Integrating safety practices when interacting with firearms
From hunting and target shooting to protecting one’s home and family, Veterans highlighted the importance of adhering to the general principles of safety and responsibility that come with owning a firearm. Outlining an important rule for handling a firearm, Jessica shared, “you don’t point your firearm at anything you don’t intend to shoot.” Veterans recalled learning about firearm safety, often at a young age, from family members or during training for military service. Veterans also shared their thoughts on teaching firearm safety to adolescents and children.
Learning about firearm safety from family
Andy talks about learning the basics of firearm safety from his family of hunters.
Andy talks about learning the basics of firearm safety from his family of hunters.
My dad hunted and I was the oldest child. My dad hunted game and he hunted deer and elk. My grandfather did too. Both of my grandfathers hunted. And, you know, as a family, all my cousins hunted, too. But, you know, I think probably I was about 10 years old. And, you know, we had BB guns at six. So, I was taught, you know, proper safety as my parents had the BB guns. I don’t think it was anything special for me. It was kind of a rite of passage. At age 10 he let, you know, my younger brothers shoot the .22. And then I know it was taking a beer can, the target was taking a beer can and filling it with water. And notice the devastation that was performed by that very tiny little bullet, almost not much bigger than a BB. So, you know, I learned to respect the .22 when I first fired it. And you know, saying the 10 commandments of firearms. You know? You don’t point it at anyone, unless you—until, you don’t point it at a target unless you intend to injure or kill that target.
For Jason, it was his grandfather that taught him about the principles of using a firearm.
For Jason, it was his grandfather that taught him about the principles of using a firearm.
When I was growing up, my grandfather, he was the first one who taught me how to shoot a pistol. He had a farm out in the rural part of the state, and we would go out, and it wasn't even hunting or anything like that. It was just more of, just us spending time out in the country. He taught me how to shoot pistols, and how to clean them, and how to respect them, how to use them smartly and not play around with them. It’s not a toy, it’s a tool, kind of thing. My grandfather taught me a lot and I really respected him for that.
Andrew recalls learning about gun safety from an early age.
Andrew recalls learning about gun safety from an early age.
Well, I grew up in a firearm—a family that owns firearms. I was trained from a young age how to fire them and their safety and how to maintain the weapon. I got my first weapon when I was 11. And I took care of it and maintained it. I bought more—let’s see, I was never really a hunter, just rabbits and stuff. We’d go shooting once a month. It wasn’t a constant thing that we did. But you know, once a month maybe we’d go shooting. My dad was in the military, so he trained me in the military way how to fire – or how to handle my weapon. So, it was pretty good.
Experiences with firearm training in the military
Jim reflects on the scope of his firearm training in the military.
Jim reflects on the scope of his firearm training in the military.
Well, in the military, it would start out at your basic training installation. Then in that initial training, we would be at the rifle range several days in a week’s time. Actually, the combat course was over nine weeks, and I would say eight of the nine weeks, you’d be on the rifle range learning how to shoot, aim, and clean the weapon. So, most of my initial experience was in the military and/or with my father hunting with a high-powered rifle.
So, I did have some experience before I joined the military. And there’s a part that I left out, probably the biggest part. I learned how to fire weapon systems in the military—rocket launchers, machine guns, grenade launchers, those kinds of things—in the military.
I graduated from Basic in June of 1964. I was awarded Army sharpshooter weapon with a rifle, iron sights. And when I went to further my training, I learned how to fire the .45-caliber pistol. That’s what was issued to the officer corps. So, I was trained to use personal hand weapons in that…M14, M16, caliber .45.
Justice describes the main difference between military training and civilian firearm training.
Justice describes the main difference between military training and civilian firearm training.
