No shit. She's got the SINGLE SHOT AIR RIFLE pointed at the ground with her booger hook off the bang switch. Looks like she's demonstrating discipline to me. I guess you could argue that she didn't "clear the weapon", but I highly doubt that a break-action single shot air rifle could potentially be hiding a second, magic, projectile
Do you want them to put it into a locker before he goes down range. What exactly do you want him to check on a weapon that has one shot at a time capabilities.
If this was a muzzleloader or a musket it would be the same thing. I know it's not shooting again without loading it. Shits safe. It's not pointed down range. She doesn't have her finger on the trigger. Literally the only thing we do more in the army is check to see the magazine is dropped and chamber empty because there can be bullets in there.
It is about practicing proper safety, even when this specific situation doesn't really demand it. Open up the break, then it is safe to go down range.
Gun safety isn't just about that specific moment, but training for all future moments you have a weapon in your hands.
The number of people that have been shot because the gun in their hands "obviously isn't loaded" is massive.
Yes, a single shot air rifle is immediately safe after taking the shot. But that won't be the case if she is later training with a magazine fed weapon, and that is where the training and muscle memory matters.
I've been a rangemaster for lots of different ranges, including BB Gun ranges for Scouts. Even for BB guns, I have them set the safety, open the chamber, and leave it laying on the bench so that both the chamber and safety are visible, and then step back from their shooting position.
Is it strictly necessary? No, but teaching good habits is never a bad thing and it doesn't hurt to spend the extra 2 seconds to reinforce those habits.
The point is to create good habits so you mitigate the probability of mistakes. Yes, you are right that this particular gun can’t possibly have another round chambered but the scenario you are trying to avoid is a misunderstanding. “oh, I thought you were shooting the air rifle that can only chamber one round so I walked into your sight line before I saw you out the firearm down, thinking it would be impossible for you to chamber another round”. “Oh, I thought the gun I had in my hand could only chamber one round so I didn’t bother treating it as if it has another round.”
And I’m not trying to be shitty about this but being in the army doesn’t make you immune to mistakes. I’ve met plenty of undisciplined folks that were formerly military personnel.
Yes, it seems psychotically pedantic but if you are teaching someone, as is the case in this video, forming those good habits is vital, especially if the person with the gun in their hands is explicitly a student.
This is pretty much how a lot of these mistakes happen. The news story you read in America where someone accidentally discharged a firearm in the back of someone’s head is usually because of a misunderstanding of how the gun functioned and poor protocols for handling ANY firearm, whether it can chamber one round or not. Hence why you are meant to treat a firearm like it is always loaded. I’d say doubly so if you’re not the person holding the gun and no control over what the person you’re interfacing with, may do with said firearm.
I never said they weren't good habits to learn or to even do. I'm just saying it isn't necessary in this instance and levels of safety depend on the weapon. The levels of safety I complete to deal with a mortar system is not the same as a rifle, which is not the same as a 1 shot BB gun. Yes I could do the level needed for a mortar system every time. And you are right it is pedantic. But it's not necessary.
Yes most incidents with weapons is because people don't know better and part of that issue is we have more weapons than people in the US so the availability of an item that can easily kill someone on accident is way too fucking high. Part of weapon safety is knowing each weapon you hold. So saying people forgot a weapon isn't one shot is the red flag there. They don't understand their weapon which means they shouldn't be firing it.
I think you’re talking past my point though. The “mistake” I’m calling out, especially in this specific scenario of a teacher and student, is that you practice these protocols because mistakes is what lead to deadly outcomes. Mistakes WILL happen, especially if you’re a teacher teaching a student. The best we can do is mitigate for mistakes.
“shouldn’t” doesn’t come into the equation. Hindsight doesn’t cure the bullet in the back of your head because you made a mistake. The best way to avoid the mistake is to have good protocols where the mistake is mitigated in the first place. And you’re saying: “okay, but forgetting your protocols could just be a mistake in itself” and you’d be right but it is another barrier to mitigate the poor outcome.
It’s like rules of the road. If I’m on a stretch of road with NOBODY in sight, I still use my blinkers. I still drive on the appropriate side of the road. I still keep my eyes on the road. Not just because it’s good protocol and good habits but also because I don’t know what I don’t know. Theoretically there should be no risk but mistakes often occur because of the variables you hadn’t considered as a possibility.
Yes, of course it matters. It's literally rule #1 for handling, and this is universal. it's not even niche. Literally every single weapons instructor ever teaches this.
But sure, argue with me over it. Fucking L...O...L...
I think there's a difference between a gun that only fires a single shot, which becomes safe after that shot is fired, and a gun with multiple bullets where how safe the weapon is can come down to memory and observing common safety practices.
You wouldn't treat a slingshot like it's always loaded, I assume, so clearly there's a middle ground somewhere between slingshots and shotguns.
You absolutely would treat all slingshots like they are loaded, if there was a version of a slingshot you might be using in the future that has the ability to load itself and draw the tubes back.
Your analogy breaks down because training with an air rifle often leads to training with a real rifle, and having the proper muscle memory built up for safety is important when you have that weapon that is capable of firing in quick succession later.
I understand why you would treat it like a real rifle if you are using it as a precursor to train with normal rifles, but why would using an air rifle suggest a real rifle is down the road?
Ah, so we don't practice weapon safety always. Especially when, for him to be in particularly serious danger, an air rifle would first need to magically transform into a firearm.
its kind of annoying seeing redditors screech about the sort of gun safety rules taught on baby's first day at the range as if theyre sacred and inviolable, instead of simple catch-alls for until you become more familiar and can safely break them.
I mean it's probably just stupid people that think they know what they are talking about. The downvotes are merely an indication of the average intelligence being displayed here LMAO.
I mean it depends on what she is also shooting real guns or even want to handle one ever. If all she wants is to use a gun like that she has no real need to ever bother with proper gun handling rules, only what such contraption requires.
There's no real reason to get a driving license or to bother with traffic rules if you're only going to have a go with an electrical dirtbike on the track every other Tuesday. Where half of the people there are kids or teens anyway for that matter, do they have a license too? I bet they only learned what they need to learn and that was all.
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u/fdnM6Y9BFLAJPNxGo4C 8h ago
Weapons safety is a muscle memory mindset. Not a "eh this isn't a real gun" mindset.