NRA 3/3 states: "ALWAYS Keep The Gun Unloaded Until Ready To Use". So there's that. Or are you advocating another ruleset altogether? ...
NRA 3 doesn't strictly apply to stored guns, or unhandled firearms.Stored guns aren't being handled...
Then how exactly does it occur? Do you really believe that Rule 1 is responsible for that?As far as the dichotomy spontaneously occurring, that has not been my experience.
NRA 3 doesn't strictly apply to stored guns, or unhandled firearms.
Then how exactly does it occur? Do you really believe that Rule 1 is responsible for that?
The problem with people treating unloaded guns differently than loaded guns unquestionably predates Rule 1 and is true of people who never heard of it. As far as Rule 1 inherently causing people to believe unloaded guns can be handled cavalierly ... outside of these discussions on INGO I've never heard anyone who has expressed that confusion.Rule 1 certainly implies it and does encourage it in those with a certain literal mindset.
I agree that the way you've written those rules there the second version is much more clear and the first does bring questions to mind. That said, it is a terrible analogy that doesn't speak to the question at hand at all.Take guns out of the equation. Let's say I hand you some newfangled electric hand tool. I tell you one of the following:
Are you advocating saying nothing to students about the loaded/unloaded dichotomy, focusing strictly on how guns should be treated safely, and just hoping that no one figures out on their own that an unloaded gun acts different than a loaded gun? Or do you advocate making explicit that the rules always apply whether the gun is loaded or not?So when you tell people "treat it like it's loaded" the question is, how do you treat it when it's unloaded is just as natural.
That somebody with a certain literal mindset could use the above to come to the conclusion that it's okay to misbehave with an unloaded firearm doesn't mean that the rule is bad or has failed.Mental Gymnastics said:Hmm ... okay, so since I know "safe direction" necessarily might mean something different for a BB gun, a .22LR, a 9mm, a 12 gauge, .308WIN, a .50BMG, and so on, we can obviously see that the safety of a direction depends entirely on the ability of the given firearm to launch a projectile that can reach and damage something important if it were to fire. If there is nothing loaded in the firearm, then obviously nothing could ever be damaged at any range. For an unloaded gun any direction is safe!
You are absolutely correct that it is playing pretend. It is the exact same pretend that "a gun is always a gun so you should pretend it can do harm even if it literally can't" requires, just with fewer layers of obfuscation. Again, both sides are saying effectively the same thing - that no matter what, certain safety steps must be taken with firearms - even if those safety steps don't intuitively make sense.When you tell people "It's always loaded" that's a lie. A child knows it's not always loaded. You're playing pretend.
It is the exact same pretend that "a gun is always a gun so you should pretend it can do harm even if it literally can't" requires, just with fewer layers of obfuscation.
Less filling
tastes great