Probably, the biggest differing factor, I would have to say, is the amount of time you’re almost forced to become accustomed to anything you use. You could buy a gun and not touch it for a year and you could fall out of a routine with it and almost forget how to properly function it. But in the military, if you use something, you probably have upwards of 60-70 hours working a firearm before you even really like shoot rounds down range outside of the controlled, like a perfectly controlled environment like a fire range. I mean, to even get to the firing range you’ve got to get issued the weapon. You’re cleaning the weapon constantly. You’re learning the safety functions of the weapon. You’re learning what not to do with the weapon. You have 40 people around you with the same weapon who also know the same things to help police you up. As a civilian gun owner, unless you go out of your way to take the same steps, they aren’t as readily available as the military. I would say that is probably the biggest difference in my opinion.
Chris talks about the benefits of the firearm training required in the military compared to the lack of training for civilians.
Chris talks about the benefits of the firearm training required in the military compared to the lack of training for civilians.
I think that we did some things in the military with our qualifications that civilians don’t do. We had minimum requirements. In order to continue to carry a firearm, you had to qualify every— if it was your primary duty weapon, every six months, your secondary duty weapon, once a year. You had to shoot and meet minimum requirements. There was always safety training that went along with that. So, it’s a little different. Where most civilians, they can go buy a gun, but they don’t necessarily have to have any training for it. I don’t necessarily, I’m not advocating they should have to have it, but I think it improved my marksmanship. It improved a lot of things, having that training, because we learned. You became very familiar with the firearm even before you fired a round.
Even before you shot it, you were very familiar with every aspect of it. So, when you did squeeze off rounds, you knew when they were going to go off because you could feel it through the triggering. You knew when it would because we had done dry firing practice and different things, you knew what was going to happen next. We probably spent three days before we ever got bullets, just handling them, taking them apart, cleaning them, and putting them back together. And dry fire practice, shooting them without any rounds.
Referring to the firearm safety training he received in the military, Ken says, “they beat it in your head.”
Referring to the firearm safety training he received in the military, Ken says, “they beat it in your head.”
Well, they always teach you, you know, firearm safety, you know. Make sure you clear your weapon before you do any kind of work on your weapons, just general maintenance on weapons. I mean they beat it in your head about firearm safety because it must’ve been, you know, I don’t know, why that’s so – I guess I understand why it’s so important. It must be because there must’ve been some firearm injuries. Soldiers disregard and shot themselves accidentally. So, that is one thing that the military does instill in all its military personnel. Doesn’t matter what branch you’re in. But it’s firearm safety.
Applying learned firearm safety techniques
Jessica explains the importance of following four steps when preparing to use a firearm.
Jessica explains the importance of following four steps when preparing to use a firearm.
So, getting that steady position; having a clear sight picture; having your breath control; and trigger squeeze. And I find that the place where there is the most capacity for injury is if that steady position is not established; and that is even just down to the way your hand is holding the firearm. So, this has happened to me before, there’s something called slide bite, and if you are holding a semi-automatic pistol, and your hand is around the grip, and you’re too high on the grip, the slide, when it goes back, it will bite your hand on the way back—and it literally feels like a bite on your hand that that can cause a tremendous amount of pain.
For Nick, proper firearms maintenance is key for injury prevention.
For Nick, proper firearms maintenance is key for injury prevention.
I think a lot of injuries prevention – I mean a lot of things could be prevented is through maintaining the firearm. You can’t just buy a firearm and expect it to maintain itself. You know, once I realized, like I said, it was a tool, then you know, the same way that you would, you know, shine your boots or, you know, make sure your drill is clean or, you know, make sure the dishes are washed, is the same way you maintain your gun. And so that’s something that’s very important to me too. There’s no point in adding a tool that you can’t – that’s not working at its fullest capacity. So that’s important too because if you don’t clean it, it’ll misfire, you know. Something will go wrong. You know, it can explode in your hand. So, those are the things that also could – what’s the name – could, you know, cause injury.
Evan describes the basic principles of safety that he learned from his family and in the military.
Evan describes the basic principles of safety that he learned from his family and in the military.
