Lesson 1 of 6 · 6 min

The rules in every hand

Before storage, before children, before travel: the handling rules that everyone in a home with firearms should be able to say from memory.

NRA's three fundamental rules for safe gun handling

1ALWAYS Keep The Gun Pointed In A Safe Direction
2ALWAYS Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until Ready To Shoot
3ALWAYS Keep The Gun Unloaded Until Ready To Use

NRA NRA Gun Safety Rules · quoted as published

The NRA calls the first one "the primary rule of gun safety." Project ChildSafe, the NSSF safety program, explains what a safe direction means:

A ‘safe direction’ means that the gun is pointed so that even if an accidental discharge occurred, it would not result in injury.

Project ChildSafe (NSSF) Ten Tips for Firearm Safety in Your Home2024 edition (PDF)

When holding a gun, rest your finger alongside the frame and outside the trigger guard.

NRA NRA Gun Safety RulesNo date shown on the page

If you do not know how to open the action or inspect the chamber(s), leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does.

NRA NRA Gun Safety RulesNo date shown on the page

Be sure you know how your firearm operates: read the manual on your firearm, know how to safely open and close the action of the firearm and know how to safely remove any ammunition from the firearm and its magazine.

Project ChildSafe (NSSF) Ten Tips for Firearm Safety in Your Home2024 edition (PDF)

What it looks like at home

Every adult who may handle a firearm in this home can say the three rules without looking.
Each firearm's owner's manual is kept where the owner can find it.
If someone is not sure how a firearm opens, the answer is to leave it alone and ask someone who knows, not to experiment.

Our summary of the lines above. Check your home against it.

Check yourself

1. Which rule does the NRA call "the primary rule of gun safety"? Always keep the safety on Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction Always wear eye protection

2. Until you are ready to shoot, where does your finger rest? Alongside the frame, outside the trigger guard Lightly on the trigger Anywhere, as long as the safety is on

3. You pick up a firearm and do not know how to open the action to check it. What do the NRA rules say? Work the action until something comes out Point it at the floor and try the trigger Leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does

Graded on the server and forgotten: nothing is stored.

Not a certified class. It does not satisfy any permit, license, carry, purchase or hunter-education requirement, and it is not legal or medical advice.