Chris Sajnog shares his rules about firearms safety

Five Rules of Gun Safety: Your Ultimate Guide for Firearm Security

Hey, what’s up everybody, in this post, I’ll discuss the five rules of gun safety rules for a secure shooting experience. Let’s go ahead and get started.

One of the sayings you learn as a Navy SEAL is, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t tryin’.” It means that most rules tend to be limiting and if you want to win, you need to learn how to “bend the rules.” But the key here is that I said most rules, not all. Some rules are mandatory, such as firearms safety, no matter how high-speed you are and those rules are the ones written in blood. Let’s take for example the rules associated with safely handling firearms.

These rules came from someone picking up a gun, thinking it wasn’t loaded, pointing it at their buddy — and killing them. Someone pointing their gun at the back of their teammate going through a door, tripping — and shooting them in the back (will never walk again).

A new officer covering a suspect with their finger on the trigger, getting startled (see below), and pulling the trigger — suspect no longer a threat. Someone handing a loaded firearm (off safe) to a friend (new to firearms), who grabs the gun by the trigger — and shoots someone on the range in the arm. Or the police officer that shoots at a suspect on the street, misses the bad guy, and hits a woman behind him in the leg.

Chris Sagnog's five rules of firearms safety

Sure some of these people (OK, all of them) are doing stupid things, but that’s why we have rules. If there were no bad drivers and roads weren’t slippery, we wouldn’t need seat belts — but they are and we do. Gun safety rules have been written in blood and we don’t need people who bend these rules handling firearms.

So High-Speed It Hurts

I’ve seen a few tactical instructors recently teaching their students to keep the weapon on fire (Safety Off) after all threats have been eliminated. To be clear: standing around, pumped up on adrenaline after killing someone, with only good guys around — weapon on fire.

I don’t understand this foolish logic. Why are we choosing to break this rule? The only thing I can think of is pure stupidity. People think they are “above the rules” and “safety only slows you down!”.

Firearm Safety Rule #1: Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.

I can mount my weapon and rotate my safety just as fast as I can mount the weapon without working the safety. The reason is that I’ve practiced it quite a bit over the past twenty-four years. If you don’t practice enough to do this, you shouldn’t put yourself into tactical situations with a firearm and you definitely shouldn’t be teaching other people to handle firearms!

Firearms Safety Rules

Here are the five rules of gun safety:

  1. Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
  2. Never point a weapon at anything you’re not willing to shoot.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
  4. Keep your weapon on safe until you’re aimed in on a target.
  5. Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

Startle Response

The startle response or startle reaction is a response to sudden, startling stimuli, such as a sudden noise or quick movement. The startle response involves flexion of most skeletal muscles and a variety of visceral reactions. This reaction is involuntary and cannot be controlled, no matter how much you train. An individual’s emotional state may lead to an increased (Hyper-Response) or a variety of different responses, and this comes into play during high-stress shooting situations.

NOTE: The startle reflex is a brainstem reaction that serves to protect the back of the neck (whole-body startle), or the eye (eyeblink), and also facilitates escape from sudden stimuli. It is found across the lifespan, and in many species, and is different than the startle response.

What would be a simple mistake on the range can easily turn into a blue-on-blue shooting when someone is not following one of the basic firearms safety rules in a tactical situation.

Imagine your weapon is off safe and you’re in a room with the rest of your team. A loud noise startles you and you “accidentally” pull the trigger. The round ricochets off the cement floor bounces up and hits a teammate in the femoral artery.

Chris Sajnog teaches how to keep your firearms safeWhat simple step could have avoided this? Putting your weapon on safe? Finger off the trigger? It’s interesting if you think about what accidents really are. Are they avoidable or unavoidable? They are always avoidable and safety is no exception.

Safety = Mission Success

High-speed operators are not less safe. They’re more safe. Look at the number of mishaps of any Special Operations unit compared to that of any conventional unit. The numbers are not even close. But for some reason, people think they need to break safety rules to join the elite.

If your team was involved in the blue-on-blue shooting above, you’re not going to complete the mission with the one man down that was shot, the guy that shot him (I wouldn’t trust him with a gun), your medic, and now you’re pulling assets to run a CASEVAC. How are you going to complete this mission? Real operators understand this. Real operators have seen what a mishap does to mission success. Real operators don’t break safety rules.

Alright, so that is it for today. I hope you got some value out of these five rules of gun safety, and remember, your safety is our top priority. Is safety part of your tactical toolbox? Share your safety stories here.


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10 Comments

  1. Everything you’ve written here makes perfect sense. I’ve had no formal weapons training, something I plan on changing soon. I’ve owned a gun for over 2 years now. I have a friend who has many years of experience with firearms and when I first got my gun, I handed it to her all wrong. She looked at me with pity and said, “You just tagged me three times.” Then she explained a few things. Don’t worry, I’ve never been to a firing range and probably never will. All my shooting’s been done into the side of a mountain far, far from other human beings. Reading your posts is an eye-opener. Completely off topic, is there a way to prevent your book from being sold to people named Abdul in Pakistan? Sorry if that’s politically incorrect, but you understand the worry?

    1. With an AK 47, an illiterate moron can operate it proficiently and AK people generally are not interested in gun safety. That would be too civilized and “western.” But I get your drift.

  2. I’ve own two guns for years a shot gun and a revolver I recently purchased a semi automatic lately I’ve been watching a lot of videos about the gun I purchased and also gun safety. I’ve learned a lot especially about how to handle a gun, gun safety is my main priority. I’m planning on going to the gun range, never been before. I’ve learned so much about range etiquette. Always treat the gun like it’s loaded, keep your finger off the trigger, point the gun in a safe direction. Your videos have helped me quite a bit thank you. I plan on taking a gun safety class.

  3. I started 6 months ago watching every you tube,or article you wrote.This is no exception.I’m grateful.I like the quote”No one is so good with a weapon that Basic firearm and Range safety Don’t apply”.So true.I have to get Certified once a year.Safety is always #1.God help the one who keeps the finger on the trigger.

  4. Chris, a great many pistols, especially striker fire are manufactured and sold without any thumb safeties or back strap safety etc. And most concealed carry folks don’t use any safeties–there’s one in the chamber at all times.

    your comments would be appreciated.

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