1. Never, when you have a mis-fire, look down to barrel to see if the bullet is in there. Seriously, wait a bit before ejecting the round. Had a mis-fire once, ejected the round right away to continue the drill, went off in mid-air when ejecting - it hit the baracade to the right of me a few inches from the other shooters body.
2. If your friend goes out shooting with you, make sure to bring him/her back with you as well. If not then make sure the area your shooting in is very remote and no one else is around. Seriously, if you take someone shooting with you then you are just as responsible for their safety as they are for their own.
3. A lively game of frisbee catch with the dog and weapons fire in the same area generally do not mix.
4. Its not like playing base ball and breaking the neighbors window, so watch where you point that thing.
5. Shoot the beer cans after they are empty, and not before. Seriously, if you want to drink do it at home or in a bar and not on the range.
6. Bragging about and demonstrating your suddenly inherited trick shooting abilities will eventually trick you too. They will even tell you that at the hospital, if your lucky.
7. Every bullet has a purpose, even the ones that punch that hole in someones roof a mile away.
8. Cleaning your weapon on the wifes carpet is not a good idea.
9. If your going to be a gunsmith, then be one. Don't pretend your a gunsmith just to save a few bucks if, for example, you don't know what a pin punch is for.
10. There is a big difference between lobbing rounds at a target and engaging a target.
11. "Did you really fire the very last round in the clip and your sure its empty? Really? OK then, you stand there with this apple on your head and lets check."
12. Looking cool and being safe are not the same thing.
13. If your stopped by police going to or coming from the range, and he/she says "get out of the vehicle", don't try to explain anything, just shut up and do it. Trying to hold up the gun to show what your talking about is a really bad idea.
14. The right to keep and bear arms is not a right to shoot at will just for the heck of it.
15. Its fun to go shooting and put rounds down range, its also fun for that other guy opposit you that you don't notice a few hundred yards away. Make sure your range area is clear and safe.
16. Just because a .22 is not that loud, does not mean your hearing can not be damaged. Always wear hearing protection. Weapons fire is broad band noise in nature, what you do not hear for peak noises can be just as damaging to hearing due to Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and not necessarily Peak DB level (what you normally hear). Your pets have ears and weapons fire can damage their hearing too.
17. Its not really that easy to replace your sight or an eye. Always wear eye protection.
18. If your kids are too small to handle the weapon, and are more interested in running after that interesting looking bug on the range, leave them at home.
Unless you want to buy another. Always be safe and alway's have fun shooting it. Never use your mag as a rest.
