If you find a gun, Chekov’s Law says you need to use it.
I have a little bit of a story in gun safety.
I haven’t touched a gun in a decade. When I did, it was an unloaded demo beretta used by the navy.
When commenting on the Internet about safe gun handling in regards to the Alec Baldwin trial, I professed “Well, safe gun handling is not always obvious for all firearms. For instance, the methods to safely handle and unload an old fashioned revolver, the kind often on TV, when it’s already loaded and its hammer is back, is ridiculously complicated. Only a professional should handle that.”
This comment resulted in a reply from a gun nut insisting I was a moron, and had no idea what I was talking about. Feeling 80% sure of my knowledge of revolvers, I looked it up on YouTube, and boosted it to 100%.
To explain: If a revolver’s hammer is cocked, the cylinder is locked and you can’t just open it to take out the bullets. Plus, any gentle trigger motion or even hard knock will loosen the hammer and fire the bullet (supposedly, some newer revolvers are safer, but these don’t show up on TV shows). The stupid thing is, there’s no special switch or motion to release the hammer in a clear, safe way. So, the only way to unload the gun starts with blocking the hammer with a finger, then pulling the trigger, releasing it. Then you can open the cylinder.
But the aggravating headline was me, a pure gun commenter who only knows about them from video games and internet debates, knowing more about their safety than a self-professed gun nut.
Remember kids, video games love to teach you about how cool guns are but never teach you how to safely handle them.
On a serious note, if you find a gun and you don’t know how to handle it safely, don’t even pick it up.
To take this a bit further: don’t touch it at all. You don’t know where that gun has been or what it’s done. If you touch it, you become a suspect in whatever crime was committed.
I don’t typically advocate for this, but in this case, call your local LEO and move away from the weapon. But make sure nobody else (kids especially) don’t come grabbing it up after you.
If necessary, shoot anyone trying to approach the gun. /s
I learned this from nearly every episode of Perry Mason
Matlock for me.
I thought that was a koala.
Not the worst idea
That’s a pretty low bar, but you’re technically correct.
Unless it hits a rock and ricochets and hits you or your friend.
Still, shooting directly at your friend would be a worse idea
