One of the shooting communities more influential members was Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper. Best known for his development of the Modern Technique of the Pistol and the founding of Gunsite Academy where he gave training in pistol, rifle and shotgun techniques to law enforcement, military and civilians. Cooper also formalized Four rules of gun safety which have been widely adopted.
Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper’s Four Rules of Gun Safety:
1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
The beauty of Cooper’s rules are their simplicity and the fact that you have to break multiple rules to have an accident that causes injury. For instance, you often hear of someone injured while cleaning their gun. In order for this “accident” to occur, the person must have broken rules 1, 2 and 3. They treated the gun as if it was unloaded (Rule #1), the let the muzzle point at themselves or someone else (Rule #2), and they pulled the trigger (Rule #3).
Since we are all human, it is inevitable that we will at one point or another violate a rule of gun safety. The most common violation is probably “muzzling” someone. That is letting the gun point at someone if even for a moment. But, if our finger is off the trigger and we are treating the gun as if it is loaded, it is next to impossible for an accident to occur, as guns do not spontaneously fire.
One benefit of formal training classes is that good instructors are very conscious of gun safety and will correct you every time you violate one of the rules of gun safety. This is very helpful because when you first start shooting you do not have the self-awareness to police yourself. This type of training will help you develop that self-awareness.