Safety is Dangerous

Safety is Our #1 Goal

Safety is Our #1 Goal

“What is the most important thing on the range?” yelled the Navy Firearms Instructor to the group of young sailors amassed in front of him. “Safety!” was the reply that they had been taught to yell back in unison.

After the twenty minute safety briefing (four, top to bottom pages, read outloud mandatorily every morning) the students were allowed to begin the training day while holding their unloaded rifles and pistols.

Firearms training is not the only area that claims to place “Safety” above all else. I have been inside of numerous manufacturing facilities and have seen large signs posted on the walls extolling the virtues of safety.

“Safety is Our #1 Goal” read a large banner posted near the entry to the employee breakroom/lunch area.

A Magic Spell?

In the firearms world, we throw around the word “safety” as if saying the word often enough will cast some kind of magic spell of protection around everyone. We create more and more specific “safety rules” and “range rules” in a never ending quest to create the perfect environment where there is zero chance that anyone could be injured while using a firearm.

It is almost as if someone said, “You know, if 10 range rules will make us safe then 15 will make us safer.” Not wanting to be outdone, someone else pipes up, “If 15 rules make us safer, wouldn’t 20 range rules make us the most safe of all?” Before you know it, there are Range Rules signs posted at every shooting point, they begin at the ceiling and run to the floor.

I once used a shooting range where I was required to read, initial each page, and then sign the final of 26 pages of range safety rules. I’m not kidding, I counted 26 pages.

If you close your eyes you can almost see the “safety board” of your local public range. They are all sitting around a table, drinking Diet Coke and eating donuts. No one wants to be outdone by the others. Everyone of them has to add four, five, six, or more of their own rules to the mix. That is how you end up with a 26-page range rules document.

Comfortable Lies and Fantasy

Using the two previous examples about what is most important on the range and the #1 goal, I would like to point out that mindlessly throwing around the word “safety” is not only a lie, but it is dangerously deceptive as well.

For the first example, Navy Training Range, I pointed out to the instructor corps that safety was not the most important thing on the range. The most important thing was victory, or success if you like.

The institutionalized and heavily indoctrinated career Navy men took great offense and looked at me as if I was a heretic. “You don’t know what you are talking about.” a retired Senior Chief said to me.

I continued, undaunted, and replied to him that if safety truly was the most important “thing” on the range then the students should never be issued live ammunition for their firearms. Anytime you conduct live-fire training, there is an element of danger present. Firearms, by their very nature, are dangerous tools.

“That’s stupid,” was the Chief’s retort. “How are they going to practice and qualify if they don’t use live ammo?”

“So, the most important thing on the range is to train them and then have them qualify with their guns,” I inquired of him.

The retired Senior Chief paused before answering, realizing he was being led into a logic trap. “Okay, smart ass,” he continued. “How about we say that safe firearms training is the most important thing on the range. Will that make you happy?”

He had missed my point, but he would not be the first or the last one to do so.

In the case of the manufacturing plant with the “Safety is our #1 Goal” banner, that too is a fantasy posted to simply make people feel good about themselves. You see, in that particular plant there were numerous hydraulic presses, lathes and milling machines, forklifts, and front loaders. All of these powerful machines, if operated negligently, could maim or kill a person. If Safety is the #1 Goal, why do you have all this dangerous equipment in the plant?

The number one goal of any manufacturing plant is to efficiently and effectively produce a product or several products that companies and consumers want to buy. The greater the demand for their product the better off the plant will be. The workers’ jobs will be secured and everyone shares the fruit of their labor. No customer is going to pay you for your safety record, and you cannot box up safety and ship it out to consumers.

 

US Marines searching for victims in Beirut eight days after attack (cnn.com)

US Marines searching for victims in Beirut eight days after attack
(cnn.com)

The Price Paid for Safety

This “Safety Uber Alles” mentality has been pervasive in the United States military for decades. In the book “Boyd: the Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War”, the author Robert Coram relates incidents were Colonel John Boyd, the pre-eminent fighter pilot instructor of the time, chastised Air Force unit commanders who boasted of their “safety records”. Boyd told them that their obsession with safety would cost pilots their lives when they had to engage in real combat. These fighter pilots were not training hard and preparing for the harsh reality of life and death combat because in their commanders’ minds, safety was the priority.

