One of the earliest lessons I ever learned with firearms is that you never pick up a weapon without verifying its status as loaded or unloaded and that you never hand another person a weapon unless the action is locked open and that you never accept a weapon without visually inspecting the chamber.

I actually offended my Battalion SGM one day because when he handed me the Battalion Commander’s 1911 he cleared it and closed the action and I took it and rechecked it. I wasn’t trying to offend him that was just my training and when I explained that he was fine with it.

I also pissed off a female NCO at NTC because she apparently was walking around with a blank round chambered in her M16 and had a fake ND.

She got all up in my face about it and insisted that I had chambered the round so I looked her dead in the eye and said “Sgt. if you picked up that weapon without clearing it you are 100% to blame." She kinda sat there gulping air like a fish while I walked away.

Anyway my question is based on another post in which the poster said something about pulling the trigger on any striker fired pistol to see if it’s loaded. He basically said who would do that? And I agree. There was also a post about a movie mistake where a character picked up a gun and got caught with his pants down because someone else had unloaded it.

So I said all that to say this

Do you ever pick up a weapon without verifying it’s status ?

I've learned from my father who learned the ways of handling a weapon of any sort in the Military. Which included clearing a firearm such as handgun, rifle or etc. Safety is always will be my top priority.

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Shoot like a pro!

Always. Worked in a gunstore back in the 90 ties. A customer comes in and handed me a case with a closed pistol in it. I picked it up and checked if it was empety. A live round was tumbeling on the counter.
I was not that friendly to that customer after that.

Been shooting a short while, but I always thought every pistol I picked up was loaded, until I visually and physically checked the chamber.

Including any pistol that someone hands me after they've checked it's clear in front of my eyes.

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Take your time, fast. J.Hughes

I'm practically obsessive about clearing my firearms.... at the range they remain locked open pointing down range of course and even when checking shot placement I drop the mag ,clear the gun and leave the gun open.
Cleaning...the guns are cleared trice,all mags and ammo stored in range bag or safe.
Any firearm I'm handed is cleared and checked and even then I obsessively clear several times.
A bit much I know but I have known myself to do some rather dumb things from time to time.

Always verify. It's the way I was trained since I was old enough to carry a firearm. Dad always made me check, and it became a habit that was reinforced by Hunter Safety courses and firearms instructors throughout my life.

One of the first "Commandments" of firearm safety is "Treat every firearm as a loaded firearm until you have verified it not loaded". This is ingrained in most all competitive shooters, but evidently not in the new breed of new shooters that were not brought up with firearms in the home. Having been involved in some CCL training classes it amazes me the level of ignorance people owning firearms have today.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

No. Don't know whether I ever have, but if I did, it was a mistake.

"Who doesn't do that"? I would hazard a guess that everyone who shoots themselves in the hand or the leg.

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Minimize the variables

I had an Uzi come into the shop for gunsmith work that had a round in the chamber.
Made it all the way from Texas like that, luckily as always the first thing I did was to make sure it was clear.
When that round popped out it gave me a case of cold sweats just thinking what could have happened.
sent it back to the guy with a note explaining why I wouldn't work on it, and to never contact me for work again.

I was not a happy camper.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

I check and re check my guns all the time. If I have a gun out for whatever the reason I check it. If I put it down and go get a drink of water , I come back to it and check it again. If I turn my back on it or put it down, when I pick it up, I check it again. All of this even if I am the only one home at the time.

every time i pick one up, even if i was the one to set it down, ill check.
a few months back i made a thread to remind people how important this is.
i found a single 158 gr 38 spl in one of my revolvers, when i pulled it out of the safe. i think i must have been using the gun as a chamber gauge when reloading .
the round was found immediately upon checking the cylinder, but it still sent a chill through me . i showed my family so that they could share the lesson. trust no one, not even yourself ,(especially not yourself,mike lol)
note: i never keep a loaded gun in the house, ill keep ammo beside the gun. but not in it.

