safe direction
- Thread starter czc3513
- Start date
USNavy_233
New member
More often then not I'd say down. Down will be safest MOST of the time but it will also depend on your environment. Bear in mind that some surfaces will cause a ricochet if a discharge was to occur, although firing into the air will ALWAYS lead to a bad situation as the round is going to have to land somewhere and when it does the bullet will be just as capable of killing someone as when it was originally fired.
stephen426
New member
I voted down too despite the chance of ricochet. I guess you could say that carrying the pistol upwards would be safer for yourself (as long as it is not pointed at you head 
) but it would be dangerous for someone else. I imagine trying to catch the bullet you fired up into the air would be pretty darn difficult, even if you intended to do so. Chances are unless you fired it exactly at the proper angle to compensate for wind, there is almost no way you would get hit.
By the way, a falling bullet does not have the same ability to kill someone as a bullet fired from a gun. Terminal velocity from gravity is dictated by wind resistance, which is slower than most pistol rounds. Don't get me wrong, falling rounds can still kill people. Just keep your finger off the stinking trigger and you will have much lower chances of accidental discharges, both upwards and downwards!
) but it would be dangerous for someone else. I imagine trying to catch the bullet you fired up into the air would be pretty darn difficult, even if you intended to do so. Chances are unless you fired it exactly at the proper angle to compensate for wind, there is almost no way you would get hit.By the way, a falling bullet does not have the same ability to kill someone as a bullet fired from a gun. Terminal velocity from gravity is dictated by wind resistance, which is slower than most pistol rounds. Don't get me wrong, falling rounds can still kill people. Just keep your finger off the stinking trigger and you will have much lower chances of accidental discharges, both upwards and downwards!
+1 for down.
We were taught this is our CCW class. The instuctor teaches firearms training to state and federal LEOs. The ground can absorb the bullet much better than the air, what goes up must come down.
Watch the nightly news. Marines with their rifles, or SWAT breaking down a door always have the muzzle pointed at the ground until the target is engaged.
We were taught this is our CCW class. The instuctor teaches firearms training to state and federal LEOs. The ground can absorb the bullet much better than the air, what goes up must come down.
Watch the nightly news. Marines with their rifles, or SWAT breaking down a door always have the muzzle pointed at the ground until the target is engaged.
HangFire83
New member
Tricky situation with me. I live in the upper apartment in the unit so if I am home the safe direction is up or towards the exterior wall of the building. In the woods or at the range the safe direction is down or down range.
Double Naught Spy
New member
From the muzzle out of the barrel, everything is down range.
I was generally taught down by both basic "dad" training and gunrange rules so that's generally what I practice. like Erick said, it is situationally dependent.
In fact a friend of mine and I were talking about this very subject the other day with some kind of tactical trainer at the indoor gun range we now frequently attended.
The gentleman recalled an incident in North or South Carolinia where a policeman was cleaning his gun in his upstairs apartment and the gun went off. The shot went through the floor and hit a woman in the head. She was dead.
He said the first thing that came out of the policeman's mouth instinctively was "I had my weapon pointed down."
So it's really kinda relative. What is safe?
If your're downstairs, pointing down is better, if you are up stairs up is better (but what if someone is above you on the third floor.)
Or if I am on concrete or some other hard surface...up is better.
In fact a friend of mine and I were talking about this very subject the other day with some kind of tactical trainer at the indoor gun range we now frequently attended.
The gentleman recalled an incident in North or South Carolinia where a policeman was cleaning his gun in his upstairs apartment and the gun went off. The shot went through the floor and hit a woman in the head. She was dead.
He said the first thing that came out of the policeman's mouth instinctively was "I had my weapon pointed down."
So it's really kinda relative. What is safe?
If your're downstairs, pointing down is better, if you are up stairs up is better (but what if someone is above you on the third floor.)
Or if I am on concrete or some other hard surface...up is better.
out huhnting it's always been down. the range says up. however down at the range would be into a concrete slab so up makes more sense. like so many others have said it depends. since most of the time down would be into concrete where it could riccochet and hit someone I said up. the chances of it dropping and hitting someone would be a lot smaller. unless you're in manhatten.
A safe direction is a direction in which, if the gun fires, no humans would be endangered and, at worst, only minor property damage would result.
It isn't "up" or "down" or "toward the berm." Any of those may be a safe direction, sometimes. Any of those will be a very unsafe direction at other times.
As much as we all might prefer otherwise, there is no substitute for actual thought when handling guns.
pax
It isn't "up" or "down" or "toward the berm." Any of those may be a safe direction, sometimes. Any of those will be a very unsafe direction at other times.
As much as we all might prefer otherwise, there is no substitute for actual thought when handling guns.
pax
Blackwater OPS
New member
Agreed. Still I prefer up, while it may not be safest under all circumstances I find it to be more expedient.
USNavy_233
New member
" safe direction is a direction in which, if the gun fires, no humans would be endangered and, at worst, only minor property damage would result.
It isn't "up" or "down" or "toward the berm." Any of those may be a safe direction, sometimes. Any of those will be a very unsafe direction at other times.
As much as we all might prefer otherwise, there is no substitute for actual thought when handling guns.
pax"
Well said.
It isn't "up" or "down" or "toward the berm." Any of those may be a safe direction, sometimes. Any of those will be a very unsafe direction at other times.
As much as we all might prefer otherwise, there is no substitute for actual thought when handling guns.
pax"
Well said.
that depends....
...on where you are. We have a one-storey house, which means our floors are carpet over concrete slab. So if I am carrying my firearm through the house, it is pointed UP.
However, if I were outside, safe would be DOWN, because everybody knows (I hope) that up is extremely dangerous in that situation.
So I didn't vote, because there is not one answer.
Springmom
...on where you are. We have a one-storey house, which means our floors are carpet over concrete slab. So if I am carrying my firearm through the house, it is pointed UP.
However, if I were outside, safe would be DOWN, because everybody knows (I hope) that up is extremely dangerous in that situation.
So I didn't vote, because there is not one answer.
Springmom