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Know the Five to Stay Alive

Shoot Like A Girl is launching a new public safety campaign called SafeLivinG™ to promote firearm safety education with the slogan, “Know the Five to Stay Alive”.  Gun sales continue to grow to unprecedented record highs, people from every background are purchasing firearms for the first time.  While the right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, it comes with implied responsibilities to be safe and responsible gun owners.

Shoot Like A Girl’s SafeLivinG™ campaign promotes these responsibilities, by starting an initiative to change the industry’s common slogan of “Know the Four” firearms safety rules, to “Know the Five to Stay Alive”; adding, “Always keep your gun secured from unauthorized persons.”

The five rules are:

Always treat a gun like it is loaded.

Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

Always know your target and what is beyond.

Always keep your gun secured from unauthorized persons.

These common sense rules should be the mantra of every gun owner, and/or shooter.  Know the Five to Stay Alive.

The SafeLivinG™  campaign emphasizes these gun safety rules and contradicts widely spread misinformation about gun handling.  For example, anyone who has watched television shows with guns in them, has witnessed bad habit after bad habit.  Just last night, we were watching Trading Spaces with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.  There is a scene where Aykroyd’s drunken character cocks the hammer on a 1911, but doesn’t fire it; he then puts it in his Santa suit belt, unholstered and runs out.  While very funny and entertaining, all of these are big no-no’s in the gun safety world.

The SafeLivinG™  campaign includes the fifth rule of “Always keep your gun secured from unauthorized persons.”

Meaning gun owners must secure their firearm away from potential bad guys, curious children and even pets (although I know they are not persons, our pets think they are!).

According to Shoot Like A Girl’s research, most people are buying guns for personal and home defense.  The best way to secure a firearm in the home is with a gun safe.  Both Cabela’s and Hornady safes are great options for gun storage.

Hornady RAPiD Safe Night Guard

Cabela’s Electronic Personal Safe

Like everything, you should  have your home defense plan  and you should practice accessing your firearm quickly.  If you ever need to defend yourself or your loved ones in your home, you don’t want the panic to overtake your reactions; the only way to build muscle memory is through repetition.

Know the Five to Stay Alive.

We need to avoid a “it won’t happen to me” mentality when it comes to securing our firearms, when not in use, from unauthorized persons.

I get it, I want to trust my friends and family in my home.  My grandson knows the firearm safety rules and he should never touch a gun without us, and surely our beloved Skadi pup would never chew something she’s not supposed to!!!

So why keep my gun in a bed side safe?

The answer is simple, it is my responsibility to keep my gun from unauthorized persons.

Sadly we never know what issues friends and family are experiencing.  Suicide rates among both men and women are on the rise, and that barrier to a tool that could cause self-harm, may prevent an unfortunate incident.

When we have people in our home for repairs or maintenance, I want to trust that they have been vetted and are trustworthy.  However, you never know.  The last crew that was in our home the owner of the construction company had hired a few recently released felons.  Hopefully they all got rehabilitated, but I wouldn’t want to take that chance with my gun.

Where kids are concerned, many who play any type of video game fancy themselves an expert in guns.  As much as I trust my grandson, I also know he is ten years old.  If he’s like the rest of us,  at some point in life, he is going to make decisions that aren’t always the most well thought out; we don’t want to make a bad decision easy for him.

I mentioned Skadi, our pup.  She is not a chewer, until she gets mad; then all bets are off.  Recently, Casey, our older dog, chowed down on some cash that was left on the nightstand.  She was a very trusted pup, but not any more.  Wood pistol grips can look like a good chew toy to a pup.

With the SafeLivinG™ campaign, I hope that you read this article, and if you don’t currently secure your gun in a safe, away from unauthorized persons, that you immediately click the link and buy one and use it.  Our rights are guaranteed by our Constitution, but our responsibilities are implied and inherent.

Know the Five to Stay Alive.

 

Shoot Like A Girl may earn a small commission for link clicks and purchases off of this article.

 

 

 

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