Firearm safety: handling and storage

Keeping a good record of your guns goes with keeping them safely. These are the widely taught basics; they don’t replace hands-on training from a qualified instructor.

The four basic rules of handling

1. Treat every gun as if it’s loaded. Check it yourself every time you pick it up or someone hands it to you. Never assume.
2. Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, where a bullet couldn’t hit anyone, allowing for ricochets and for bullets going through walls, floors and ceilings.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until your sights are on the target and you’ve decided to shoot.
4. Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it. A bullet can travel well over a mile.

More handling habits

• Keep guns unloaded until you’re at the range or in the field and ready to shoot, and open the action when you set one down.
• Don’t rely on the safety. A dropped or jarred gun can fire.
• Use only the ammunition the gun is marked and made for. Check the box against the barrel or slide marking.
• If a round doesn’t fire, keep the muzzle in a safe direction and your face away from the breech, wait, then unload carefully.
• Check the bore is clear before shooting. Mud, snow or a stuck bullet can cause a dangerous rupture.
• Wear eye and ear protection, and never handle firearms after alcohol or drugs.
• Read the owner’s manual, and have a gunsmith service anything that doesn’t work as it should.

Storage at home

• Store guns unloaded, in a locked safe, cabinet or case, where children and anyone without your permission can’t reach them. A hiding place isn’t secure storage.
• Store ammunition locked away, separately from the guns.
• Cable or trigger locks add protection but don’t replace locked storage.
• Check a gun is still unloaded when you take it out of storage, even if you put it away yourself.
• Talk to children about what to do if they ever find a gun: don’t touch it, leave the area, and tell an adult.

In the car and at the range

• A locked car isn’t secure storage. Use a locked case or lock box, and don’t leave guns in a vehicle unattended where you can avoid it.
• Transport guns unloaded and cased unless the law where you are says otherwise, and follow every range’s own rules and the range officer’s commands.

Learn more

• NSSF: the 10 rules of safe gun handling
• Project ChildSafe, which offers free safety kits including a cable lock through local law enforcement
• A hands-on course from a certified instructor, offered by many ranges and shooting clubs

Laws on storage, carrying and transport differ between states and towns. This page is general safety information, not legal advice: check the rules where you live and travel.

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