US Marine Barracks Bombing

On October 23, 1983, the US Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, was attacked by a terrorist truck bomb; 241 Marines and Sailors were killed and over 100 more injured. The nation was shocked and dismayed. Most Americans could not believe that something like this could happen.

What the American public could not know was that  the rules of engagement (ROE) severely restricted the use of force, not allowing Marines to carry loaded weapons, allowing them to shoot only if they could verify that their lives were in danger and only if they could clearly identify a specific target.

The gate guards and sentries in Beirut had empty weapons. Why? Because safety is our number one goal. Commanders are more afraid for PFC (Private First Class) standing at the gate having a negligent discharge than they are of the same PFC being killed by a terrorist.

 

Safety - The USS Cole sits off the coast of Yemen after a terrorist attack blew a hole in its side - cnn.com)

The USS Cole sits off the coast of Yemen after a terrorist attack blew a hole in its side (cnn.com)

USS Cole Attack

On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole, a US Navy destroyer, was attacked by a small boat loaded with explosives. The explosion killed 17 sailors and injured 39 more. Once again, we can see how the desire for a perfect safety record led to the death of these sailors. Read the following report on the Rules of Engagement (ROE):

The destroyer’s rules of engagement, as approved by the Pentagon, kept its guards from firing upon the small boat (which was not known to be loaded with explosives) as it neared them without first obtaining permission from the Cole’s captain or another officer.[37]

Petty Officer John Washak said that right after the blast, a senior chief petty officer ordered him to turn an M-60 machine gun on the Cole’s fantail away from a second small boat approaching. “With blood still on my face”, he said, he was told: “That’s the rules of engagement: no shooting unless we’re shot at.” He added, “In the military, it’s like we’re trained to hesitate now. If somebody had seen something wrong and shot, he probably would have been court-martialed”. Petty Officer Jennifer Kudrick said that if the sentries had fired on the suicide craft “we would have gotten in more trouble for shooting two foreigners than losing seventeen American sailors”.[37]

Real Answers

I feel certain that most, if not all, of those reading this have had the ad nauseum range rule experience. A good number of you are veterans who are all too familiar with ROE policies so restrictive as to give advantage to the enemy and practically guarantee the death of American servicemen.

Many of the aforementioned ranges pay little attention the 4 Universal Safety Rules. Some of the Universal Rules are mixed in and bastardized to be almost unrecognizable. A few well-meaning ranges will begin with the 4 Universal Rules and then add ten to twenty more after those.

When we examine the manufacturing plant example: plant personnel would tell you that the dangerous machinery is only operated by trained people and that there are very specific rules for using and handling heavy equipment. They don’t simply speak the word “Safety” over the heads of the employees and turn them loose on lathes, forklifts, and hydraulic presses.

If we in the gun culture or shooting community are truly interested in reducing the instances of negligent injury or death, is there a better way to achieve this than creating a 26-page range rule document? Would it not stand to reason that the better educated and trained shooters are, the more competent and proficient they will be when handling firearms?

Whether we are considering the manufacturing plant, the shooting range, or the Rules of Engagement, the fantasy is the same. The “Safety Uber Alles” problem stems from the idea that by simply instituting enough rules we can guarantee a zero-defect, perfect safety environment.

Safety as an ultimate goal is an impossible achievement. The only true way for complete safety to be achieved with firearms is to take away all live ammunition or close the range completely. Safety, however, can indeed be the result of educated, well-disciplined, and properly trained shooters. The only  “safe” shooter, in the absolute sense, is one who has no ammunition. However, skilled and educated shooters can operate with very little chance of negligent injury.

