"...she walked in the room and I pointed it at her and pulled the trigger, thinking it was empty.”
Therein lies the problem. Thinking it was empty. How many have really stopped to think why we treat guns differently when we "think" they are empty? Treating them all "as if they are loaded" or "they are always loaded" is not working.
That's what I don't get. I point my gun at my daughter and pull the bangstick and it goes <click>. What lesson has my son just learned? That sometimes it's ok to pretend shoot someone? That guns really aren't all that dangerous? This is the dumbest most infuriating thing I have ever read.How in the world could someone think that pointing a gun at their children and pulling the trigger would possibly teach anything constructive. I guess the boys do see how dangerous guns are after dad murdererd sis right in front of them.
This is way more offensive as a father than a gun owner.
A better way to respond would be to say, "That's why we ALWAYS keep them pointed in a safe direction."
Loaded/unloaded is of trifling significance and should never be considered the most important thing.
Teach them what to do first, last and ALWAYS, how to simply do it, and most importantly ...why.
Change your culture.
It's pretty shallow for anyone on here to be inconvenienced or bothered by what they think is rehashing of 3 vs. 4 rules or arguing over semantics or what order they should be written in. The gun culture does have a problem here and we all know it. Stuff like this happens far too often and on top of the pain and suffering it causes it jeopardizes all of our rights.
Again, I ask: Why do far too many of us think it's OK to point a gun in an unsafe direction (especially at oneself another human being we are not willing to terminate) if we think it's unloaded? Where did this notion come from? And why just because you get it right all the time do you not find it worthy of critical examination when others do not?
Are you content with the status quo? Is the current rate of negligent dischargees resulting in serious injury or death acceptable to you?
If people didn't so regularly short circuit every other rule because "it's unloaded!" then I'd agree 100%. The stumbling block that most commonly results in a death and injury is not someone confused by Cooper #1, it is someone believing that they can treat a gun cavalierly if they think it is unloaded. Prioritization of NRA #1/Cooper #2 - which you absolutely correctly identify as the primary action which ensures safety - doesn't automagically fix that short circuit. It doesn't even address it. You say that it is a deception to think that people need a reason to point a gun in a safe direction, and I say it is willful ignorance to look at the available evidence and claim that.Then give them the most important lesson first, last and ALWAYS. Remove any stumbling blocks that would usurp this highest place of importance.
I absolutely have. You seem to assume that the cause for this must be people who have received training in Cooper4 and were so confused by Cooper #1 that they decided to discard the rest. Personally, I believe Cooper #1 was formed to address an underlying and fundamental psychological issue that persists to this day. The problem come from knowing a little bit about guns and a little bit of knowledge being dangerous. It doesn't take a great mind to figure out that an unloaded gun is essentially inert. Why should you treat an inert object as if it was not inert?Therein lies the problem. Thinking it was empty. How many have really stopped to think why we treat guns differently when we "think" they are empty?
Unfollowed rules never work no matter how good they are. If there were a case where an NRA instructor - someone who knew and taught NRA3 - failed to follow NRA #1, would you mark that down as a failure of NRA3 and demand they be discarded?Treating them all "as if they are loaded" or "they are always loaded" is not working.
I already covered why people choose not to follow the rules. People think they can treat unloaded guns differently because unloaded guns are in fact different than loaded guns and anyone can easily prove that to themselves. As a community we don't like to admit this out loud because it's a dangerous truth. One must buy in to following the rules even in cases where it seems unnecessary in order to be consistently safe with firearms. That you prefer to conceal that deception does not make it more likely to be followed.Of course unfollowed rules never work! The question is why was the rule not followed!
I sincerely believe that discarding Cooper #1 is likely to make a negative difference.I sincerely believe if we as instructors (and we all are instructors) spent as much time, effort, and energy emphasizing NRA1 as 1 of 4 it would make a diffeeence.
What if it could lead to more deaths?It could make a difference, and that alone makes the effort worth it.
For God's sake, get up off the couch, expose the deceptions and start saving some lives.
Show people how to be successful and most importantly, why.