Gun Safety

[Wingman]

What are the 3 top rules in gun safety?

1. Treat every firearm as a loaded firearm
2. Control the muzzle
3. Know your target and what is beyond

I see a lot of folks mishandling guns in this job. Checked a group of hunters last Saturday and while the father was loading up the magazine for me, he was pointing the barrel at his son's legs the entire time. Then the son loaded up his magazine and I had to grab his barrel once and tell him to watch the muzzle so he wouldn't point it at me again.

Did either person intentionally point the gun at someone else? No. But y'all don't forget your basic gun safety rules when being checked or while hunting. After a recent hunting accident where a young boy accidentally shot his dad in the back while standing at their truck, I get kinda particular about these things.

[mharville]

I've only has my gun checked once, and i handed it to the gw with it "open and on" then gave him 3 shells.. he put them in.. shucked them on the road(left the shells on the ground), handed me the gun, then got in his truck and left.. Is this a common practice? Kinda made me think of him as a peepee.. is that just me or what? I didn't know i could have loaded it to show him

[goosebruce]

i'd rather pick my shells up, than have someone try to break the plug in my gun with the magazine extension.... had a texas rag dowel cut off as a plug, and a gw try as hard as he could to push in the 3rd shell. I finally told him, you break it, you get the ticket. black 870, with a full length mag extension, pattermaster tube, and black military style sling, it did look like something you'd rob a bank with more than kill a duck with, but it was legal cause I had made the plug my own dangself! travis

[Side Kick]

I had a GW do that to me last year. He shoved on that 3rd shell hard as he could but it wouldn't go. I was wondering the whole time if the plug was to break after he shoved the crap out of it, would I get a ticket?

[teul2]

[mottlet]

Got checked at water's edge last year. When the CO was unloading my dad's 870, he was jacking the shells onto the front deck of the boat and flipped a shell right into the drink. Bloop! All parties involved pretended they didn't see it.

I ain't about to get pissed at a CO over one shotgun shell. Or having to pick them up outta the road. He can make my life a lot harder than I can make his.

[Side Kick]

Side Kick wrote:
I had a GW do that to me last year. He shoved on that 3rd shell hard as he could but it wouldn't go. I was wondering the whole time if the plug was to break after he shoved the crap out of it, would I get a ticket?

Yup, he would have wrote ya.



I really don't see how that is fair in any right. I could only get 2 shells in while I was hunting, why be a peepee and break it to write a ticket? If I was legal while hunting it doesn't make sense to give me a ticket after the fact because HE broke my plug through no fault of my own.

[Wingman]

Did I forget to mention this post was about gun safety?

[Side Kick]

Haha sorry Wingman, just had a question.

[greenwaveduck]

I guess I'm lucky. I've never had a really bad experience with a GW in the places that I usually hunt. I did visit ARK with a friend and was (bothered) enough that I really did not want to go back.

[Seymore]

I posted this previously but it applies here. Couple of years ago my brother in law wanted to go dove hunting with me. He took the required hunter's education course, we got him a used 12 gauge, and I went and threw some skeet for him. Keep in mind that he is in his early 20's.

Opening day gets here and I wing a bird and ask him to go take care of it. I'm thinking he will go pick it up and ring its neck like he should. Instead I hear the gun go off and turn around to see him standing in a cloud of feathers, a hole in the ground where the bird was, and this WTF look on his face. He had walked up and blew the bird away. He had no idea how the gun worked or what it did.

I took the gun away and made him sit beside me the rest of the day. The point being that he had not had the proper training and hunter's education was not enough. I should have shown him the damage the gun could do at 10 feet to a watermelon or cantaloupe and let him see how that could be someones head.

Just proved that age is not an indicator of maturity when it comes to gun safety.

[brandonvet]

I began teaching my son at an early age that gun safety is paramount above everything else. I would preach to him about his nerf gun when he was 4 yrs old, then his bb gun/pellet rifle, his .410, and now his .20 gauge...always know where your muzzle is pointing, the muzzle should always be pointing in a safe direction, regardless of loaded/unloaded; don't put your finger on the trigger until your sure of your target; keep your gun unloaded until you are settled into the blind. He's 9 yrs old, but he's much safer to hunt with than alot of the guys I've hunted with in the past.

[brandonvet]

Personally, I think the earlier they are taught to respect firearms and learn the proper handling of a firearm, the smarter and safer they will be with a gun in their hand.

[ewd506]

Duck South Addict


Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 8:54 pm
Posts: 2358
Location: Tupelo I posted this previously but it applies here. Couple of years ago my brother in law wanted to go dove hunting with me. He took the required hunter's education course, we got him a used 12 gauge, and I went and threw some skeet for him. Keep in mind that he is in his early 20's.

Opening day gets here and I wing a bird and ask him to go take care of it. I'm thinking he will go pick it up and ring its neck like he should. Instead I hear the gun go off and turn around to see him standing in a cloud of feathers, a hole in the ground where the bird was, and this WTF look on his face. He had walked up and blew the bird away. He had no idea how the gun worked or what it did.

I took the gun away and made him sit beside me the rest of the day. The point being that he had not had the proper training and hunter's education was not enough. I should have shown him the damage the gun could do at 10 feet to a watermelon or cantaloupe and let him see how that could be someones head.

Just proved that age is not an indicator of maturity when it comes to gun safety.

_________________
Seymore, don't shoot the woodies with mallards working!!!!!!! Sorry, all I saw was long neck and web feet



Seymore, you hit thenail on the Head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[duckkiller]

bingo!!!!!!!