I am providing a forum for voicing your opinions.  I 
claim no responsibility for any opinions expressed here.

IS IT LOADED?


I hear this question all the time asked by people that should know 
better;  I see people, all the time, take or pick up a gun, ask 
someone if it's loaded, then pull the trigger without checking it. 
In several of these instances, a loud bang followed.

As far as I'm concerned, all guns are loaded, until I personally have
visually verified to my satisfaction there are no rounds in the chamber,
and I have rendered the gun inoperable so I can handle it safely.

If you pull the trigger on a gun and it goes bang, any damage it causes 
is YOUR fault, even if you asked someone else if the gun was loaded.  It
doesn't matter what they said or did, YOU pulled the trigger.

Along the same lines, if someone hands you a gun or points a gun at you 
and says "It ain't loaded," that's not good enough either.  If someone 
hands you a gun and you check it and they tell you it isn't loaded, 
implying you don't have to check it because they know it isn't loaded, 
that's too bad, you need to check it anyway.

The same rule apples:  if you accidentally (actually it's "negligently")
shoot someone with the gun, it's YOUR fault, not theirs.  They didn't 
pull the trigger.  You did.

If someone gets offended because you check a gun behind them, that's their
problem.  If someone thinks their word is good enough for you, they're
forgetting the rule of firearms safety, "All Guns Are Always Loaded."

I am a certified NRA instructor, a certified instructor for the state of
Tennessee, a certified Safety Officer and SO trainer for IDPA, I instruct 
for Rangemaster and for Tactical Response, I'm a master level shooter, 
and I have a slew of other experience and training, and I won't be the 
least bit offended if you check a gun behind me.  In fact, I think if 
you don't, it simply shows me you do not have any good training.  As I
stated, what I say or do doesn't matter.  If you shoot someone, it's 
YOUR fault, not mine.  YOU pulled the trigger.

I recently read an article on the Reuters News Service about someone 
checking rifle at the airport luggage counter.  He told the clerk, "It 
isn't loaded." To prove his point, he pulled the trigger and fired a 
round down the counter.  Thankfully, no one was hurt, but I'm sure he 
had a 'difficult' afternoon to say the very least.

Also, recently, in Memphis, someone going into a gun show handed his
loaded carry gun to an *unarmed* security guard to check it, since
no loaded guns are "allowed" at gun shows.  The security guard racked
the slide, removed the magazine, and pulled the trigger, and subsequently
shot a passerby in the leg.

Never, ever, under any circumstances assume anything, especially when
it comes to deadly weapons.

This also shows a violation of another rule of gun safety "Never Point Any
Gun At Anything You Don't Want To Destroy."  Why was the gun pointed in a
direction where a bullet would strike someone?

"I handed"
"Loaded gun"
"Unarmed security guard" (unarmed means they have even less training than
an armed security guard, which isn't much in the first place)

Does anyone else see the problems I see with these three statements?


Train hard, have fun, and don't be stupid.



Robert V. Robinson "Robbie"
My Experience and Training