Gun Accident Causes

As a firearms instructor, I hate reading stories of accidental shootings like this one about a graduation gift that went wrong.  Brennan Fields received a gun as a high school graduation gift.  Then he shot and killed his girlfriend while he was showing it to her.  It is time for gun owners to start making safety our #1 priority!  A gun makes an excellent present but should not be given to someone who has not been taught to handle a it safely.  I've posted before about the rules for safe gun handling.  Clearly, Mr. Fields broke all of these.

Gun accidents are caused by:

1. Ignorance. Ignorance is not knowing the correct way to handle a gun safely.  Many people have grown up around guns and shooting with their family but have never been taught how to safely handle a gun.  They've been lucky.  When an accident finally happens to these people, ignorance is the cause because they didn't really know better.  
2. Negligence.  Negligence is knowing the right way to handle a gun but not applying it.  Negligence is worse than ignorance because if an accident happens you'll have no one to blame but yourself.  I've been around many gun owners who know the right way to handle their guns but sometimes are a bit lax on the direction they point their gun or in keeping their finger off of the trigger.  

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I'm not sure which of these was to blame in the case of Mr. Fields, but the lesson is crystal clear.  If you've learned the rules of safe gun handling, ensure you apply them 100% of the time and that those around you do too!  If you don't know the rules of safe gun handling - learn them now!