Shooting Tip #1

Steve here from Team CGS. Thanks for tuning in for our first Team CGS Shooting Tip. The most important aspect of shooting is safety. Being this is the number one important aspect, it will be the topic of our first shooting tip.

One of the first things I like to discuss with new shooters is safety. I’m sure most of you are already familiar with the basic safety rules required for safe handling of firearms. If you are not (or just want to refresh your knowledge), I recommend starting with the standard four rules developed by Jeff Cooper. They are not difficult to understand or follow, but they are very important. Here they are:

Cooper's Final Version

We hoped by this time that the standard rules of safe gun handling would have become universal throughout the world. They have been arrived at by careful consideration over the years, and they do not need modification or addition. We trust that all the family have them by heart in all languages, but for those who came in late here they are again:
1. All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
4. Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.3
Those will do. We need all four and we do not need five. It should not be necessary to belabor this issue, but life is not perfect.

– Jeff Cooper, Commentaries, Volume 11, Number 4.


But the above is not where the rules end; they are just a great start. The NRA has reduced the above four basic rules to three and added nine more rules. The additional rules are more specific to operating, storing and cleaning firearms and are certainly worth reading and following. To review the NRA rules I suggest you go to http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp and learn more.

These two references are a good start. Remember to apply what you learn about safety ALL THE TIME. You are responsible for the safety of yourself and all others when you own or handle a firearm.

Until next time, be safe