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the rules? there are no rules

I guess everyone is not as smart as we are and check the weapon/weapons before we do anything else, regardless if the weapons had been checked several times before it made it our way. Sometimes I get a weapon handed to me that a friend checked and I seen him check clear it and I know it's safe but I still go through all the steps to make sure it is even though I just seen it done with my own eyes. It's all about making it a habit, I guess some people are just to lazy to fallow a habit that could prevent a major incident.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Aim small miss small

Apparently all those people who shoot themselves when their "gun went off while cleaning"


Sgt Lumpy

"familiarity breeds contempt", this is the cause of many accidents among experienced workers and hobbyists .when you have used potentially dangerous tools over and over without incident your mind begins to relax around the potential danger.
many old carpenters have trouble counting to ten, on their fingers without resorting to fractions.

yes thats my trigger finger! be careful ,follow procedure at work as well as the range .

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the rules? there are no rules

Yes! I always look down the barrel to see if there's a shiny thing..........

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Uh, no. In the Great State of Texas, a lot of people get offended if they clear a firearm and then hand it to you, and you immediately clear it yourself. I'm old enough that if someone gets horsey about it, I can take care of myself. I've taught my 16 yr. old son to always check and clear a firearm before he handles it irrespective of who just cleared it before handing it to him. I've also taught him to say in response to someone's challenging response, "Sir, that's the way my father taught me to handle firearms. I think it's a good habit, but if you have a problem with it, perhaps you should take it up with him." Odd, but no one has yet challenged him on that.

Regards,

Dave

And it's hard to believe that some people think that dropping the mag empties the firearm. Some don't think about the chamber or are just too stupid to know there is a round there.

Hand me a firearm and I check myself and if they get offended tough you know what. AFAIC every weapon is loaded.

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Psalm 23:4

It looks like you're working on the thumb next!!!
Steve W

yeah, that ones on there pretty good. ill keep workin at it though

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the rules? there are no rules

I check the loaded/unloaded status of any firearm I handle. If it has a firearm, I take the magazine out. I am very sensitive to the possibility of a round being hung up in a tube magazine, such as a pump action shot gun or.22 LR rifle, which might go through the process more than once. Even after checking, being darn sure where the muzzle is pointed at ALL times is the next step in the safety process.

This pic makes me think about the sage advice my Great Grandfather (cabinetmaker) gave me about power tools. He said "Watch the blade, if you watch the blade you won't stick your hand into it." I think firearm safety is the same thing. Stick to a simple rule, always clear any firearm before doing anything else. I still have all 10 digits (arthritic as they are) and haven't shot myself yet.

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Minimize the variables

Never.

And this is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Some triggers need to be released for disassembly but not to see if it loaded.
An empty chamber indicator or flag is also a good idea.

To be clear the poster said it was pretty dumb too he wasn't advocating it

Senior hunter was teaching little junior hunters firearms safety.

He told them to work the bolt of the rifle five times, and then pull the trigger to make sure its empty. When he pulled the trigger he shot a hole in the floor board of the car. True story about a family relative in a family I am no longer married into.

hickock45, on YouTube, is ALWAYS cycling an action to clear a weapon, and then pointing it down range to pull its trigger, supposedly making sure its empty...always a bad practice. One should ALWAYS visually check weapons to make sure they are unloaded, as well as a physical check, as in the little pinkie in the chamber.

I went to the gun-show many years ago. Was allowed to examine a bolt-action .30-06 on a table. I did the first maneuver of the "check" and pulled back the bolt. The magazine was full, five rounds. I handed back to the seller as it was and showed it to him. He was surprised and upset with himself.

Number 2: One NEVER handles someone else's firearms without permission.

During a dark, early morning drive to elk territory, one of the four guys in the SUV picked up the driver's .44 magnum, did not say a word, and started "examining" it. He was in the back seat. It went off into the console between the front seat, lighting up the dark interior and making everyone deaf for a few minutes. I was told about this incident by the driver.

Number 3: But actually the FIRST RULE of firearms safety...Never Point A Firearm At Anything You Do Not Intend To Shoot.

A gunsmith was berating me because I said I did not like safeties on lever action rifles. He was next to his truck with a hunting "buddy". Hunting buddy loaded his M94 full, racked the lever to feed a round, put a thumb on the hammer to maneuver it to "safe-cock". His thumb slipped and the round fired into the gunsmiths leg, almost killing him. My question was, "Why was he pointing a gun at you?"

