Clearing Your Weapon/ Who DOESN'T Do That?

[Smoke]

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 ?

 

[USMCHEROS]

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.

 

[Thuer]

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.

 

[Llando88]

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.

 

[duppie]

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.

 

[Ranger514]

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.

 

[H Richard]

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.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

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

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

 

[Bkreutz]

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

 

[Gunslinger808]

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.

 

[poordevil]

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.

 

[kamloops67]

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.

 

[bp231986]

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

 

[SgtLumpy]

Clearing Your Weapon/ Who DOESN'T Do That?

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


Sgt Lumpy

 

[kamloops67]

"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 .

 

[jlrhiner]

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

 

[Double-O-Dave]

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

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

 

[gdnagle]

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.

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.

 

[Stevens]

"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 .

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

 

[kamloops67]

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