Firearms safety is one of my priorities when guns are around. Let's face it, if not handled properly, they can wind up hurting you or someone else unintentionally. So, when you are handling them at the range, while hunting, while cleaning them at home or whenever and where ever, you should know how to handle them safely and how to keep yourself from harm even if just an observer.
The video you are about to watch shows a young lady firing a 1911, or so they call it in the video title, at the range. She is handling it pretty safely for the most part. I only say for the most part because she keeps it pointed downrange but she does violate a couple of safety issues - ones that could get her hurt. Watch the video and see if you can tell what I mean. I will leave my observations in the comments section of this post as to what I saw that she is doing wrong. Hopefully she will learn to correct those mistakes before she is injured due to one or more of them.
Me being the stickler that I can be for range safety, I must also point out, that the range officer or the observer, behind the young lady is also possibly in violation of what should be a couple of strict range safety rules. I cannot speak for the particular range where this video was made but I know that each and every range, where I have been to shoot, has had a certain safety requirement that the guy in the video is breaking. The guy giving range commands is also apparently breaking from what should be strict range safety rules.
If you want to stay safe, while shooting at a range, the rules I will mention in the comments section, should be followed.
All the best,
Glenn B
2 comments:
Okay, so what is she doing wrong, right from the first frame of the video? Look at her hands and that should tell you why she was a very lucky shooter. Don't see it yet, then look again, she finally corrects it herself but I have to wonder if she realizes she has corrected anything. Amazingly, the guy behind her does not seem to catch it.
What she finally got right was that she removed her left thumb from being placed over the top of her right thumb. Had she been holding a little higher or had it been a smaller pistol, or had she a meatier hand, there would have been a strong chance that the slide would have raked her thumb. I have seen many injuries resulting from the slide raking thumbs, held as was hers, and some of them were pretty nasty and required stitches to close them.
What else did she do wrong, if anything? It should be obvious to you by the end of the video. Not only is she doing something unsafe but so too is the guy watching from behind. Neither of them is wearing eye protection while she is shooting. That is a glaring (no pun intended) firearms and range safety violation that could truly result in the loss of an eye and of your vision.
Did you notice anything else she, or someone else, may be doing wrong that would be a major range safety violation. If you did not, then listen to the audio as she shoots and synch it with her shooting. A range officer (does not matter if he works for the range or not, if he is giving range commands, he is a range officer) is obviously giving range commands over a loud speaker. She is not following those range commands. Why not?
If she is there independently of the guy giving the commands, then why is he giving commands on the same range on which she is shooting? It is never a good idea, to have two separate groups of shooters on the same range while getting different range commands from different range officers or while one group is firing away while ignoring the range officer's commands. That can lead to a lot of confusion that could result in an accident, a bad one at that.
Just think of it this way, the guy keeps calling for a cease fire and she keeps shooting totally ignoring him. A CEASE FIRE, when given, should be given for everyone on the range not just for select shooters. I have never, not once before, in my shooting lifetime been on a range where a cease fire was given only to some shooters. I have never seen a shooter being allowed to continue firing during a cease fire as it appears she was allowed to do on the pictured range. That was, in my estimation, an absolutely piss poor set of circumstances that the range officer(s) allowed to happen.
Stay safe while shooting and or while observing or acting as range officer or coach and have fun. Mess up once and you could ruin your life and someone else's too.
All the best,
Glenn B
While I forgot to mention it, it did not elude me. It would have been nice, if the guy watching had his ear protection on before she started shooting.
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