Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 45 April 2005 I have spoken with many firearm owners over the years. I have been out shooting at the range with quite a few also. I have seen a few people who I considered to be fully aware of the basics of gun safety and the basics of shooting, make serious mistakes with a firearm. This concerns me tremendously. I suspect it is probably quite a bit more prevalent than I imagine. I was almost shot once by someone at an informal shooting outing, who I considered to be fully cognizant of basic firearm handling and safety. He had his index finger on the trigger during his dealing with a jammed cartridge and as soon as the jammed cartridge slipped into the chamber, the gun fired. The bullet went quite a ways over my head, but I was furious. In case, you're not familiar with me, I'm not a very pretty person when I'm furious.... Longtime gun owners, collectors, hobbyists, FFL holders, reloaders and others, who should be familiar with the basics of safe gun handling and the basics of actually getting a bullet to go where you want it to. I have found over the years that a surprising portion of gun owners are not completely aware of the basics of gun handling and safety. <> I am going into the hospital on Wednesday April 6th for surgery. I have been registered in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) since 1991. I have been informed that I'm a perfect match for someone dying of Myelogenous Dysplastic Leukemia and I have had an extensive physical and a host of blood tests. My bone marrow will be harvested from my hip bones and I won't be at my computer for a few days that week. If you want to learn more about the program go to www.marrow.org. I have been asked if I want to be a hero and save a life. I said "Yes". How about you? There is a particular need for black, Hispanic and oriental nationalities. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH "Respect for religion must be reestablished, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of public officials must be curtailed, assistance to foreign lands must be stopped or we shall bankrupt ourselves. The people should be forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence." Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator and philosopher (106-43BC) "Posterity, you will never know what it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) Sixth President of the United States. "Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us." Thomas Jefferson "The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword, because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops..." Noah Webster, An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia 1787 "The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivaly of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." -- Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH My gun safety tip of the month has to do with gun safes. I know many people in the gun rights and self defense community disagree with me on some of my gun safety ideas, but I still believe that having a gun safe in your home is a good idea. Here are my reasons for having a gun safe in my home. **It keeps young children, neighbor's children, nieces and nephews from handling my firearms without permission and supervision. **It keeps any home burglars from taking my prized firearms and potentially turning them into "crime guns". Remember that a major source of guns used in crime come from home burglaries. As a law-abiding gun owner in a world where morality and religion are declining, I believe we have a responsibility to keep our firearms from being illegally taken and used by violent criminals. **A well made gun safe is an attractive addition to your home or home office. They don't have to cost more than your first car either. The one I have cost me less than $200. **It keeps the dust off your cherished firearms, so when friends or family come over, you can show them off without the embarrassment of having to dust them off first. Please pay a visit to my "Gun Safes" section on my "Safety Rules" page: http://www.savetheguns.com/safety_rules.htm#Gun%20Safes I make a commission whenever you buy one of these highly recommended gun safes. Over time, I will be expanding this section to include a wider variety of gun safes that I endorse. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ONLINE SHOPPING WITH SAVETHEGUNS.COM http://www.savetheguns.com/online_store.htm I will be improving this "Online Store" page in the coming months. Right now, I have links to the companies that I will be using. These links are active and you can use them to do some secure online shopping today. I will be creating seventeen (17) individual pages in specific categories that I think you'll be interested in. These pages will be entitled: Air Guns, Air Soft, Ammunition, Books, Clothing, Cigars/Tobacco, Electronics, Emergency Supplies, Firearm Accessories, Holsters, Hunting Gear, Knives, Magazines, Military Surplus, Optics, Reloading Products and Self Defense Items. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AIMING POINT Ah yes, the basics of safe gun handling. Some of you know these three rules of safe gun handling by heart and many of you could probably write this article on safe gun handling and basic shooting yourself. If you are one of those people, why don't you consider becoming a firearm instructor? Get certified by the National Rifle Association and teach people what you know. Here we are. The Three Basic Rules of Safe Gun Handling 1.) ALWAYS point the barrel of the gun in a safe direction. A safe direction is defined as a direction where if the gun discharged, nobody would get hurt. The best direction to point a gun is generally at the ground and to the side. This is known as the Golden Rule Of Gun Safety. If everyone followed this one rule, it would bring an end to accidental firearm related deaths. Be aware that the "safe direction" may change as you change your location. 2.) ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. There is a natural tendency to place the index finger inside the trigger guard. This MUST be avoided. Condition yourself to place your shooting hand index finger along the side of the frame. There is no reason whatsoever that your finger should be on the trigger unless you have safely and appropriately acquired your target and your sight picture and are ready for the trigger squeeze. 3.) ALWAYS Keep the action open and the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it. The action is the moving parts of the gun that allow loading, unloading, firing and extraction of the empty case or shell. If you are not ready to use it, keep the action open and unloaded. With an open and unloaded action, the only injury that might occur, is if you drop the firearm on your foot. Now that we are aware of the three basic rules for safe gun handling, let's move on to the six fundamentals of shooting. