
Just
a few weeks ago a friend of mine, who is totally concerned with gun
safety, was handling a nicely engraved Cimarron when the barrel
passed over my chest twice. Prior to that, I had another
friend who was passing around a new engraved Colt for a number of us
to look at and again, the end of the barrel passed over someone.
Yes, I knew it was unloaded and the gun handler knew it was unloaded
too, but still the first rule of firearms safety, not pointing a
firearm at something you are not willing to destroy, was broken!
It also makes the recipient very uncomfortable.
Well,
this isn't the end of my story or my message. We at the
magazine preach, talk, and write about gun safety, and you would
think we practice it religiously everyday. So, I was at a
local match a couple of months ago and had a pair of Taylor's new
1858 5-1/2" Remingtons with their R&D .45 Colt stainless
cylinders brought over for me to use.
They
were brought to me with the barrels up, as I was talking with some
folks, they were very carefully brought down to point at the ground,
and placed in my holsters (this really should have been done at the
car or the firing line).
Editorial
Continued
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