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

Never mean to offend anyone, but I check every pistol handed to me even if it was just checked in front of me. Never can be to safe.
TD

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More stuff!!!

Clearing a firearm was drilled into me by dad. My son and daughter had it drilled into them by me. I bought my 2 oldest grandchildren BB guns between myself and my son they are learning safe handeling.

I always clear a firearm before handing it to someone else. If that person doesn't immediately clear it as soon as they get it, then I have serious doubts about them.

We should all take a lesson from Smoke and clear all weapons when we pick them up...period. Even if that offends someone.

My wife just read an article to me about a teenage girl getting killed with a gun shot to the chest by a teenage boy. While sitting at a residence with a group of other teenagers a boy pulled out a gun and the girl (victim) told him to put the gun away. He then pointed the gun at her and said, "It isn't loaded" and then pulled the trigger.

Check and clear all guns.

Me once. My dad made up from kits and gave each of us boys a Hawkens style muzzle loader years ago. My one brothers stock got broken somehow and as his had nice adjustable sights and mine didn't I got the barrel in a trade. I didn't do anything with it for a couple years. Then another brother suggested we go deer hunting that year with BP. I said ya but, I want to change my barrel out. We lived couple hundred yards apart in a rural area and I walked home and brought the parts back. We assembled it with the adj sight barrel and he goes "we should bust a cap and clear the barrel". Ok, on goes a cap and sitting at the kitchen table with the but on the floor I leaned the muzzle off to the side and cleared the barrel alright. About crapped. 50 cal hole in the cupboard. Through a roll of garbage bags (shoulda saw them unrolled) and into the corner. Never came out the side of the house. After we calmed down, I called the brother who gave me the barrel and chewed his rear a bit. Then he says, "Price used it last". Price was the brother with the new hole in the cupboard. How do you check a muzzle loader when you don't have a marked ram rod for the barrel? Get ball remover and check it. Don't assume its not loaded either. Never leave a barrel charged either. PRICE

Use the Zombie-Max ammo - the green tip really stands out!

You think that's a joke but i bat there are people out there that do exactly that

The first thing I do when handling a firearm is check to make absolutely sure it is clear. Each and every time...

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"Shall not be infringed"

When I'm at a friend's house, I check any weapon to make sure it's empty. Particularly a friend who is 90 and a little forgetful.

I check my guns when I leave the range; look at the magazine, close the slide and pull the trigger. I do it again when i put them in the gun room. I do it again, when I clean them; I open the slide, remove the magazine, check both the pistol and the magazine are empty, and clean them before I put them in storage.

I can't say that I ALWAYS check every firearm I handle to determine it's loaded/unloaded status... what I can say is that I haven't failed to do so yet. Who knows what may happen tomorrow.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

If constantly checking a firearm to make sure it is unloaded can be considered a symptom of OCD then I wear it as a badge. I'm the sole resident of my home but I swear trolls come up out of the basement at night and move things around. I can't prove it yet but I think they're also drinking my beer. I've filed a police report concerning the missing beer.

I always learned to clear a weapon from my grandad. The first time he tested me he cleared his Model 64 service piece, closed the cylinder and handed it to me to clean. The first thing I did was open and check it for daylight. He put on an act and got "offended" for a moment and asked why I did that. I said I trusted him but wanted to check. He said I passed the test and that it was not about trust but about common sense. To this day I cannot stand people who get offended when you recheck a piece they cleared.

Always check, no matter who or where. As Jeff Cooper said, "The only gun I KNOW is unloaded is one which I have personally unloaded and inspected, and hasn't left my hands since".

If that was serious and not rhetorical -

Drop a ramrod or cleaning rod or arrow shaft or any other straight skinny thing down the barrel.

Place your thumb on the rod at the muzzle.

Remove rod without moving your thumb.

Lay rod alongside barrel with thumb at muzzle.

Does rod reach to flash-hole? Gun is empty.

