"I think I need a gun.....", The Four Rules

I never meant for this blog to be a place to introduce beginners to a few of the more important things in life, but then I never meant for it to be a place that only experts would be able to comprehend, either. As it is, pretty much every thing posted so far has been of an introductory nature, because those are the questions that friends and family have asked. And, I think that's great. In fact, I think that is going to help out a lot more people than breaking down the dynamics of different shooting stances or looking at the voodoo science of wound ballistics.

So, for one reason or another, you feel that now is the time to buy a gun. This always starts with the same question, "what gun should I buy?" This is, to put it mildly, putting the cart before the horse. For one thing, you haven't said what you want a gun for. There are all types of guns for all types of activities. Bird hunting, small-medium-large game hunting, practice, plinking, uniformed duty, wilderness defense, urban carry are just a few different things requiring a gun and they all need a different gun. Yes, there are shades of grey there, but just accept the point that a user needs to be specific about what the end use will be.

As my background, training, and experience is predominantly in the individual, civilian, non-law enforcement use of the firearm, that's what most of the inquiries have been about. So, let's assume you are Joe Average Guy and you want a gun that you can use to defend yourself and your family. Ok, now we have an end goal in mind - making you a responsible, armed citizen (which is exactly what the Second Amendment embodies, I may add.) Photo from Garrity's Gunleather
Cool, so when do we go look at guns? You want to do this right, right? If not, you probably should stop right here, because I'm fairly rigid about safety, knowledge, and training. You don't say, "I want to SCUBA dive, what regulator should I buy?", or "I want to sky dive, what parachute should I buy?" Of course you don't say such things, that would be foolish. You'll end up killing yourself if you simply strap on a air tank or parachute and step into the blue. You have no knowledge or skills and you are going to be undertaking a rewarding journey, but one that is dangerous if you mess up.

In fact, not messing up is the very first thing you need to learn. This is also called "gun safety." Learn it, live it, breath it. You had to learn how to drive a car and work with power tools, you have to learn to do this and that takes time. That's ok, don't sweat it, will get through this together.

When you buy a gun or read a list of gun safety rules put out by the local game and fish department, the lists go on and on. I've seen lists that have surpassed forty items. That's crazy. Memorizing and implementing all of that would be like working for the French government, onerous and ineffective. In fact, all of those rules have been distilled down to just four. Anyone can learn and use four rules. These rules were made up by men who dedicated their lives to teaching others about firearms, from beginner to advanced, from civilian to Special Forces. A man named Jeff Cooper hammered these four rules home for decades and they are law.

You will find those rules at the top of my page. They are so important that if anyone only glances at my blog, at least they will see the rules. The rules are self-explanatory, but we'll cover them in a bit more depth.

Rule 1: All guns are always loaded. This can be taken literally or figuratively. An unloaded gun is going to be about as much use as a car without gas. For a gun to be effective, it has to be loaded (we'll cover safe storage farther along in this series.) But, what this rule really means is that all guns you see, no matter the context, are loaded until you have it in your hands and personally make sure it is empty. A gun shop sales person takes a gun out of a display and hands it to you, you check it. Well, it was in a display, of course it's unloaded, right? I've personally come across two guns that were loaded in the case without the staff knowing. A customer had slipped a round into the chamber as a joke, the sales man hadn't noticed and hadn't checked it before returning it to the display. Photo from The Martialist
The sales man violated Rule 1. The first thing you do with a gun is check to see if it's loaded. If that gun leaves your hand for one instant, you check it the next time you are in physical possession of it. You see another person check to see if it's clear and they hand it directly to you, what is the first think you do? That's right, you check it.

Even if you pick up a gun you want to be loaded, you check it to make sure it's loaded and in a ready condition. I had been traveling in a state where a gun could have a loaded magazine, but not be chambered. Upon entering a more friendly state, I slipped the gun in my waistband and went on my business. It wasn't until I got home that I realized I hadn't chambered a round. Why hadn't I? Because to me the gun was loaded, but I didn't check it's state of readiness. I assumed something and I was wrong. We all do it, but learn from others so that you make fewer mistakes.

Rule 2: Never point your gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. This has been described as imagining a laser beam coming out of your gun. Don't let that laser hit anything you wouldn't be willing to have vaporized. This rule is a bit misunderstood and some people become rather dogmatic about it. The fact is, your gun will cover things you don't want destroyed. In a holster, it's pointed at your body. While drawing, it's pointed at your feet. When handling it, it's going to be pointed at something in the room.

I don't know about you, but I really don't own anything that I'm dying to put a hole in, ergo the gun will be pointing at something I don't want destroyed. What this rule really means is to practice muzzle discipline. The muzzle is the end of the barrel where the bullet comes out. Even if you have followed Rule 1, the gun should never, ever be pointed at someone. That goes for sick jokes as well as carelessness. If you wife (or husband!) is in the kitchen peeling potatoes and you are cleaning your gun, it should not be pointed at your culinary disposed spouse for even a moment. To allow a muzzle to swing across a verboten object is termed "sweeping." Talking with friends and doing some show and tell, the guns never are pointed at a person. If that means doing weird contortions with your hands and wrists, then you do so.Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until you gun is pointed at something you are willing to destroy. This is The Golden Rule. Break all of the others, and nothing bad will happen if you follow this one. Despite what television has taught you, a properly maintained gun will not go off if it is dropped. The one and only way to make a gun fire is to make it's trigger move backwards when a round is chambered. "It was an accident" or "I didn't mean to" hold absolutely no water. What is the first thing people do when they pick up a gun? Nope, they don't follow Rule 1. They put their finger on the trigger, because, gosh darn it, that's what the triggers there for, right?The best way to teach yourself this is to reprogram your brain. Tell yourself that the default position for your index finger is straight along the side of the gun. It should take a conscious effort to make your finger go onto the trigger. Heck, sit down with your gun in your hand and watch the evening news. Never let go of the gun and make sure that for thirty minutes your finger is rested flat along the side of the gun. Don't allow your finger to touch the trigger at all. Consider the trigger guard like double yellow lines on the road - you aren't going to cross either unless you have an immediate and life threatening reason.