Rather than viewing safety as our “#1 Goal”, perhaps we could view it as the logical result of well-trained and educated people. If a person has been taught how to properly handle a firearm, not just at the shooting bench, but in the real world, would they not fulfill our “safety” requirements?

Stop viewing safety as your goal and start viewing safety as the logical result—the byproduct, if you will, of highly trained and skilled people. The better educated, better trained, and well-disciplined your people are, the less likely they are to behave in a negligent fashion.

If, after coming to the end of this article, you still believe that “Safety is the most important thing on the range”, your only honest recourse is to forbid the use of live ammunition. There. Everyone can be safe now. (Unless they trip and fall. Damn! Someone write some rules about gravity.)

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Paul Markel

Founder & President at Student of the Gun
Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

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Comments

  1. SPOTLIGHT44

    Wait ? No comments but mine ? scary.OK I like your show a lot style. Not a Freak ,14 yrs Navy Air because Infantry scared the crap out of me ,hate camping,bugs ,bad food .Would pay about $5 a month for the friday off the record show if i could be sure the podcast would actually reach my i phone but i don;t need $15 a month on how to shoot rolling under a truck firing one handed instruction extra stuff because if that happens i am dead . I do carry but really sweat traffic stops !My training is self inflicted IDPA, USPSA where I get beat like a drum but have the same number of hits almost as the guy who wins but twice the time used .Is my real life “gunfight” really gonna entail 8 bad guys ? I don’t think so .I can fire two from a draw in 1.8-2 seconds 9MM glock 26, and thats good enough to hit a 12″ square 7 yards away twice .I can still run an 11 min mile and 25 pushups at 73 15 lbs overweight though….Safety is so they do not get sued mostly.I worry about the dickhead in the square range lane next to me with no discipline and the range Nazi looking to chew out anyone he thinks he can even if he’s totally wrong,like telling me i was shooting in two lanes when I am only carefully practicing 12’double taps (jackass) ,My screwups were running between targets and swinging the gun hand with the finger still proper but gun muzzle going slightly behind me crossing the 180 and once sweeping my foot while opening a door with the other hand in 18 contests so far.Keep up your great work!

  2. SPOTLIGHT44

    Wait ? No comments but mine ? scary.OK I like your show a lot style. Not a Freak ,14 yrs Navy Air because Infantry scared the crap out of me ,hate camping,bugs ,bad food .Would pay about $5 a month for the friday off the record show if i could be sure the podcast would actually reach my i phone but i don;t need $15 a month on how to shoot rolling under a truck firing one handed instruction extra stuff because if that happens i am dead . I do carry but really sweat traffic stops !My training is self inflicted IDPA, USPSA where I get beat like a drum but have the same number of hits almost as the guy who wins but twice the time used .Is my real life “gunfight” really gonna entail 8 bad guys ? I don’t think so .I can fire two from a draw in 1.8-2 seconds 9MM glock 26, and thats good enough to hit a 12″ square 7 yards away twice .I can still run an 11 min mile and 25 pushups at 73 15 lbs overweight though….Safety is so they do not get sued mostly.I worry about the dickhead in the square range lane next to me with no discipline and the range Nazi looking to chew out anyone he thinks he can even if he’s totally wrong,like telling me i was shooting in two lanes when I am only carefully practicing 12’double taps (jackass) ,My screwups were running between targets and swinging the gun hand with the finger still proper but gun muzzle going slightly behind me crossing the 180 and once sweeping my foot while opening a door with the other hand in 18 contests so far.Keep up your great work!

  3. John Doe

    Even without live ammo, one could hurt themselves sticking a finger in the action of a gun. Maybe not as seriously, but it could still hurt.

    The indoor range I shoot at has one posted rule, “Guns carried in the hand must be held muzzle down, action open.” If there are other rules, they’re not obviously posted. Guess we get treated as adults here.

    Good points, Professor. Kind of like the old saying that an inspection ready unit isn’t ready for combat, and a combat ready unit is ready for inspection.