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE SIX FUNDAMENTALS OF SHOOTING The actual shooting of a gun at a target seems like a very simple act in the movies or on television dramas. However, in real target shooting, there are six (6) basic fundamentals to keep in mind during shooting. *Body Position *Grip *Sight Alignment *Breath Control *Trigger Squeeze *Follow Through Body Position- Body position is the first basic I will discuss. Be sure to keep your feet about shoulder width apart for stability. You may want to shift some of your weight to the balls of your feet and not your heels. Choose whether you are going to try a one-hand position, two-hand position or a bench rest position. Assume a comfortable and relaxed position. Align your body with the target. Many people think they should force the gun to the target, but it is much better to have your body in the proper position before taking aim. Try this: Take an empty gun and assume a firing position. Align your gun with the target. Then close your eyes for 30 seconds. Now take a look at where your gun is on the target. Chances are good that it moved. Now adjust your body position back to the target, by moving your feet. Now try it again until your body is pointing quite naturally at the target. Do this until you can close your eyes for 30 seconds and the gun remains on target when you open your eyes. Grip- Taking a proper grip and maintaining that same grip throughout your firing is an essential ingredient to consistency. Place the handgun in your shooting hand with your non-shooting hand. Push the gun into the V created by your thumb and index finger. Keep the shooting hand as high on the backstrap as possible. When cocking a hammer, use the non-shooting hand thumb, because it will disturb your grip otherwise. Keep your non-shooting hand wrapped around your shooting hand and clamp your non-shooting thumb down on your shooting hand thumb. Consistency is essential here because if you change your grip, your bullet placement will not be uniform and you'll wonder why your bullets aren't landing in the same place. A grip should be quite firm. A weak grip is not as repeatable as a firm grip is. Sight Alignment- The central aspect of aiming is proper sight alignment. Sight alignment is the relationship between four (4) things. Your eyes, the rear sight, the front sight and your target. Center the front sight into the notch of the rear sight and align the top of the front sight with the top of the rear sight. Next, align the "sight picture" with your target. Maintaining this sight alignment or "sight picture" while pulling the trigger is the key to a proper shot. Breath Control- Breath control seems like it won't matter that much. And it really won't matter until you have a shooting contest with a buddy and he is three points ahead of you!!! Controlling your breathing minimizes your body movement during sight alignment. As you breathe, your body rises and falls with each breath. You should take a normal breath, then exhale slowly, just as your lungs empty is the best time to take your shot. Try to take your shot within 5 to 8 seconds. Any longer than 8 seconds and more body tremors may be introduced due to oxygen deprivation. Trigger Squeeze- Trigger squeeze, trigger pull and trigger control essentially all mean the same thing. It is the smooth and consistent pull on the trigger while maintaining proper sight alignment. Nobody knows exactly when the trigger will "break" and make the hammer fall. Even after years of practice with the same gun, it will still be a surprise, although after much practice, you can get a "feel" for when it might go. If you feel that the sights are aligned on the target as you would like, then squeeze a bit harder. However, if the sight alignment swings off the intended target, you should lighten up a bit on the trigger. Nobody, no matter how good they think they are can maintain perfect sight alignment all the time. It is not physically possible. Practice, practice and practice. Also, you'll want to make sure that you're not using the first joint of your index finger for the trigger work, but instead are using the center of the pad of the first finger joint. Or rather right in the middle of your fingerprint. Follow Through- Follow through??? What is follow through??? Follow through can be compared to a bowler when throwing a ball down the alley, the bowler's arm continues through the throw. Or to a pool player, when he strokes the cue ball, the tip of the cue goes right through where the cue ball used to be. Follow through in shooting is somewhat similar. In follow through, you want to maintain the proper body position, grip and sight alignment until after the shot has left the barrel. This follow through helps to make sure that the trajectory of the bullet is not affected by any extra movement on your part which might affect the path of the bullet. In pool, if the shooter stands up too quickly after taking his shot, it might affect where the tip hits the cue ball. In pool, shooters maintain that post-stroke position for a moment until they make certain the cue ball is on its way. It is precisely the same principle for shooting a gun. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Please also realize that after the trigger is pulled and the cartridge is discharged, but before the bullet actually leaves the barrel, there will be some movement of the barrel. This movement of the barrel is due to the initial discharge of the cartridge and the initial forward movement of the bullet itself. Your job is to minimize this movement of the barrel during bullet discharge and to do it consistently the same way every time. This will ensure that your bullet will impact the target in a uniform group. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NRA JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP Have you considered giving one of your children, grandchildren, niece or nephew a Junior Membership in the National Rifle Association? If we don't involve our young people in this fight, we will lose. http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I have attached a .pdf file from the Canadian N.F.A., which is pretty good and well worth reading. Much of the article echoes what I have said here. As usual, you may copy, print, forward, post or otherwise display this newsletter or the information contained within, as long as the name www.SaveTheGuns.com appears as the source of the information.