Does rod NOT reach to flash-hole? Something is in there. Might be a load, might be a dirt-dobber nest, might be a wadded up thousand-dollar bill. But something is in there.

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I always take precautions

Never. Even when looking at firearms at my LGS I always check the status even after the employee does it and hands it to me. I sometimes get funny looks because I do that but oh well.

Second wife and my son gave me a SW auto pistol. Years back I pulled it out of the safe. Checked by cracking the slide open saw nothing. Bullet is in a different location on this pistol. Looking farther I broke the slide open again and a round flew out. I took the gun to my son and told him here I don't have enough sense to own this little auto. I just hate those cold chill times.

I always clear my weapon.

Oh....
you meant something else....?

Why would I want to clear it?

"Was it loaded and cocked?"
"An unloaded gun ain't good for nuth'n."

(The above is a bit of satire/tongue in cheek, in case you didn't get it)

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I just picked up a G17 from my FFL yesterday and of course checked the chamber first off. Then took a good look at the rest of it and wanted to check the trigger. I opened the chamber and verified, then showed it to the smithy and asked him to verify it was clear then pointed it in a safe direction before pulling the trigger.
He actually thanked me for asking him to verify it was clear.
Guess he doesn't get that request often enough.

When I’m handing the gun off I show the magazine well to the person I’m handing it to, put my finger in the well and state “no magazine”. Then I open the slide, look at the chamber and ask “Do you agree that the chamber is clear?” and I don’t hand them the gun until they verify that yes, they see the chamber is clear.

Get some strange looks ocassionally but I've never handed off a loaded gun

Having worked in 3 LGS's over my lifetime, I long ago lost count of how many guns came in for sale, trade or repair, were checked and found to be loaded. And - as often as not, the owner stating just before handing it over -'It's not loaded'.

Even more interesting is the owner's reaction when the loaded round ejects from the action onto the counter or floor.
Some laugh, some are horribly embarrassed, some are completely non-plussed, sort of like, 'My, how 'bout that?'

In a nutshell - idiots abound.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I started hunting with my dad before I was old enough to carry a BB gun. Over the years he taught me all about hunting and firearm safety. But he was never into handguns. I started carrying a pistol about 30 years ago. When I bought my first .45 I was at my dad's house and we were out in the back yard when he asked to see it. I pulled it out of the holster, dropped the magazine and locked the slide back. I bent over and picked up the round that I had ejected and put it in my pocket. Then I handed the pistol to my dad. He looked at me with an insulted look on his face and said something to the effect of, "You didn't have to do all that. I wasn't going to shoot it." I really couldn't believe he would've been hurt by my attention to safety. I just reminded him of what he had always taught me. Never handle a loaded firearm unless you intend to shoot something with it. That seemed to satisfy him.

I always clear a weapon and hand the gun to someone with the action open to show them that it is unloaded.
When I am finished hunting for the day, I unload the rifle and with the action open I stick my pinky into the throat of the barrel to be sure no bullet is left in the chamber. Something that was beat into my head by my "Uncle Sam."

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

My first job out of college was as an FO for a 105mm battery in the Central Highlands. It involved a lot of travelling around with convoys and staying at transient quarters. Every BOQ, Headquarters, Mess Hall, etc. had a red 55-gal drum full of sand covered with a sheet of rubber roofing at the exterior door, marked with a sign that said, "Clear weapons here before proceeding". Almost every barrel had a large bulge in the back, garnered by stopping a 5.56 or .45.

Ever since I've been wary of a closed action, no matter who is carrying the firearm. I don't take offence if someone checks me, and I don't really care if someone is offended if I check them. It hurts like hell to get shot, and it hurts more if you did it accidently. And if you did it accidently, it hurts again every time you think about it. Sometime, I'll tell you how I know that.

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Long Barrel
Retired Artilleryman

I always check.

I open the chambers and point the guns off to the side if I walk downrange. I can't stand the idea of a gun pointed my way if I'm walking downrange even if the chamber is open.

One thing that freaks people out is I will verify a gun is unloaded and then look down the barrel. I have a phobia about barrel obstructions.

.

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Kirk / Spock 2020

What is natural to most of us here is otherworldly to far too many I'm afraid.