# If someone asked you the "first rule of gun safety" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438 "2014-06-23T12:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/1 "2014-06-23T12:45:19Z")
…what’s the thing that springs to mind immediately? If someone who didn’t have a clue about guns (like me) asked you, what’s the most important thing you think they should know in order to handle a firearm safely? Let’s say you only have time to impart one thing before you have a game of strip poker with supermodels, or however you fill your time. Also included an ‘other’ option in the likely event that I forgot something. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/2 "2014-06-23T12:46:45Z")
Do not point any gun at anything that you do not want to kill/destroy. EDIT: Is there supposed to be a poll? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/3 "2014-06-23T12:50:10Z")
I thought the first rule was “treat all guns as if they are loaded until you confirm otherwise”, and many people would argue with the “until” part. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/4 "2014-06-23T12:50:34Z")
Never point it at anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/5 "2014-06-23T12:53:18Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do not point any gun at anything that you do not want to kill/destroy. > > EDIT: Is there supposed to be a poll? Apologies for the delay, [was looking for my gun.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFi10Hmo8E0) ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/6 "2014-06-23T12:57:19Z")
Treat it like a rattlesnake don’t touch it until you know how to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/7 "2014-06-23T13:05:42Z")
A gun may not harm a human being, nor by inaction allow a human to come to harm. …No, wait, that’s not it. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/8 "2014-06-23T13:06:23Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > …and many people would argue with the “until” part. Yeah, that’s how I heard it: “A gun is always loaded, all the time, no matter how many times you have verified that it is not”. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/9 "2014-06-23T13:13:20Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Yeah, that’s how I heard it: “A gun is always loaded, all the time, no matter how many times you have verified that it is not”. Maybe I’m too literal-minded, but that version of the rule makes things like cleaning and dry-firing pretty difficult. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/10 "2014-06-23T13:16:47Z")
I don’t want or need a gun but as I view them as a dangerous weapon, I went with option 2. If I saw one one unattended I would find someone call the police. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/11 "2014-06-23T13:34:25Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Yeah, that’s how I heard it: “A gun is always loaded, all the time, no matter how many times you have verified that it is not”. I agree with **Crotalus** on this, a gun is always loaded until I have verified that it is not. It remains unloaded only for as long as it remains in my sole and uninterrupted control. If it leaves my possession even for an instant I treat it as if it were loaded until I have verified it is not. If I leave the room in an empty house to take a leak when I return I recheck the weapon. An unknown intruder may, in a moment of whimsy, have loaded the weapon as a joke. It probably has happened, but not to me. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/12 "2014-06-23T13:34:26Z")
My answer before opening the thread was, “Never point a gun at someone, even if that gun isn’t loaded.” So I voted for number three although properly speaking it’s a subset of number two. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/13 "2014-06-23T13:42:02Z")
“Always bring it to a knife fight”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/14 "2014-06-23T13:45:49Z")
I know the big 4 rules (the top 4 in the poll), but I never learned them in any sort of order. I said #3, although it goes hand-in-hand with #2. On reflection, I think the official word is that #2 is the first rule, but that #3 is the second one. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/15 "2014-06-23T13:46:49Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Maybe I’m too literal-minded, but that version of the rule makes things like cleaning and dry-firing pretty difficult. 😃 Which is ultimately why a lot of us chose #3 as the first rule! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/16 "2014-06-23T13:49:59Z")
I answered ‘something else’, to wit: keep the damned things off the streets. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/17 "2014-06-23T13:52:45Z")
“Something else” here too: Don’t touch that thing, it’s more likely to hurt you than anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/18 "2014-06-23T13:58:04Z")
Actually, there is a way of playing a (non-certain-death) version of Russian Roulette with an automatic. I won’t describe it here, though, for ethical reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/19 "2014-06-23T14:01:53Z")
I heard someone once say that if you don’t watch it, the gun sometimes maliciously loads itself…a succinct way of saying treat it as if its always loaded. A corollary to that is never point it at anyone unless you are planning to shoot them. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438/20 "2014-06-23T14:03:14Z")
> [@plankter](#): > > My answer before opening the thread was, “Never point a gun at someone, even if that gun isn’t loaded.” So I voted for number three although properly speaking it’s a subset of number two. I think they all are a subset of number two. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-asked-you-the-first-rule-of-gun-safety/691438.md?page=2)