As I begin to write, I am a bit hesitant. I anticipate that I may just get a few of you worked up. In my opinion, making this point is absolutely worth the risk of a few ruffled feathers.

    As humans, we tend to be accident prone. We spill our milk, back into mailboxes, trip over the kids skateboard, and on it goes. Personally, I have a two-inch scar over my ear where I was kicked by a rocking horse. Sometimes, the accident is worse and people are hurt, maybe even killed. I have noticed that, in most cases, we refer to these things as mistakes, or even terrible mishaps.

    We tend to accept most of these events as an unavoidable consequence of the human condition. We believe that as long as we are up and moving, bumps will occur.

    Not so when it comes to gun-related accidents. Most people seem inclined to criminalize the accident and condemn the individual rather than admit they are human as well.

    I recently attended an NRA sponsored instructors’ class. The instructor and some of the students spent more than an hour arguing over whether there is such a thing as an accidental discharge or if they are all negligent discharges. With all the constructive things we could have been working on, the instructor chose to waste our time with this circular argument. He wanted to literally criminalize each event and shame anyone who was less then his imagined perfect self.

    In a multi-day flaming, ranting, Internet discussion, foolish and arrogant shooters boasted of their perfect safety record. With zealot like veracity, they attacked anyone who was less than their imagined perfect selfs.

    So, what is the reality? Have you ever had a peace officer unintentionally point his loaded weapon at you? I have. Do you know any cops who have suffered from Glock Butt? I do. Glock Butt is the unintentional discharge of a pistol while attempting to place it in the holster, generally resulting in a ventilated tushy.

    Have you ever had a person accidentally point an M16 at your chest from a few feet away and pull the trigger? It happened to me when I was in the Army. Thankfully, the gun was loaded with blanks.

    My point is this. As an instructor and longtime shooter, I’ve never met a single person who hasn’t committed multiple, potentially disastrous mistakes. Since we’re all human and fallible, perhaps we should stop pointing fingers and start learning from each other.

    I am aware of an incident that occurred to some people I know just last month. I will refer to these people as John, Paul, George and Ringo.

    John and Paul were unseasoned shooters and had brought their new handguns to shoot with George and Ringo. After the shooting was complete, they all ended up on the couch in Ringo's living room. John and Paul had questions about different types of guns and before you knew it, nearly a dozen different pistols were laid out on the floor in front of them.

    Each gun had been carefully cleared. Even so, Ringo made sure that each time the new shooters picked up a gun, they visually inspected it to make sure it was clear. Then there was much of racking slides and dry firing the various types of pistols.

    In the end, only George and Ringo remained. George was talking about how much he liked the trigger pull on a specific pistol. Ringo left the room to get a drink and when he returned, George was gone but the pistol they had been discussing was still on the floor. Ringo picked up the gun and while keeping it pointed at the floor, cracked the slide just a bit so he could see that the chamber was empty. Then he slid the slide forward and slowly pulled the trigger so he could see how it felt. BANG!

    No one was more surprised than the two experienced shooters. With hooded eyes, they stared at the hole in the floor.

    There were a number of mistakes that were made on this day. Instead of hiding from them, let’s learn together.

    People tend to get into two gun handling modes. Mode A is when a gun is empty and dry fire drills and other exercises are underway. In this mode, people tend to relax a little bit because they are free to shoot at the fly on the wall or their most hated politician on the TV. Mode B is when guns are loaded and ready to go. In this mode, shooters should become very careful and generally leave the gun alone.

    Ringo has an absolute rule that when guns are brought out for any reason other than live-fire shooting, they must be carefully cleared and all ammunition must be kept in a separate room. When the exercises are complete, the guns are loaded, holstered and secured. These are great rules and exist primarily to separate the two modes. Unfortunately, he didn’t make these rules absolutely clear to the other shooters.

    While Ringo was getting a drink, George inserted the magazine into the gun and placed it back on the floor. He failed to clearly separate the two modes and this invited trouble.

    Ringo re-entered the room and saw the gun still on the floor. Unknowingly still in mode A, he haphazardly cleared the gun. Without knowing it, however, he placed a round in the chamber and shot a hole through his floor.

    As you can see, there were a number of mistakes that were made that day. But there was much that was good, too.

    Consider the gun safety rules that are used at DallyPost Tactical.

    (1) Never point a gun at anything you do not wish to destroy. (2) Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are on target and ready to fire. (3) Keep your weapon on safe until you are ready to shoot. (4) Be absolutely sure of your target, its foreground and its background.

    These rules are designed so that a person can never do serious harm unless two or more of the rules are broken simultaneously. I have known Ringo for many years. He is absolutely serious about gun safety, and I have no problems being around him when he handles a gun. After this, I suspect that he’s safer than ever before. Because he is deadly serious about these rules, nothing was hurt except his pride.

    So, what are the lessons to be learned here? These are the things I took away from this story. (1) Always make a huge deal out of separating gun handling modes A and B. Mode A is an exercise and Mode B is deadly serious. They do not mix. (2) When you are in charge, always make sure that other shooters know what is expected. (3) Regardless of the gun handling mode you are in, always, always clear every gun you touch as if it were loaded. (4) And finally, never ever allow yourself to ignore the basic gun safety rules because they’ll save you.

    I would like to thank my friends for sharing their story so that together we can learn and be safer gun owners.

    Lance Earl is a firearms instructor with a private training facility in Rockland. Training programs are available for shooters of all abilities. Visit www.dallypost.com for complete details.