PLEASE Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger!

I personally wouldn't be opposed to all states having heavily safety focus training mandatory for weapons purchases.
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That's always a tempting thought, but implementation would only be arbitrary, unfair, expensive, and morally wrong. Worse yet, it won't stop the problem.
 
I'm a novice compared to the regulars here. But when I go to a gun counter I watch the clerk check and clear the weapon, and after he hands it to me I do so again. And then I ask for permission to dry fire, and then I do so in a safe direction. And then I get attentive and great service.

It seems to me that the beauty of gun safety protocol is based on redundancy. Who am I to mess with that?
 
*shrug* I don't know about being more natural or comfortable. I've always found the "rest" position of finger of the trigger to feel very natural.
But then again, like many others here, I was drilled from a fairly young age that unless you're specifically planning on pulling that trigger, your finger stays outside the guard.
The concept of just letting my finger rest on a trigger feels more unnatural at this point.
 
I was in an exercise with police and civilians - a training drill for active shooters. They had some of the non police employees of the department take part to have some experience of the chaos and also to have an opportunity to shoot some paintball handguns in a critical incident.

They had a stack of these latter folks and one had his paint ball gun resting under the back of the guy in front of him's head with the finger on the trigger. I chastise him and got a dirty look as a civie telling him what to do - but he wasn't an armed police officer just a security guard.
 
The old Finger-Magnet

We teach this during our Hunter Safety classes as safe gun handling rule #4. In demonstration I "point" to the trigger and ask the students what that is. Most look at me a bit confused and then I explain that it's a finger magnet and right off it wants to go in there where it doesn't belong. Most smile and all understand the problem. I then demonstrate how one of the safe gun holds and indexing. They get it and some will likely forget it. At the line, we repeat this rule if we observe this "bad" habit. We also challenge them to hold us accountable for observing the four safe gun handling rules. On one occasion, two students came back to our M/L station and snitched on the instructors at the shotgun station. ...... :eek:

#4 Don't put your finger in the trigger until you sights are on the target !!!

Be Safe !!!
 
GM1967 posted
It appears you don't understand my post. But that's okay. Good luck dealing with your stress.
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I understand your post; you're under the misconception that I don't think anyone should ever put their finger on the trigger when handling a gun at a gun shop.

Like SgtLumpy said, there's a huge difference between keeping your finger constantly on the trigger because you don't know how to handle a gun safely, and testing the trigger in a controlled manner while the gun is pointed in a safe direction.

If you don't know the difference between the two, you may not find yourself welcome at many gun shop counters.
 
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Yup, TV has taught all sorts of great firearms tactics like the Charlie's Angels point pistol at your own head while moving from room to room or have the pistol enter the room 3 feet in front of you so you can remain hidden. It's comical.
 
I have seen folks do that in FOF, maybe me till I learned.

Once I shot a guy's gun (not real rounds - :D) as it came around the corner - for grins.
 
I took my niece and nephew to chuckie cheese the other day and of course I had to play the hunting game. I noticed even when I was playing a game I kept my finger off the trigger of the toy gun.
 
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