WuogKat's Fic Blog: Viewer 2-5-8: Guns

I know that some of you may have issues with guns. I'm a firm advocate of owning and using guns for sport and protection (mostly sport). There are safety rules that you must learn when handling them. The more you know about a weapon the less likely you are to accidentally injure yourself or someone else with one.

The Rules:
1. Never point a weapon - loaded or unloaded - at anyone or anything you are unwilling to kill.

I'm serious about this. It drives me crazy when people on TV, in real life, and in fiction wield them around like it's no big deal. Never point a weapon, loaded or unloaded at someone or something that you don't want dead - seriously.

This is me at the range in my spiffy trench coat.

I've read at least one fic where Bella's a crack-shot and shoots a target in the wrist, then goes off on this whole thing about disarming an attacker. Um... no... If you shoot someone in the wrist he's going to keep coming. If you're firing on someone you'd better be willing to kill him/her and that is the end of the story. Also, realistically if 250lbs of angry man is bearing down on you with a weapon, you don't risk missing his wrist or a kneecap. If you can't stomach it, you shouldn't have a weapon, because you're going to end up disarmed.

2. Always assume weapons are loaded.

I don't care if you've pulled the clip, checked the chamber, and put the safety back on - treat it like it's loaded. Why? Because what you do becomes a habit. If you're in the habit of pointing that baby around haphazardly you're more likely to do it some other time. Just don't. Has anyone noticed all of the politicians lately holding up guns on TV. Almost every single one of them has been irresponsible about it.

3. When passing off any sort of weapon (knives included) you wait for the other person to say "Thank you" before releasing the weapon. This ensures that dangerous items are not dropped.

Just do it. Honestly, if I'm handing you a weapon I'm going to do this and I'm not letting go until you say it.

4. Do not look down the barrel of a gun for any reason. If you feel that your weapon has misfired and there might be a bullet lodged in the barrel, use a pen light, not your face, to test this theory.

This should really be obvious, but you'd be amazed at the stupidity.

5. Don't pull a weapon on someone unless you're really in danger. Guns are not for arguments.

6. Lock your weapons in a secure location. We have a lockbox for our hand guns that responds to a typed combination. Our larger weapons have trigger locks.

7. If you are using a weapon for home defense your lock box needs to be in an accessible place out of the reach of children and hidden from idiots.

8. Hit the range regularly.

A gun is totally useless and quite dangerous if you don't know what you're doing with it.

I'm really not a wacko, I promise. I'm a normal mom. If you're not going to be smart and responsible about gun ownership, you have no business having one. Also, if you have one, you need to talk to your kids about it and teach them gun safety. My son has a BB gun - which stays in our room locked up - and we made him earn it through consistent, responsible behavior. Trust me, that took a while, but he's very responsible with the BB gun now. He had to earn it, so it means more.

Like I said, I know that a lot of people have issues with firearms these days. They don't have to be scary, you just have to be mindful about your behavior with them, and for goodness sakes lock them up.