All too often you hear tragic stories of people who do not shoot guns safely. They injure themselves or others, sometimes fatally. Don’t be one of those people.
Firing a gun is a serious thing and should be approached as such. The most basic rule is to never point the muzzle at something you don’t intend to shoot. That means you shouldn’t casually point it “jokingly” at your friend. And, when a gun is not in use, it should be kept in a secure location or kept unloaded so children (or other adults) don’t grab it and accidentally shoot it.
Which leads us to the next point- don’t assume a gun is unloaded. Open the action to visually check the chamber, receiver and magazine to see whether or not any ammunition is in there.
The only time you should touch the trigger of a loaded gun is when you intend to shoot your target. You should only shoot a gun when you can see exactly where your bullet will go– and where it will stop. Be mindful of anything in the way that the bullet could ricochet off, therefore hitting the wrong target.
Two key things to wear when shooting guns include shooting glasses to protect your eyes and ear protection to protect your ears. In shooting situations, your eyes may have to deal with a host of things from both the environment and the gun, including falling twigs or falling shot. Wearing glasses is a no-brainer. The same goes for ear protection. You don’t want to potentially suffer from permanent hearing loss , do you? Gunshots are not just loud– they’re extremely loud, to the point where you could have serious hearing damage from just one shot.
ESP makes digital hearing protection devices– the kind that are custom-made for those who shoot guns, from cops to hunters and then some. Visit https://www.espamerica.com/shop/ to see what kind of top-notch hearing protection is available to protect your ears.