Passport to Texas

Be aware of safe zones of fire.

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This is Passport to Texas

Firearm safety should be every gun owner’s top priority.

Firearm safety really revolves around four main things, and that’s the primary rules of shooting safety or hunter safety.

Steve Hall is hunter education coordinator at Texas Parks and Wildlife. He says the first rule of firearm safety is to have your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times.

Number two is, check the action and make sure it is unloaded. That’s the rule of treating every firearm as if it were loaded. Number three is keeping your finger outside of the trigger guard. And then number four is be sure of your target. What is in front of and beyond.

Hall says if there is one rule that gun owners break most often it is muzzle control.

There are a lot of folks who just unknowingly point the firearm in an unsafe direction. Whether they’re walking next to their buddies, or pulling a firearm out of a vehicle, or putting it into a vehicle—or even inspecting it in the home. Maybe when they’re cleaning the firearm.

Learning and practicing the four rules of firearm safety will prevent accidents in the field and at home. Need help? Find a hunter education class near you when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series and works to increase shooting sports and hunting in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.