SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/hunt-open-and-empty

When can you be absolutely certain a gun cannot fire?

When the action is open and it is completely empty.

  1. When the action is open and the gun is empty ✔
  2. When the safety is on
  3. When the magazine has been removed

Why: A safety can fail, and a removed magazine can still leave a round in the chamber. Only an open, empty action is certain. That is why you open the action and look whenever you pick up or hand over a gun.

Huh, didn't know that: The NSSF says a dropped gun can fire even with the safety on if the blow is hard enough.

The dad joke
Why did the gun case love open houses? It liked everything out in the open.
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Sources

  1. NSSF, Rules of Firearms Safety https://www.nssf.org/safety/rules-firearms-safety/

Test yourself in the game

Hunting SafetyUnder the primary rules of firearm safety, how should you treat every firearm?Hunting SafetyWhen carrying a firearm, where should your trigger finger be?Hunting SafetyWhich firearm safety rule does the NSSF call the most basic rule of all?

That's stuff everyone should know.