Make it work. I handed someone a pistol recently. They had asked my advice and for a recommendation of a pistol. So I cleared a pistol, handed it to them, and said quite simply, “Make it work.”
This person said to me, “That’s not fair! You can’t just do that!”
Yes I can, and yes I did. If you can’t make it work, then you have no business with it. You need training, not a gun.
After the struggle to make it work, I said, “Okay, now clear it.” After the magazine was extracted, I said, “Okay, you have removed all the reloads. What about the bullet remaining?”
“What?“
“What about the last bullet. The one that is next in line to kill someone? How do you get rid of that one?” No answer.
This person was interested in a firearm for personal protection, but not committed to it. You have to be committed to being an expert in both making it work and clearing it so that it cannot work. If you cannot do those two tasks, then you have no business with a firearm.
There are other tasks, for sure, but those two are the most essential. If you can’t make it dangerous, then you have no use for it. If you can’t make it safe, then you have no business with it. Everything in between is good judgement and common sense.
Keep it out of the wrong hands. Only point it in a safe or intended direction. Common sense. Not as much skills as mere situational awareness and good judgement. That still takes practice to learn to think that way. It still takes practice and training to actually hit your target. It takes practice to reload efficiently. There are plenty of things that require practice, skill, and training. But if you can’t make it dangerous and you can’t make it safe, then you have no business with it. Baseline.
I do have a metaphorical realm that I want to push this into, but in this case I will refrain. This basic concept applies elsewhere, like in operating a motor vehicle. That is not the metaphor, but that is all I will say for now. Make it work. Make it so it CAN’T.
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Exactly right! So many people on BOTH sides of the gun debate don’t understand this concept. They both scare me!
“…Everything in between is good judgement and common sense.
Keep it out of the wrong hands. Only point it in a safe or intended direction. Common sense. …”
Unfortunately, “common sense” is not nearly a common virtue as we would like.
I’ve long advocated that “How to Defang the Snake” should be part of every basic HS Health class.
1. Drop mag if autoloader, swing out and clear cylinder if revolver.
2. Rack slide (if autoloader), confirm chamber empty by bot sight and feel.
It’s Not Complicated. The problem is too many people ruled by “MUHFEEWINGS!” and the Fallacy Of ‘Shoulds’ who simply cannot handle the reality that while there are a lot of things we shouldn’t HAVE to know how to do or teach our kids, we live in a dangerous world that REQUIRES us to take mitigating measures for its harsh realities.
That whacked-out incel with an AR isn’t gonna be stopped by grabbing the guns of us who mind our own business, or by “pretty please don’t hurt anyone”–only by one or more good guys with guns ready, willing and able to give him one in the snotlocker. And since these Active Shooters have started bringing buddies, that means multiple GGWG’s is preferable–like the case where the AS had a female “overwatch” ready to pop anyone who stepped up to be a hero.