Firearms Safety for Officers and Firearms Instructors:

“Familiarity breeds contempt.” 

In my experience armorers are the most unsafe with firearms because they handle “unloaded” guns all day long. They develop bad habits as a result. Officers carry guns and deploy them often. They too become complacent.

The 4 Universal Safety Rules as written by Jeff Cooper have been adopted by many US Military organizations as well as many Law Enforcement (LE) agencies. When followed to the letter, accidents are almost unknown.

Rule One, All guns are always loaded.

I often hear internet “experts” say this rule is silly and they carelessly handle firearms that they have “cleared.” Covering themselves or others with an “unloaded” gun creates a bad habit that will carry over to a loaded gun sooner or later.

People make mistakes and forget the condition of their firearm or perhaps they have a cartridge stuck in the firing chamber which did not eject when the action was racked, etc. The military is famous for unloading firearms by first removing the cartridge from the chamber and then removing the magazine. Having reloaded the firing chamber in the process! Certain that the firearm is unloaded they proceed to have a discharge. Humans err. Do not bet your life or that of another that your gun is in fact unloaded and do not practice habits with an unloaded gun that might get someone killed with a loaded gun.

Rule 2: Never allow the muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

You cannot enforce your Officers to follow this rule by merely telling them about it; which is all that most trainer do. Telling someone what not to do does not create the correct habit.

We see LE agencies still using real firearms in training simulations!  They claim that this is safe because they check them to make sure they are “unloaded”. See Rule One.  When you show Officers that it is acceptable to point real guns at people they do not wish to shoot, you are training them to be unsafe.

Set the example.

I have seen LE Instructors muzzle their students during class lectures.  I have seen LE Instructors muzzle themselves while explaining the Safety Rules. When called on this, they always say, “Its ok its not loaded.”  See Rule One. Your Officers will remember what they see you do long after they have forgotten what you told them not to do.

The Universal Safety Rules must be strictly enforced during training until compliance is a deeply programmed habit. When I first became the Chief Firearms Instructor at the LAPD Academy accidents were common within the department. When I left accidents were unknown. During any firearm training program a violation of any Safety Rule was dealt with severely. I had a Recruit who committed safety violations (outside of a testing situation) and I managed to have him dismissed from the Academy. Recruits and In-service Officers had to pass a 20 event manipulation test. Any safety violation was an automatic failure of the test.  Recruits could be fired for such a failure. In-service Officers who committed a safety violation would be dropped from whatever training program they were attending, such as semi-auto pistol transition, AR 15, Tactical Shotgun Slug School, etc. We were without mercy when it came to firearms safety. We created a culture of firearms safety that I have never seen elsewhere LE.

As an example of our strict enforcement of the Universal Safety Rules: I had just completed a 5 day M16 school for Patrol Officers. They asked for a class photo holding their rifles. During the photo the top marksman in the class accidentally muzzled an Instructor with his unloaded rifle. I took his rifle and sent him home. He was out of the M16 cadre. I hated to do it; but the word quickly spread and officers who wanted to be issued a rifle came to class with a serious attitude about firearms safety.

When we transitioned to Glocks we went from a 12-pound trigger to a 6-pound trigger. Yet we had NO accidental or negligent discharges. With nearly 10,000 Officers this was an accomplishment. When training a specialized unit in one of our brother agencies I noticed that as an agency they often had fingers on the trigger while searching, etc. I pointed this out to them but was not in a position to change the culture of the department in a week of instructing a specialized unit. When that agency went to Glocks their accident rate (which was already high) went up by 500 percent. Those Officers had been told to keep their finger off the trigger but merely telling people does not create the habit. Only competent/committed Instructors who are willing to hold people’s feet to the fire can create a culture of firearms safety within an agency.

Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target and you intend to shoot. 

We strictly enforced this rule on and off the range, in simulation training, etc.  Inter-limb interaction discharges are always a concern. I am aware of Officers who have shot themselves as a result of falling down with a finger on the trigger. It is very hard to have an accident without violating this rule.

This rule is often stated as “keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot”. This interpretation does not work as Officers searching or covering a suspect may feel that they are “ready to shoot.” As I sit here writing this, my Glock sits in my holster and I am ready to shoot. I am always ready to shoot. However I do not put my finger on the trigger until my sights are on the target and I intend to shoot. Once the decision to shoot had been made and my pistol is coming on to any part of the target my finger is on the trigger. As my sights center on the target I break the shot. No time is lost be being safe.

Rule 4: Be sure of your target.

Do not shoot at anything that you have not identified.

Summary:

Once again, merely telling people to be safe only goes so far. Teaching them to be safe is another matter. This requires a strong belief by the Instructors that strict adherence to the Universal Safety Rules is necessary and effective. It requires a willingness by the Instructors to deal firmly with violations even when it is uncomfortable to criticize or perhaps cause embarrassment to fellow Officers.

Accidents do not just happen: they are caused. The causes can often be traced back to training or the lack of training. As Instructors we should all live with the fear that one of our Officers may lose a gunfight because of something that we failed to teach them. We should have that same fear that an Officer may be involved in an accident which could kill him, his partner or a family member because of something that we failed to make certain he was doing correctly.  Being safe is an attitude, a frame of mind, a belief in the system and a deeply programmed set of habits.

Larry Mudgett
Marksmanship Matters
Retired LAPD Officer