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Rule #3: "Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger Until Ready to Fire." Short of a major mechanical defect, modern firearms simply don't discharge rounds without something interfering with the trigger. Whether that is a finger, a cover garment, a poor-quality holster, or any number of other things, keeping the trigger secured is paramount. When teaching new shooters, inevitably their finger naturally wants to find itself on the trigger the first time they pick up a gun, even if ins...tructed otherwise. We've seen action movies and TV shows where the hero (usually an actor with minimal firearms training and using a prop gun) runs around finger firmly glued to the trigger. The key is to correct that behavior as soon as possible, and continue correcting it, helping to build a consistent anchor point for the trigger finger along the frame of the gun, high and outside of the trigger guard. I've often heard this rule explained as "keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target" or some similar variation. I prefer the wording here of "ready to fire." It's possible to find yourself in situations where use of the sights is not an option, such as being knocked down by an aggressor and having to defend while they are directly on top of you. The luxury of presenting the pistol to full extension and getting a proper sight picture is gone, but the threat is still very real. Knowing that you may have to make the decision to fire "from the hip" helps define when it is and is not appropriate to begin applying pressure to the trigger. It's also vital to ensure that holsters made from materials that soften with age are not losing their shape around the trigger area. There are countless pictures online of holsters that have folded inward and are actually in the path of the trigger, many resulting in rounds being fired unintentionally. There is no race to reholster, ensure that your gun has a clear path. Stay safe and be well! #responsiblyarmed

The Four Rules of Gun Safety (continued) Rule #2: "Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy." This one seems obvious. If it shouldn't have an extra hole in it, don't point your gun at it. For some reason however, this seems to be one of the more difficult for newer shooters to retain. I often see shooters hyper-focused on keeping their finger off the trigger, yet turning their pistol towards an unsafe direction when asking a question or examining somethin...g on the gun. This is why it is crucial to be aware of where their muzzle is pointing and to be ready to make a correction without making them feel embarrassed and discouraging them from trying harder. One of the best ways I've found for explaining the importance of muzzle awareness is comparing the gun to a laser with no off switch, constantly firing in the direction it's pointed. This helps in response to the argument of "but the slide is locked back, what does it matter which way it's pointing?" This way of thinking changes the dynamic from "never point a loaded gun in an unsafe direction" to "never point a gun, regardless of condition, in an unsafe direction." This treatment of muzzle discipline as an absolute does lead to an interesting conundrum for those who carry inside the waistband in the appendix position, or those who dry fire within the home or in an instructional setting. There are ultimately times when, under controlled conditions, a firearm is pointed at things we do not wish to destroy, knowing that the trigger is covered in a holster, or that the firearm is mechanically unloaded and no ammunition is present. Much like learning to walk before taking off at full sprint, it is only through developing a foundational appreciation for muzzle awareness that we can identify the rare and nuanced exceptions to the rule. These safety rules do not exist in a vaccum. They are not just "best practices on the flat range," they are a guideline for avoiding disaster every time a firearm is handled. We also can't look at just one of the rules and say that it's the be-all and the end-all, since they work together to cover the gaps not specifically addressed by the others. Stay safe and be well! #responsiblyarmed

Winning a Gun Fight: De-escalation Often people ask what's the best way to win a gun fight and answers like "proper use of cover" or "a sub-second draw from concealment" get tossed around. Sure, those are good techniques to make you more successful once you're in a fight, but the most reliable means of survival is to not get into a fight in the first place. De-escalation is crucial, especially now as tensions seem to be at an all time high. It's impossible to know what stress...Continue reading

The Four Rules of Gun Safety While the core message is usually the same, we often hear slightly varied iterations of the four rules of gun safety, important guidelines for how to handle firearms. I'd like to dig a little deeper into these rules and add some context I find helpful when introducing new shooters to safe gun handling, as well as solidifying safe practices for experienced shooters. This will be a four part series, each one focusing on an individual rule. Rule #1:... "Treat every firearm as if it were loaded." Not a terrible approach, a rational person wouldn't randomly pull the trigger on a gun you believed to be loaded any more so than they would intentionally jam their hand in a car door. I think it's important to take it a step further though. There are times when we verify that the gun is mechanically unloaded (visually and physically inspecting the magazine well and the chamber) in order to disassemble and clean, or engage in dry fire, which are both perfectly legitimate reasons to KNOW that the gun is unloaded. The argument of "Treat every firearm as if it were loaded" cannot be applied 100% of the time. Instead, I prefer to "Always know the condition of the firearm, assuming it to be loaded until personally verifying otherwise." think of it like this, if you assume a stove top is hot until you confirm that it isn't, you'll be far less likely to get burned. If you have any thoughts on this perspective, please let me know in the comments. Stay safe and be well! #responsiblyarmed (Thanks to Patriot Patch Co for making this great patch I keep on my range bag.)

Here we see an example of what a Glock shooter would see using stock sights as they aim for target 2. Note that the tops of the front sight and the rear sight are even and there is equal spacing on both sides of the front sight within the valley of the rear sight. Remember, sights are nothing more than a measuring tool telling us the relationship between the muzzle and the target. Learning to make best use of this measuring tool will help ensure that your rounds go exactly wh...ere you want them when the shot breaks. Just like knowing how to use a level or a tape measure to get accurate results on a project, it's crucial to know how to properly use your sights to maintain accurate hits on target. We are accountable for every round we fire, make sure you know where they're going. Stay safe and be well! #responsiblyarmed