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The Four Rules of Shooting Guns

I recently went with a friend to a sporting clay facility. I have shot clay targets a fair amount in my life, but they were mostly backyard setups – a single thrower with a pull string. This outing was to a facility with approximately 50-75 stations. We shot several hundred clays and ran out before completing the whole park. 

I was excited because I don’t really get to shoot recreationally these days. I shoot a lot for work and because of that, I usually want to find something else to do when I get back from the range. Arial target shooting is also a discipline I am not well practiced in. Put a handgun, an AK or an AR into my hands, and I can pretty much do everything within the capabilities of the gun. With a shotgun and fast-moving, small targets, I am utterly remedial. 

The shotgun I was using was a borrowed Berretta A400 Parallel Target, the one with the blue receiver. I don’t know why I like blue guns. It was a little weird because it had this retracting recoil pad on the back of the stock. I don’t think it really did a whole lot, and I chalk that up to clay shooters being recoil sensitive.

We were shooting bull-crap estate loads, and the gun seemed to cycle just fine. Sometimes too well, because if you shot more than two rounds (even with a fast reload on a miss), the locals acted like you committed a cardinal sin. I am an SOT and have machine guns. I also believe you should be able to buy them at CVS. Needless to say, I obeyed the rules only at the behest of my friend. I didn’t want to get him banned from the club. 

Anyway, I learned what a report pair was, and we did a lot of those at various stations with only a few true pairs mixed in. All told, I probably missed 10 birds all afternoon. I don’t think it was too bad, considering it’s not my sport. I will admit that my host was running the chokes. My shotguns are for shooting slugs and buckshot; I don’t know what any of that stuff means. 

Beretta A400 XCEL Parallel Target
Beretta A400 XCEL Parallel Target

About three-quarters of the way through our birds, we came to a station occupied by three people. The last shooter was just stepping up and appeared to be a male of about 17 years of age. He was accompanied by two older men, I’m guessing his dad and uncle by their demeanor. 

 

The kid seemed to be a little loose with his gun handling skills but nothing that was immediately alarming. You could tell he knew the gun, a break action over under, but didn’t have a lot of experience. 

Then, he moved.

He experienced a miss fire on his last bird. Immediately, he spun 180 degrees, swept dad, and the gun settled with its barrel pointing right at my host and me. Instinctively, I stepped behind a tree out of the line of fire. 

 

The unholy tirade that was unleashed by my friend as the young man broke the gun open and fumbled the loaded shell from the breach was astounding. It was a cacophony of orders related to Rules 1 and 2, expletives, insults, and general condemnation. 

The kid’s response: “It’s broken open.”

The second wave of rebuke that came in response to that dumb excuse made the first sound like an episode of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. 

Just because the shotgun is open doesn't mean it can be pointed at someone
Just because the shotgun is open doesn't mean it can be pointed at someone

To be clear, my friend is a mild-mannered individual whom I have only ever seen angry a few times. It was a slow-clap level of demotivating motivation that is only ever glimpsed through the idealism of the internet meme. 

 

The worst part about the whole thing? Dad didn’t say a thing. He just put his head down and followed his son as he walked away. Anything would have been good. In my mind, I like to think that later he approached his son and said something along the lines of, “Hey, yeah, you really shouldn’t point guns at people.” 

Four Rules

This is as good a time as any to review the four rules of firearm safety:

 

1. Treat All guns as though they are always loaded, all the time. 

 

2. Never let your muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. 

 

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot. 

 

4. Be sure of your target, it’s foreground and background. 

 

These rules govern anything and everything having to do with firearms. They aren’t just range rules; they are life rules and should be instilled as early as possible in as many people as possible.

 

To parents: take responsibility for your children. To all adults, take responsibility for yourself and those around you. I have had the unfortunate displeasure (on more than one occasion) of being in close proximity to a gunshot wound resulting from a negligent discharge. I have applied a tourniquet on someone who without it would likely not be here today. Guns are not toys, and although we glamorize them, it is imperative that we treat them with the respect they are due.

 

“It isn’t loaded.”

 

“The safety is on.”

 

“The action is open.” 

 

None of these are viable responses to “Don’t point that gun at me.”

 

“I’m sorry, you are right. Thank you,” is the correct response. Be better people. 

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