It's almost impossible to emphasize this rule enough. In advanced training you will learn to split the seconds to exactly when to put your finger on the trigger, and you will learn to expand the situations where you can do it. But, that is called "advanced" for a reason, so don't concern yourself with that right now. For this level, "don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready and willing to fire" will work. Photo from Gullyblog
Rule 4: Positively identify your target and what is beyond it. Originally, there were only three rules, but a fourth was added as a way to address and issue that seems like common sense but that most people won't think about in a moment of stress. This concept can best be illustrated by two true stories.

The original impetuous for this rule came after a tragic accident due to mistaken identity. A man lived in an area that was suffering from ever increasing crime. He had been hassled by the local thugs and thought he had better buy a gun so that he wouldn't become a victim. He found a gun that worked for him, he got the right training, he practiced, and late one night, he saw the handle to his front door moving as if someone were trying to pick the lock. The man retrieved his gun, saw the door handle still moving, yelled for the would-be robber to go away. The door handle still kept moving. Thinking he would be a lot safer if the crook never made it into the house, the man shot through the door. Upon opening the now ventilated door, he found his son lying dead on the door step. His son was enlisted in the Navy, had received an unexpected leave, and thought he would surprise his father. The son didn't know the father had had the locks changed or that he had bought a gun. The man had followed Rule 1 - he knew his gun was loaded. He had followed Rule 2 - he wanted to destroy the person on the other side of the door. He had followed Rule 3 - he had deliberately put his finger on the trigger and pulled. What he hadn't done was confirm what he target actually was. He had assumed when making a life-depriving choice.The second story is one I heard in a concealed weapons class I was auditing. One of the students related his own near-disaster. He awoke one night to find a large man at the end of the hallway. Armed, the student pointed his gun at the intruder and yelled at the man to turn around and leave the house or he would be shot. Finger on the trigger and about to send bullets flying, Rule 4 broke through the fear and adrenaline. He stopped his trigger pull, reached behind him, found the light switch and turned it on. The "intruder" turned out to be a Greek grandfather. He was in the country for his granddaughter's wedding which had been held earlier that day. The reception was at the house of the girl's parents, which happened to be right next door to the student. Drunk, not speaking a word of English, and lost in a sea of cookie cutter homes, the man had walked around for a breath of fresh air and was confused on which house he belonged in. He had picked the wrong house and had almost died because of it. Needless to say, the student had tucked his pistol away and, knowing about the girl's wedding, understood what had happened. He guided the old man back to the right house, went home, and had a beer of his own to calm his shaking hands.

When you are undertaking an action that can easily end in a person's death, you owe it to them and yourself to make sure you have the facts and aren't guessing. Photo from Stressfire by Massad Ayoob
The second half of Rule 4 - "and what is beyond it" - is simple. Any bullet you fire is going to keep going until it has traveled it's entire flight path unobstructed, at which point it will fall to the ground. Or, it's going to keep going until some object stops it. If you miss the target or your bullet goes through the target and out the other side, be sure you know what is going to stop it. Those living in dense, urban areas have more of a concern than those living in rural areas. Know your gun, know your ammo, and understand what it is capable of. A regular self-defense round will easily penetrate eight and very often more, layers of dry wall. That means if you start in the room you are in, it will go through a minimum of four other rooms if it doesn't hit a stud. If it hits a stud, take away a couple of layers of drywall. What is on the other rooms? Is someone there? How about if the bullet exits your house, or you are accosted on the street and have to shoot? Are cars passing behind the thug? A busy restaurant?

I was hard pressed in deciding whether I should cover the basic safety rules or the morality of self-defense first. Both are very important to know before a person even signs up for an introductory class. I chose the safety rules because everyone should know them and understand what it takes to handle a firearm properly. If you were actually here, we could cover the rules in just a few minutes and head to the range for some fun. After that we could have a serious discussion about the moral end psychological implications of owning a deadly weapon.

This might have seemed a bit dull, but this is a subject that should be approached in a very careful manner. Real life isn't the movies and owning a gun doesn't turn a person into gunslinger. Nor should it.This was safety. In further parts to this series, we'll address not only the moral choices to make, but training, different types of guns for different situations and needs, safe storage of firearms, some legal issues (but remember, I'm not a lawyer and am not dispensing legal advice, just giving my opinions and observations after having worked and lived in this world for a very long time), as well just how to have some fun.

Now, write down the four safety rules, and make them a mantra to repeat over and over, each day. If you're Catholic, just quietly substitute them in for all the Hail Marys your priest gives you.

Photo by Oleg Volk