Bam Bam Holsters: Gun Safety, Finger Off The Trigger

Decided to continue on with rule #2 which is often given as......"keep your booger hook off the bang bang"

Everyone should know and live the four rules of gun safety.
1. Treat every gun as if it is loaded
2. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target.
3. Never point your gun at something you are not willing to destroy
4. Be aware of your target and what is beyond your target.

Most every time I watch and inexperienced shooter, there is a problem keeping the finger off the trigger. It, like most gun handling skills is a discipline. Discipline is the suppression of base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with restraint and self-control. Your finger is going to naturally want to be on the trigger.

The video shows one of the main reasons to keep the finger off of the trigger until you are ready to shoot. In a high stress situation after an adrenaline dump many things change in your body, one of which is fine motor skills, which greatly diminish. That along with your muscles tensing up, movement, tripping, startling, ect and that gun will go off with out you intending to do so.

If your finger is disciplined, it wont be on the trigger unless you are ready to shoot. How do you discipline your finger? Continual repetition and correction. Consider again, dry fire. With an unloaded gun (check and double check). A purposely slow, smooth draw, paying attention to the finger. As soon as you clear the holster the trigger finger is on the slide above the trigger guard. As you press the gun out and on a target the finger moves to the trigger. Once you get consistent, smooth actions, increase speed little by little until you are at full speed. Once that is mastered, add a second target that you have to move to see, Finger comes off the trigger after target one and as you aim at target two the finger comes back one the trigger.

Consider the following. I think IDPA is a great sport that any shooter can learn from by participation. My job in running shooters through stages of fire is to watch the gun the whole time. One of the biggest things I am looking for is where the finger is. The inexperienced shooter is usually going to hear a command, "finger!" which means get your finger off the trigger. This is given any time the shooter is not ready to fire but has the finger on the trigger.

The things that are absolutely essential for gun safety, will not happen on accident, or from memorizing the four gun safety rules. And they certainly wont happen in a high stress situation. For the shooter, it takes discipline, and then, those essential things happen with out any conscious thought. I used to get the "finger!" warning from the range officer a lot........after lots of practice, I don't even think about it any more, it comes natural, that frees me up to think about more important things, like hitting the intended target.

Think about it.

Bam Bam Holsters Work Bench

A New clipper. Been getting a lot of good comments on these. This is something that has been missing in my holster lineup, a two clip, purpose driven for "on the hip" carry. Kind of my competition for the hybrid or kydex holsters. I just think every gun deserves leather.