GUNSAFE

A Community Firearms Safety and
Responsibility Course for Adults

Produced as a public education project of the Second Amendment Foundation, a tax-exempt not-for-profit foundation

1. Always keep a gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
4. Never point any gun at anything you don't intend to destroy.
5. Never put a trigger lock on a loaded firearm.

PURPOSE

America was once known as "a nation of riflemen." Because of our pioneer and rural traditions, men, women and children used to learn from parents, relatives and friends how rifles, shotguns and handguns worked and how to handle them as safely and responsibly as any common tool. However, because of a great population shift from rural living to cities and suburbs, particularly since 1945, there has been a dangerous reduction in general knowledge about firearms.

Additionally, other societal changes, coupled with unrealistic images of guns and their effect in movies and television, have created a climate in which many people either fail to respect guns or have an unreasonable fear of them. That fear unfortunately has fostered a belief that by avoiding all knowledge about firearms, contact with firearms and keeping all guns, including toy guns, out of the home will insure safety. Unfortunately, that frequently leads to tragic consequences. Non-gunowners sometimes find unknown guns among the possessions of deceased friends and relatives-and don't even know if they are loaded or safe to handle.

Children who have been brought up isolated from guns may encounter them in the homes of friends and relatives, including in the homes of law enforcement personnel. Children also find guns abandoned by criminals in school yards, parking lots, parks and elsewhere. They may think they are toys, or otherwise misuse them with unwelcome and even tragic results-or they may bring them to an adult who knows no more than the child how to render the gun safe.
Such a lack of basic, simple, mechanical knowledge about guns and how they work can put emergency response teams and firemen at risk if they are called into situations where loaded firearms could be present.

The purpose of this program is to provide enough basic information about guns and how they work so that the average adult without prior knowledge of guns, especially in urban areas, will have enough basic information to recognize the general type of gun, know how it functions, and how to render it safe.

Based on the premise that some knowledge is always more helpful than ignorance, this program is designed to teach and reinforce basic safety and responsibility rules for gunowners and non-gunowners alike. The program is value-neutral; we neither promote nor discourage responsible, lawful gun ownership.

What you learn in this program may never be needed in practice, but knowledge banked against eventuality is a good investment in safety for you and your family.

A Little History

In many ways, the function of guns has not changed much from the time when gunpowder was invented almost a thousand years ago. Guns-whether firearms or airguns-are nothing more than launching pads for projectiles.

Spring and air-powered guns can be as powerful and deadly as firearms, and should not be treated as toys. Hundreds of years ago, airguns were used by hunters and explorers and as almost silent military arms. Airguns deserve the same respect as firearms, and the same safety rules apply.
All firearms involve the use of a combustible propellant. The earliest guns and the newest involve similar components.

The very first guns required that a projectile (ball or bullet) be seated in front of gunpowder that needed to be ignited to propel the projectile. The projectile and powder load had to be inserted from the muzzle end into the tubular launching platform. Replicas of these guns are still used today and are called Muzzleloaders. They require the use of black power or Pyrodex® to drive the projectile out of the barrel.

The very earliest guns used fire (a match or fuse) to ignite the propellant, and the resulting expanding gases drove the ball or bullet toward the target. The matchlocks were replaced by other ignition systems, including a flash from flint striking steel, and later percussion caps made with fulminate of mercury. During the 19th century, it was discovered that the bullet, powder and ignition system could be combined in a single self-contained cartridge.

It was soon learned that these self-contained cartridges could be loaded from the breech, or rear end, of the firearm. This approach, combined with a revolving cylinder (developed years earlier) or other multiple-cartridge magazine systems and Action types led to the 19th century concept of repeating rifles, shotguns and handguns, the same mechanisms we know today.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GUNS?
Here are a number of other sources:
1. If time permits, contact the manufacturer of the par-ticular firearm(s). The name of the maker and their address should be stamped on the gun, usually the left side.
2. Contact your local police or sheriff's department, using non-emergency phone number, or the nearest office of your state fish & game or conservation department. 3. Contact a federally licensed gun dealer or gunsmith; addresses and phone numbers are listed in your phone directory, usually under the heading "Guns & Gunsmiths."

FOR ADDITIONAL SAFETY INSTRUCTION
Contact any of the sources above, or:
NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
11250 WAPLES MILL ROAD
FAIRFAX, VA 22030; PHONE: (703) 267-1000

The NRA offers a wide range of firearms safety courses for adults and young adults through certified instructors, as well as specialized school programs like Eddie Eagle and police training programs.

NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION
11 MILE HILL ROAD
NEWTOWN, CT 06470; PHONE: (203) 426-1320

NSSF offers a community-oriented safety and firearms responsibility program called "HomeSafe," which focuses on vari-ous methods for the safe storage of firearms, including vaults and trigger and action-locking mechanisms.

Printed Copies of "GunSafe" are available from:
Second Amendment Foundation
12500 NE 10th Place
Bellevue, WA 98005
Phone: (425) 454-7012 Fax: (425) 451-3959
www.saf.org