I’ve never figured out how people do this
I subscribe to the Loudoun County alerts thingee, and from time to time I see things like this:
Weapons Violation: A 32-year-old Ashburn man told authorities he unintentionally discharged a firearm in his residence.
I will never, as long as I live, understand how anyone ever unintentionally discharges a firearm.
To wit: even if you store a firearm in a loaded, cocked-and-locked state, friggin trigger discipline, have you heard of it?
And this goes for the dummies who fire off a round “cleaning” it. Assuming they’re telling the truth, it’s 2 steps AT MOST to render 99.9% of all firearms safe. Here, I’ll go ahead and prevent you from ever accidentally shooting the family pet with this simple guide.
Semi-automatic pistols and rifles (ie, anything with a box magazine)
1. Eject magazine
2. Charge weapon once or twice once the magazine is clear, visually inspecting the chamber, not the barrel, to ensure the weapon is unloaded.
Revolvers
1. Eject the cylinder and depress the cartridge eject lever/rod
2. Visually inspect that all chambers are empty; do not return the cylinder to its closed state until you are ready to return the weapon to its loaded state, or are preparing to store it unloaded.
Weapons with internal magazines, eg bolt-action or pump rifles
1. If applicable, put the safety on and work the action, ejecting a live round from the magazine.
2. Repeat, visually inspecting the chamber, not the barrel, to ensure the weapon is unloaded.
(Of note, this category is the hardest to cope with, as some have means by which to quickly empty the magazine, and others don’t without disassembling the weapon entirely, which is … unsafe without first emptying the magazine)
Assuming you keep proper trigger discipline and are not one of the 1 in a million random failures, you will never, ever have an accident with a firearm.
People who can’t maintain trigger discipline shouldn’t be allowed to own firearms. Finger off the goddamn trigger. Assume all weapons are loaded. Why is this so hard?
