"Chess Is A Good Hobby"

There was a bit of press attention a few days ago concerning a firearms trainer who accidentally shot one of his students (fortunately, not a spectacularly serious injury).  Shall Not Be Questioned reports that this was not the first time this particular trainer accidentally shot one of his students, and makes a suggestion with which I completely agree:

I’d say if you find yourself at a point in life where you’ve shot two people accidentally, it’s probably a really good idea to seriously examine your relationship with firearms, and decide if maybe you’d be better off taking up a hobby where reckless abandon is considerably less consequential. Chess is a good hobby.

Although who knows?  Someone with such "bad luck" could probably turn playing chess into a dangerous hobby.

There are some basic safety rules for firearms.

1. Assume that every gun is loaded unless you have personally verified that there are no live rounds in the gun, including verifying that the chamber on a semiautomatic is empty.

2. Assume that if you put an unloaded gun down, even for a few seconds, that gremlins have very quietly loaded it.  Recheck it when you pick it up again.

3. Never point a gun, even an "unloaded" gun at any object that you are not prepared to destroy.

4. Never put your finger inside the triggerguard of the gun until you are ready to fire.  And that even means in a potential combat situation -- finger outside the triggerguard until you have made the conscious decision to fire the gun.  Many years ago, the Santa Rosa, California Police Department had to install a new liver for a civilian.  The civilian was drunk and disorderly, but that was all.  One of the responding police officers had been trained in the bad old days, and had his finger inside the triggerguard of his Glock.  The civilian turned around rather suddenly, and instinctively, the police officer pulled the trigger, destroying the civilian's liver.

Guns are very serious business.  Treat them that way, at all times.