APRIL 26, 2012

Around the Water Cooler: "Safe"

by Rich Grassi
A likely apocryphal story winds through the community changing in detail though not in punch line. In one telling, the situation occurs in the Germany of 1945 when Soviets and the US were allies and it had to do with a Tokarev. In another, a Russian defector was lecturing at the Commanding General War and Staff College, Ft Leavenworth. Finally, it was another Soviet absconder, this one at Ft. Benning, lecturing in small arms. In every story, an American officer called the Russian out about a firearm or a method of gun handling. "That's not safe," the officer says. "Is gun," the Russian teacher says. "Is not safe." Well, Dick Tracy. Someone finally gets the deal. Let's put this in understandable terms. If you make a method of transportation that moves human cargo at high rates of speed and put them in a venue where like high speed transportation is working, there will be collisions. Many will get hurt. Some will die. "Is car. Is not safe." As long as there are surfaces harder than human bodies, you can load 'em with airbags and play all kinds of stupid games. Still not safe. This comes to mind as NBC recently aired their stupid report on Remington. The numbers of firearms induced accidents are few, miniscule in terms of statistics. Those that happen are nearly 100% induced by a gun owner or well-meaning friend who tries to "clean that trigger up." "Is gun. Is not safe." Then we have shooter induced accidents. These are usually "unintentional shooters." "Uh, it was empty!" Yeah. At one time in the past it was empty. It was apparently loaded this time, Scooter. We have the husband and wife team taking a "gun safety" class. They were so wrapped up in the "don't play with guns in the classroom " part, the husband contrived to fire a round of .45 ammo through his hand and into his wife's leg. What was that about muzzle discipline? A 52 year old couple were "in the woods" "hunting hogs" - or something. All we really know is, the man shot at a hog, went in pursuit of said hog when he saw some movement and shot at it. It was his girlfriend. Aside from how he's supposed to explain to her why he thought she looked like a hog, we have Rule 4 - Be sure of your target. She got one bullet through both legs. My Russian accent's getting tired, but the point is that the gun is actually safer than the human who wields it. It does one thing, does it well. Cars too. They can't control how fast you drive or if you operate them while drunk, distracted or dim-witted. As we approach our 50,000th subscriber to The Tactical Wire, let's make sure we're not victims of our own trap. Know the Rules. Follow them closely. Don't be "that guy."