Why YSK: Even if you don’t own a gun, there is a chance you can encounter one at the home of a friend or family member. These are the four core rules of gun safety, but the same can be used with airsoft/paintball guns, nerf or even chemical spray bottles!

First, treat every firearm as if it were loaded. Even if it was clear the last time you saw it. If looking at a gun with someone else and they assure you it’s not loaded, you can respectfully ask them to clear it in front of you before you handle it yourself.

Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. Pretend there is a lazer beam coming from the barrel. Don’t let that “beam” point at anyone. That is known as “flagging”. In nearly all cases keeping the barrel pointing down between your feet is a good move.

Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. This includes the whole trigger guard area. Most people keep their finger on the frame well above the trigger guard, pointing their finger in the same direction as the barrel. This is known as “trigger discipline”.

Finally be sure of your target and what’s behind it. Bullets can still travel a long way even after they pass through a target. If you are target shooting make sure there is a solid backstop. If in a real life situation you must positively ID the threat, no shooting at shadows or noises.

  • not_that_guy05@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Lastly, secure your firearms you uncultured swines that don’t.

    Not only for your safety, but the safety of your children if you have some. I hate that people don’t follow this rule.

    • burritosdontexist2@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      also the safety of the children and general community what live around you (if they enter into your calculations). when i was growing up, the neighbor was a professor at the prestigious university down the way. they thought it was enough to teach their kid gun safety and store the gun in a safe place in their room and for their house it was. problem was some dipshit who wanted to roll with the norteños across the way. broke into the professor’s place, took their gun, shot at some other dipshits and was fortunately a terrible shot. ditched the gun, the police recovered it and brought it back. fortunately we were already paying our bribes so when they came around asking and i told them i didn’t know, they believed me (they knew my tells already when i lied: we played poker for halloween candy thursdays after karate bribe practice and i suuuucked at poker😘)

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Saw an article recently about this 10 year old who shot his dad in the head while the dad slept next to the mother. Kid found the key to the gun storage when searching for the Nintendo Switch his dad took away from him, and he was angry at the dad, found the gun… Now he has no dad. Mom woke up to a loud bang and the sound of liquid pouring on the floor.

      Devastating read. Really tragic.

      • muxika@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        That’s horrible! That’s why I went for a safe with a fingerprint reader. Easier access for me and harder access for the kids.

            • OshagHennessey@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              Thieves love those. Just by looking at it, you know there’s a gun in there. They’re light and small enough you can pick up and steal the whole thing, no problem. Then, you can smash it open when you get somewhere else with no tools required. If you spike it like a football with both hands onto concrete and concentrate the force onto one of the lid’s corners, it’ll pop right open after a few tries. Most of the hinges can also be easily attacked if you have some basic tools and need to be quiet.

            • Victor@lemmy.world
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              24 hours ago

              Does it have its own battery then? What does the fingerprint reader use to draw power?

    • Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone
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      1 day ago

      In hindsight it’s a small miracle neither I, my siblings, or my cousins ever got ourselves or someone else hurt with the guns that were casually left out at my grandparents’ house. It was drilled into me to never touch them without someone watching me first, but what if I’d just not given a fuck, you know? I can’t imagine doing the same with a kid today. Different times.