The first one is correct in an odd roundabout way. You can tell if the weapon is loaded by its weight. If the weapon has any weight whatsoever, i.e. it exists, it is treated as if it is loaded. Is there a weapon on the ground in front of you? It’s loaded. Have you been holding it for a while? It’s loaded. Did you clear it then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.
One day I’m in the back mounting scopes and a customer’s rifle gets delivered to me with the rings and scope. First thing I do it go back out front and have the customer shoulder the rifle so I can see where his eye sits.
I then spend time carefully mounting and leveling the scope, use the bore-sighter to get it zero-ish at 100 yards (enough to hit paper - then the customer finishes at the range), and it’s looking real good.
Last thing I do it work the action to make sure everything still has clearance, and a chrome-plated 300 Win Mag cartidge comes out of the gun.
That gun made it through the firearms check-in, at least 1 other sales guy, to me, back to the customer, and back to me again. We’re supposed to check the rifle every time, and that round made it into the gun. Closest I can figure is people weren’t working the action all the way, and at some point one of us did after seeing the silver color thinking it was the mag follower, and in the process loaded the chamber.
My asshole was puckered for a solid day, but it also spoke to how effective the rules are. Even though multiple people fucked up, following the rest of the rules kept it from actually being dangerous.
The always loaded thing is to also teach you to not treat it flippantly. That you keep cognizant of where it’s pointing at all times and never at someone without intention to shoot them. Even if it’s a semi-auto with the magazine out, slide back, chamber empty you still treat that like a loaded gun.
During my service the rule was pretty clear that any assembled weapon is always treated as loaded, regardless how many people have checked it. Part of the idea was that no matter how sure you are that your weapon is clear, there’s no way for me to be sure, and if you ever muzzle-swipe me you can bet your ass I’m not taking any chances on whether it’s clear. So basically, if the weapon is assembled, it’s loaded. Always.
Aha, then I understand! In my training, a “clear” drill was always concluded by firing in a safe direction (e.g. the ground), so I would regard that trigger pull as the conclusion of the clearing drill, not as “treating the weapon as unloaded”. The point of that step was exactly the mentality that “You just cleared the weapon, so obviously you should treat it as loaded and fire a shot into the ground to re-check that you actually cleared it”.
The first one is correct in an odd roundabout way. You can tell if the weapon is loaded by its weight. If the weapon has any weight whatsoever, i.e. it exists, it is treated as if it is loaded. Is there a weapon on the ground in front of you? It’s loaded. Have you been holding it for a while? It’s loaded. Did you clear it then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.
I used to be a gun salesman.
One day I’m in the back mounting scopes and a customer’s rifle gets delivered to me with the rings and scope. First thing I do it go back out front and have the customer shoulder the rifle so I can see where his eye sits.
I then spend time carefully mounting and leveling the scope, use the bore-sighter to get it zero-ish at 100 yards (enough to hit paper - then the customer finishes at the range), and it’s looking real good.
Last thing I do it work the action to make sure everything still has clearance, and a chrome-plated 300 Win Mag cartidge comes out of the gun.
That gun made it through the firearms check-in, at least 1 other sales guy, to me, back to the customer, and back to me again. We’re supposed to check the rifle every time, and that round made it into the gun. Closest I can figure is people weren’t working the action all the way, and at some point one of us did after seeing the silver color thinking it was the mag follower, and in the process loaded the chamber.
My asshole was puckered for a solid day, but it also spoke to how effective the rules are. Even though multiple people fucked up, following the rest of the rules kept it from actually being dangerous.
The devil loads the weapon while you’re not looking
The always loaded thing is to also teach you to not treat it flippantly. That you keep cognizant of where it’s pointing at all times and never at someone without intention to shoot them. Even if it’s a semi-auto with the magazine out, slide back, chamber empty you still treat that like a loaded gun.
Did you clear it
then put it on the ground and walk away for a bit? Surprise! It’s magically loaded again.During my service, the first rule was extended: “every weapon must be regarded as loaded, until you ensured it isn’t”
During my service the rule was pretty clear that any assembled weapon is always treated as loaded, regardless how many people have checked it. Part of the idea was that no matter how sure you are that your weapon is clear, there’s no way for me to be sure, and if you ever muzzle-swipe me you can bet your ass I’m not taking any chances on whether it’s clear. So basically, if the weapon is assembled, it’s loaded. Always.
This rule would make it impossible to clean a Glock
Never used a Glock before, how is that? Don’t you disassemble it before cleaning it?
The design requires that you clear it and pull the trigger before disassembling it
Aha, then I understand! In my training, a “clear” drill was always concluded by firing in a safe direction (e.g. the ground), so I would regard that trigger pull as the conclusion of the clearing drill, not as “treating the weapon as unloaded”. The point of that step was exactly the mentality that “You just cleared the weapon, so obviously you should treat it as loaded and fire a shot into the ground to re-check that you actually cleared it”.