  4. John Doe

    Even without live ammo, one could hurt themselves sticking a finger in the action of a gun. Maybe not as seriously, but it could still hurt.

    The indoor range I shoot at has one posted rule, “Guns carried in the hand must be held muzzle down, action open.” If there are other rules, they’re not obviously posted. Guess we get treated as adults here.

    Good points, Professor. Kind of like the old saying that an inspection ready unit isn’t ready for combat, and a combat ready unit is ready for inspection.

  5. David Castle

    Military “Rules of Engagement” have been a joke for quite a few of the last struggles and engagements the US armed forces have been evolved in. It got worse with our soon to be last President. Military base commanders were more afraid of a negligent discharge that might affect their careers than the safety of their troops. Commanders had no idea how to keep the troops safe.

    I have also worked in an industrial environment that used very dangerous machines. I witnessed a culture where safety was preached but not enforced. I saw that culture turn around and teeth be put into the requirement that all safety rules be followed or face unemployment regardless of your status. Every employee was empowered to help everyone else work safely. The result was that our plant had the best safety record in our industry. Safety worked from the bottom up and production did not suffer.

    To pull this all together and relate it to the accidental shootings that we see reported in the news I must say that the gun culture has some people that don’t follow safety rules and others who don’t call attention to their fellow shooters safety violations. I have been guilty of not correcting my fellow shooters safety violations in the past but I had to make up my mind to speak up. For me it took a lot of courage to start doing so. Most shooters appreciate corrections, some just mutter under their breath and some take offense and try to belittle the messenger. I got tired of leaving shooting events because I wouldn’t speak up and didn’t feel safe. No longer.

    Learn the 4 universal gun safety rules then:

    “If you see something say something”, set an example for your fellow shooters – it may save you. Ask them to do the same.

  6. David Castle

    Military “Rules of Engagement” have been a joke for quite a few of the last struggles and engagements the US armed forces have been evolved in. It got worse with our soon to be last President. Military base commanders were more afraid of a negligent discharge that might affect their careers than the safety of their troops. Commanders had no idea how to keep the troops safe.

    I have also worked in an industrial environment that used very dangerous machines. I witnessed a culture where safety was preached but not enforced. I saw that culture turn around and teeth be put into the requirement that all safety rules be followed or face unemployment regardless of your status. Every employee was empowered to help everyone else work safely. The result was that our plant had the best safety record in our industry. Safety worked from the bottom up and production did not suffer.

    To pull this all together and relate it to the accidental shootings that we see reported in the news I must say that the gun culture has some people that don’t follow safety rules and others who don’t call attention to their fellow shooters safety violations. I have been guilty of not correcting my fellow shooters safety violations in the past but I had to make up my mind to speak up. For me it took a lot of courage to start doing so. Most shooters appreciate corrections, some just mutter under their breath and some take offense and try to belittle the messenger. I got tired of leaving shooting events because I wouldn’t speak up and didn’t feel safe. No longer.

    Learn the 4 universal gun safety rules then:

    “If you see something say something”, set an example for your fellow shooters – it may save you. Ask them to do the same.

  7. James Sellers

    In my experience with company safety rules they are written to punish those that have an accident. They are specifically meant to limit company liability in case of an accident. Then there are those rules that are about behavior toward other shooters, or etiquette. It’s remarkable that respectful behavior and knowledge in a chosen pursuit or career is so lacking that these rules are even proposed as safety rules. Which leaves very little that directly effect safety. I concur, I have not found anything better at providing safety than “well-trained and educated people”.

  8. James Sellers

    In my experience with company safety rules they are written to punish those that have an accident. They are specifically meant to limit company liability in case of an accident. Then there are those rules that are about behavior toward other shooters, or etiquette. It’s remarkable that respectful behavior and knowledge in a chosen pursuit or career is so lacking that these rules are even proposed as safety rules. Which leaves very little that directly effect safety. I concur, I have not found anything better at providing safety than “well-trained and educated people”.

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