1. Always treat every firearm as if it were loaded, even after you have confirmed it is unloaded. Over the many years of working in firearm instruction, both with law enforcement personnel and private citizens, I must shake my head at the many accidents that occur and are labeled “negligent” or “accidental” discharges. These accidents occur, many resulting in death or grave bodily harm because the people handling the firearm are treating it as an everyday object, rather than a tool, capable of taking a human life. Once we place human intervention into the equation, these avoidable accidents occur with what should be an otherwise inert object. During my firearms instruction and while discussing the universal safety rules, I advise my students to not only treat every firearm as if it were loaded but more importantly, ALWAYS KNOW THE STATUS OF YOUR WEAPON! In other words, is your firearm ready to help protect you when it matters the most, at a second’s notice? A loaded weapon is not an unsafe weapon. It’s the individual handling the weapon that creates the unsafe situation. I always conduct press checks to confirm the status of a LOADED weapon. I am already considering the weapon loaded for the purpose of providing a safe environment for myself and the people around me, however, it’s the confirmation that I actually loaded it with a round in the chamber prior to holstering and trusting that weapon with my life when headed out for the day. This was drilled into me as a young police officer. Assuming the gun is loaded when finding yourself in a life-or-death incident, and a round is not chambered, well, that won’t fare well for your response to the critical incident you’re faced with.

2. Always point your firearm in a safe direction unless defending yourself or others. Pointing your firearm at an assailant may be the safest direction! Making the statement, “do not point your firearm at anything you’re not willing to shoot, kill or destroy,” is not an accurate statement in my opinion. There are common situations where we will point our firearms in directions or at something “we do not wish to destroy.” With this universal safety rule, many instructors will use the laser rule, and I think that is a good way of conceptualizing the muzzle or barrel end of your firearm. With an imaginary laser shooting out from the end of your barrel, you want to prevent that laser from crossing paths with you or anyone else. A question you should ask yourself is when would the laser be “OFF,” where you may be able to point that weapon at yourself or a part of your body? Usually students will respond, it’s always ON. However, what about when a holstered pistol is on your hip or carried in the appendix position? The muzzle will be aiming directly at your hip, legs, calves, or feet. So, we can say that a properly holstered weapon’s laser is OFF until a person interacts with that weapon. My safety on a weapon is my self-discipline, training, and the holster that safely covers the entire trigger. In life, if something is about to drop to the ground such as a cell phone, or a valuable fragile item, our natural response is to attempt to catch it and prevent it from striking the ground. However, that is exactly what we don’t want to do with a gun. A weapon slipping from your grip, holster or otherwise, is out of control and the barrel is flying around pointing in multiple unsafe directions. So let it go. Attempting to catch it and inadvertently pressing the trigger is likely to happen and we want to avoid that at all costs. Most modern weapons of today are very safe and can take a considerable drop without discharging a round.

3. Always keep your finger off the trigger and staged high up on the frame until you are ready to fire. My first safety on a weapon is my trigger finger. My second, and stated above in rule #2, my holster is my external safety on my weapon. In my opinion, external safeties on every day carry firearms can present a problem for most people that fail to train and train frequently. In a high stress self-defense incident, you are not going to be thinking about disengaging a safety on a pistol. So having your trigger finger positioned high on the frame or slide is the best place, not along the trigger guard where I was taught during my law enforcement career. A sympathetic response and flinch can cause that trigger finger to retract and pull back into where your hand is making a fist, causing your index finger to press the trigger.

4. Always be sure of your target and consider its surroundings. Also, be aware of your entire surrounding area! Not just the backstop. This is the embodiment of situational awareness in a gunfight. Be sure of what is also left and right, as you must be paying attention to your entire surroundings. The ABSOLUTE APPLICATION OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. Like wolves, criminals will usually travel in packs and they typically don’t operate alone. At the very least, that is what we should be aware of and ready for. There may be additional threats to engage. Assaults, drug violence, robberies, home invasions, etc., any violent encounter, expect the assailants to be accompanied by another criminal or co-defendant. You may need to transition to the next target or threat level and continue to defend yourself and your loved ones. This rule is the absolute application of situational awareness while manipulating your firearm, by not only paying attention to the backstop but to your ENTIRE SURROUNDING. So, the ultimate goal at the end of the day is to survive and go home alive, not only for yourself but more importantly, for your loved ones.

5. Be attentive and careful all the time.

6. If you see a dangerous situation, report it to a range instructor directly.

7. Absolutely no use of drugs or alcohol. Instructors must be made aware of clients’ use of prescription drugs that may cause a safety hazard.