Firearm safety in the military is the same way that I’ve been trained my entire life. Pretty much never point your weapon at something you don’t intend to shoot. Always know if your weapon’s loaded or unloaded. Just gun safety in general. I mean, like I said, if you’re not going to shoot something, don’t point your gun at it. Always have muzzle awareness. I mean, that’s been instilled in me since I was a little kid, and the military did the same thing for me. They taught me everything that…well, I already knew.
Once again, I’ve got to go back to how I was raised. Start at a young age, and then the military will just help re-instill it. I’m a firm believer that parents need to teach their kids firearm safety at a young age. And then if a kid chooses to go into the military, the military will just help instill what they’ve already learned from their parents.
Eric describes how the military taught him everything he needed to know about firearm safety.
Eric describes how the military taught him everything he needed to know about firearm safety.
One, there’s a lot more gun safety involved, the proper maintenance and tear down of a gun you’re taught. You know, you’re taught to respect your weapon, whereas your civilian gun courses and stuff don’t go into it quite as much. You know, just- I’ll say this, the military taught me everything I needed to know about the weapon that I was firing. You know, how to break it down, how to reassemble it, how to maintain it. You know, I carried that over into civilian life, when I buy a new gun, first thing I do, tear it apart, put it back together.
Teaching firearm safety to future generations
Nick describes the importance of teaching children about firearms safety to prevent accidental injuries.
Nick describes the importance of teaching children about firearms safety to prevent accidental injuries.
I see that’s something I’m going – when I have children, I see that’s something that I’m gonna teach them about too, you know, like how to – you know, just the – because I already taught my nephews about it. Like I already taught them if somebody try to hand you a firearm, you know – I taught them. The gun was unloaded, but I told them, “Do not touch it. Do not take it. Do not play with it. It’s not a toy,” you know? And they’re five and six years old. But they need to know that now because they could be in any environment, and somebody could be – could have a gun. And what I told them – taught them, they’ll understand. So, yeah, for sure. I think that’s something I’m definitely gonna teach. And also, physical – how to physically, how to protect themselves too, because there are parameters to put in place before you pull out a gun, you know? For a lot of people, the gun is the first answer. For me, it’s not. It’s not.
Bill talks about teaching his children about firearms and firearm safety at an early age.
Bill talks about teaching his children about firearms and firearm safety at an early age.
As I had kids, I wanted to introduce them to firearms at a very early age, my two girls, because my experience had shown me that children that are not taught that they’re evil from day one and stay away, stay away, they’re scary, tend to have that curiosity that’s driven by something they don’t even understand. So, my girls started shooting at least going out with us when we went recreational shooting at a very young age so that they would understand the destructive power, the scary noise and all that. Not to customize them to it but to teach them to respect it.
For Tom, teaching his children about firearm safety is a priority.
For Tom, teaching his children about firearm safety is a priority.
I have two young children, 9 and 12. So, I started a little bit late. So, teaching them all about firearm safety at a very young age. We’re very conscious about things like that and firearm safety in general. It’s a – you know, it’s not like a huge priority. We don’t go out and shoot a lot, maybe two or three times a year. If we’re camping, we’ll go. I’ll take the kids out and we’ll shoot and do different things. My kids do get to accompany me when I go teach law enforcement. I do SWAT for the SWAT Teams. And I bring my kids down there, so they get to be a part of that. And you know, they’ll be hostages in the scenarios. So, they’re growing up around all of this, and law enforcement, and everything like that. So, you know our family has a very healthy respect for firearms. We have firearms in the house. They’re all locked up. We keep our firearms all secured.
In my house, my children are trained, you know. You don’t handle firearms unless, you know, I’m present. As my son gets older, he’s getting into the age where he’ll be able to handle firearms by himself, but not until I determine, you know, whatever – what that stage is. He’s going through his initial training now. But yeah, everything is – all of our firearms are under lock and key or under supervision.