Holiday Safety: Ensuring Firearm Safety

Happy Holidays! Whether you get new small arms from Santa, buy them for yourself with Hanukkah gelt, or have them already when guests show up, firearm safety remains a necessary consideration. Several factors combine: potentially untrained guests in the home, alcohol, and new and sometimes unfamiliar guns received as gifts.

Untrained Guests

Ideally, all arms not being carried are secured against casual discovery by guests and their kids. Holiday season merriment introduces many to the home of their friends and relatives for the first time, and not everyone can be trusted to keep their paws off interesting mechanical “toys” that guns represent to the untrained and the careless.

Alcohol

Alcohol interaction goes without saying: anything more than a token intake may not be mixed with gun handling. If planning to indulge during the holidays, secure most of the arms and designate the sober defenders of the residence in advance. 

Firearms as Gifts

Guns that come in as gifts present a special challenge: it’s customary to show the loot to all present, and many would like to handle the new shiny and try the trigger. Ensuring safe handling, including muzzle direction and verification of unloaded status, is on the recipient of the gift. Safe direction may vary by the moment, since house pets and small children can move in front of the muzzle unaware of the danger. Designating a safe backstop, such as a brick fireplace or wall, for dry fire would be a good idea. If ammunition came with the gift gun, separating it from the handling location is advisable. In rural homes, where immediate test firing is likely, remember to unload and clear after it, before returning the gift to the living room. 

Conclusion

Firearm safety protocols do not change with the seasons, but the degree to which they have to be closely followed at the time when throngs of excited people are in your home is greater than ever. Don’t make this season memorable for the wrong reason. 

Written by: Oleg Volk