Today was a good day….. You had an amazing training session, got tons done, and as per your usual practice, you’ve sat down to give your pistol a good cleaning before you put it back in the safe on the nightstand. Several dirty cleaning patches later, she’s all ready for bed. You place the pistol and the mag in the safe, close and lock it, and get ready for bed yourself. Around 3:15 am there’s a bump…it’s gotta be loud because it woke you up. Then footsteps… the plan you’ve trained for is activated. You get to the safe, open it, grab your pistol, and head out the room to investigate. As you enter the kitchen you spot an intruder. He spots you too, and guess what? He has a knife as big as your youngest child and is headed your way with it. You quickly aim in and manipulate the trigger rearward. The sear is activated and you hear…….”click.”
Today just got bad. Real quick…. Know your status…..
You’ve done this a million times…. Field stripping your Glock 19 has always been a breeze and you can do this with your eyes closed. You take the pistol off of your hip, eject the magazine, and begin the field-stripping process. Just before you activate the take-down levers in order to remove the slide, you manipulate the trigger rearward, just as you always do. The sear is activated and you hear…..”bang.” (A deafening bang at that…) Reflexes immediately move your head towards the muzzle of your pistol (as if you don’t know what just happened!), and you see your one year old baby girl lying motionless on the floor.
Today just got bad. Real quick…. Know your status….
At PSA one of the most important safety rules that we inculcate to our students is to Always know the status of your firearm….in whatever capacity you have it in. Although these are some very extreme examples of what could happen if you fail to know the status of your firearm, they accurately depict the need for consistent awareness of the status of your firearm. Before you holster for the day and after you un-holster for the end of the day…perform status checks. Before and after you place your firearm in the safe…perform status checks. Before and after you clean or field-strip your firearm….perform status checks. Having awareness of the status of your firearm could very well be the deciding factor between life and death.
*** If you are unfamiliar with firearms and/or their accessories, and want to learn more, PSA strongly suggests that you find, enroll, and attend a comprehensive and reputable firearms safety course. Firearms safety is all of OUR responsibility.
We want to thank you for taking out the time to stop by our lane at the shooting range!! We hope that you enjoyed your stay and hope that you stop back by early and often to catch up on all PSA updates! We truly hope that we were able to hit the target, and if you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to shoot them our way!! We look forward to shooting the breeze with you soon again!!
And as always….remember to watch your six and stay low!!!