The Four Rules of Firearm Safety? Instructor Shoots a CCW Student.

The Palm Springs Desert Sun* reports that a Riverside California County Sheriff's Department trainer (apparently not a sworn officer) shot a man attending a concealed weapons permit firearms training class.

A sheriff’s department spokesman stated that as gun range staff were inspecting student's firearms to ensure they were unloaded, the range staff member administered a "trigger pull test" and shot the student in the leg.

Paramedics transported the citizen to a local hospital where he received treatment for a non-life-threatening wound. 

The news report goes on to say that the sheriff's Perris Station staff and the staff at the Ben Clark Training Center are investigating the "accidental discharge" incident.

I can save them the trouble.

The instructor, having failed to check and see if the firearm was loaded, pointed the firearm at the student’s leg, and intentionally pulled the trigger. 

Did the instructor intent to shoot the student?  Undoubtedly no; however, this was negligence, not an accident.

The instructor violated at least two of the firearm safety rules.

1. The instructor did not treat the firearm as if it was loaded.

2.  The instructor did not point the muzzle of the firearm in a safe direction.

The four firearm safety rules are multilayered.  You can typically violate one without catastrophic consequences.  Once you begin to violate two or more you are in trouble.

The four firearm safety rules:

1. Treat every firearm as if it is loaded at all times.

2. Always point the firearm in a safe direction — this is dependent upon the environment and circumstances. We live in a 360-degree world.  A safe direction one minute may not be safe a moment later.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger unless you are intentionally firing a shot. Discard all other variations of this rule.  Intentionally firing a shot.

4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

* From the Palm Springs Desert Sun, Published Aug. 24, 2019