3-27-08

I. Top 10 Firearms Handling Mistakes

II. Upcoming Street Survival Seminars

III. Participate in the PoliceOne / Calibre Press Forums

Somebody recently asked me what the biggest mistakes in handling firearms are.  Guess what: I’d never quantified that question before.  So after some thinking, and discussion with our Team One Instructors, here’s what I came up with.

The most critical firearms handling mistake you can make are not following what we at Team One call the four Cardinal Rules of Firearms Handling. I’ve discovered that religiously following the CRs will eliminate most gun-handling mistakes. 

• One: treat every firearm as if it were loaded.

• Two: point your firearm in a safe direction—one where an unintentional discharge will cause NO HUMAN INJURY and at most, minor property damage. (At Team One we call this THE LASER RULE)

• Three: Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard, indexed along the frame or slide until you are on target, have a legal right to fire and have decided to fire.

• Four: be sure of your target/threat, backstop, and beyond.

New England College’s Master of Science in Criminal Justice program is designed specifically to meet the needs of working professionals in the dynamic criminal justice field, who want to move into senior management roles. This program develops skills in leadership, management, supervision and communication – the skills you need to advance in your career and be a successful leader. Visit www.onlinenec.com for more information.

If people followed these four basic principles, negligent discharges and other mishaps would be virtually eliminated. But that isn’t to say there aren’t other gun-handling mistakes to consider. But let’s start with the most basic one.

The Number One gun-handling mistake would be not following the four Cardinal Rules.

Mistake No. 2 would be multi-tasking when handling a weapon. In other words, people trying to do two things at once may trigger—no pun intended—an involuntary muscle reaction.

Mistake No. 3 is not protecting the trigger. Look, if you put yourself in a situation where your 4-1/2 pound trigger isn’t protected from being pressed, pulled, snagged on clothing or hit by you, by some other person—like the criminal trying to get it away from you—the firearm is going to go off.

Mistake No. 4 would be choosing a poor holster—one, for example, that doesn’t protect the trigger—or, not using a holster and sticking your firearm in the waistband of your trousers. Mistake No. 4-A would be not practicing your draw and reholstering your weapon. You’d be surprised how many people start to holster their weapons with their fingers still on the triggers or with the hammer cocked back with a double action weapon.

Mistake No. 5 is wearing poor choice wardrobe. I’ve seen instances where the cinch drawstring lock gizmo in an officer’s jacket got caught in his trigger guard thereby discharging the weapon when he tried to reholster.

Mistake No. 6 is taking a shortcut and skipping the six-step procedure for rendering your weapon safe. The six steps are:

• Point your firearm in a safe direction – one where an unintentional discharge will cause NO HUMAN INJURY and, at most, minor property damage (Yes, that’s the Laser Rule again).

• Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard at all times throughout the clearing/unloading process.

• Place the SAFETY ON. (If applicable)

• Remove the magazine.

• Cycle the action several times then lock the bolt or slide to the rear.

• Visually and physically inspect the chamber to confirm that the firearm is unloaded.

Sponsored by: The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) will conduct its 2008 International Training Conference and Expo, at the new Westin Chicago North Shore, located at 601 North Milwaukee Avenue, in Wheeling, Illinois (in the Greater Chicago Area), April 1-5, 2008. Register now for the 2008 ILEETA International Training Conference and Expo

Never, never, never pull the trigger to dry fire, or pull the trigger prior to disassembly without following the six steps above and physically and visually checking the chamber. Never!

Mistake No. 7 is assuming that your secret hiding place is secret! It ain’t. How many times did you find stuff your parents hid from you? So what makes you think your kids and their friends aren’t as smart as you? Keep your weapon in a safe, or use a trigger lock (and for God’s sake, never use a trigger lock on a loaded weapon).

Mistake No. 8 is not understanding how your firearm works or not being intimately familiar with it. Yeah—intimately. Put your ego on the shelf. If you don’t understand something about how the weapon works, ask someone who does.

One of our top firearms instructors once told a student that he works with his firearm at least ten minutes a day to stay proficient. 

Now, some people might think that sort of dedication was being obsessive. It’s not. After all, why do people who are in really good shape still go to the gym? To stay that way, of course. We have to maintain our proficiency with our firearms. That doesn’t mean shooting every day, but it does mean working with an UNLOADED weapon, practicing our draw and reholstering techniques, dry-firing, reloading drills, breaking the weapon down and reassembling it.

Look at it this way: if you only used a computer program twice a year (most officers qualify only every six months), you’d have a damn hard time producing a complicated piece of computer work in just a few minutes.  And it would be even tougher if you knew your job depended on the quality of your work.

Same thing goes for firearms.  You’re going to use your weapon under stress. So, you have to take the time on a regular basis to become v-e-r-y familiar with the tool that’s going to save your life.  End of sermon.

Mistake No. 9 is using your firearm for something it wasn’t designed for. It is not a hammer, a pry bar, or an impact weapon. Exception being as a last resort, then hammer away. No matter what the flashlight ad says, please, don’t use your gun to drive nails.

And mistake No. 10 is being complacent. Firearms are firearms. Put your mind in gear before you engage your hands. Take nothing for granted. When you handle a firearm turn the mental switch ON and keep it ON, if something distracts you, you should immediately re-check your firearm; magazine out, open slide/bolt and check chamber….you can never be too careful.

On the other side, tactically, as a responsible person carrying a firearm to protect yourself and others you should always confirm that the firearm is loaded. The two loudest noises are the BANG when you thought there should be a CLICK and the CLICK when you thought there should be a BANG. After all, every gun is loaded, right?

Stay safe.

About the author

John T. Meyer, Jr. is President of Team One Network, LLC a company established to test, evaluate, train and market various manufacturers' products to the Law Enforcement community as related to officer survival. He is also the Director of Tactical Operations for Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, WI, responsible for the development and implementation of new curriculum offering tactical training courses.

John spent 15 years with Heckler & Koch, Inc., ultimately rising to the position of Vice President of Sales and International Training. John was a Lieutenant with the DOD Police, where he served as a special reaction team leader. He is Vice President of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI) a member of the Policeone.com Advisory Board and a member of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (ASLET) Firearms Committee.

(c) 2007: PoliceOne. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS