Aug. 10 is coming and with it the start of hunting season in Alaska, so it’s time once again to review firearm safety

While it may be true that hunting season in Alaska never closes — various bear seasons around the state are open year-round, and small game such as hares are also open all year — for most folks, late fall marks the end of hunting season.

Tuesday is Aug. 10, or what some of us refer to as the “glorious tenth,” similar to Britain’s “Glorious Twelfth,” the day that marks the opening of the red grouse season across the pond.

In Alaska, Aug. 10 marks the opening of hunting for a majority of Alaska’s game species across the state. Sheep, caribou, goat, deer and upland bird seasons flood the game fields with hunters.

With that, it seems a good time to revisit firearms safety issues as a reminder that one can ill-afford to let their guard down. Refreshing one’s memory and habits cannot hurt.

Five years ago, I wrote about firearms safety here, pointing out the four safety rules that had become ingrained over years of firearms instruction and using firearms on a daily basis, for pleasure or business.

Not long after, an individual whose name I was familiar with — a fellow with a sterling reputation in the firearms field — informed me the rules I had listed were wrong, and he gave me the three rules that were “right.”

None of his rules were markedly different than what I had described. The main difference was his rules came from the National Rifle Association. Due to his deep affiliation with the NRA, I suppose he felt compelled to point out my miscreant ways and steer me down the right path.

I tell that story to point out that safety rules are not exclusive to, or granted by, any organization. I don’t recall seeing any generally accepted firearms safety rules, regardless of the sentence structure, that were wrong in my article. Different, maybe, but not wrong. Follow the ones you know, and you’ll likely be just fine.

At around age 8 I took my first hunter safety class. There were 10 safety rules presented to the students.

At that time, the thought was these rules covered everything. Only a few of them were specific to gun handling. There were things like “Don’t drink and shoot,” “Don’t shoot the rancher’s cows,” and “Don’t litter.”

They were fine for what they were, but they were lengthy and didn’t stick to the point, which is to handle and shoot firearms in such a way that negligence would not rear its ugly head and no one would be hurt.

Over time, safety rules have become simple, easy to understand, and they speak to the safe handling and shooting of firearms.

Before getting into the rules, it seems appropriate to point out that shooting sports are among the safest way one can spend leisure time. Shooters recognized early that using firearms carelessly would ensure disaster, and as a group, they are mindful of behaviors that stray from the tenets of safe gun-handling.

One advantage of the streamlined rules is they are brief enough to review quickly.

During my professional career in firearms instruction, one procedure we adopted was going over the rules before each range session. Organized shooting events sometimes follow that same procedure. It’s a quick way to remind everyone how important it is to leave the range with the same number of holes in their bodies that they arrived with.

The rules:

1. All guns are always loaded. Technically speaking, this is not true. The point is, if you treat them as though they are, the requisite care in handling comes readily.

This goes along with the unwritten rule that you check the conditions of the firearm with every new possession or when receiving a gun from someone. An example would be standing your rifle in a gun rack at the range or against the cabin wall in camp. You do other chores, and when you pick the gun back up, you recheck it even though you knew its condition.

2. Never allow the muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy. When I learned firearms safety rules many years ago, one of them was not to point the gun at anyone. Yet there are times when you may need to point a gun at someone. Those times are when the individual is willing to destroy that person for valid reasons.

If the handler isn’t vigilant, simple gun handling may find the muzzle pointed at others without the knowledge of the gun handler. When climbing a steep cliff with your partner climbing above you, your rifle is slung, its muzzle pointed at your partner.

The main point is even when you aren’t deliberately pointing your firearm, you are still responsible for the muzzle and whatever may come out of it.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on your target and you’ve made the decision to shoot.

Perhaps the most commonly violated rule, it seems folks have a natural tendency to wrap their firing hand around the grip of the firearm and place their finger on the trigger. This has been blamed on TV and movies for setting a bad example. Maybe.

We have a saying in the business: “The trigger finger lives on the receiver and only visits the trigger.”

Folks will anticipate shooting, and in order to “get the jump” on the target they will place their finger on the trigger before they’ve even brought the gun up. With the finger resting along the receiver, above the trigger, the finger is easily placed on the trigger as the muzzle engages the target.

4. Be sure of your target as well as your surroundings. The human mind, fabulous as it is, may play tricks on us. That is one reason why eyewitness testimony isn’t particularly great evidence. It is also why hunters have shot their own horse, their hunting partner, or someone unknown to them.

The intense desire and excitement created while hunting may allow a hunter to imagine something that isn’t so. You must take the care to be absolutely sure of the target.

Another saying in the business: “Every bullet you send down range has your name on it, and you cannot call it back.” You may well hit the deer you aimed at, and the bullet with your name on it may hit the person you didn’t see when it passes through the deer. It has happened.

Or you may miss the target, and your bullet continues on its way. It is your responsibility to be sure it will impact in a place that causes no harm.

There is never enough space to cover everything in this arena, but here’s wishing you all a safe hunting season.

Steve Meyer is a longtime Alaskan and avid shooter who lives in Kenai.