Glock has launched its annual month-long campaign to emphasize firearm safety with a hashtag, a YouTube video starring none other than the Gunny himself (R. Lee Ermey), and perhaps most importantly, an opportunity to win a brand new fourth generation Glock 17.
Their campaign is called #FollowTheFour and is intended to increase awareness of the four basic firearm safety rules every responsible gun owner should follow. Most people who have spent time on a range are familiar with these rules, and the Gunny even questions the need for a campaign to spread “common knowledge” in the short video produced by Glock – but as another participant explains, these four rules aren’t as commonly followed as they should be. Although accidental firearm injuries have decreased consistently over the years, hundreds of people in the United States are hurt or killed every year simply by making a mistake, and failing to adhere to those common safety rules.
SOFREP also touts the importance of firearm safety, as do many of our subscribers in the comments sections below the articles we run about the guns we love. Spending a month re-emphasizing the four rules many of us learned in boot camp about how to properly handle a weapon may seem unnecessary to some, but if it can save the life of one person that may have grown a bit complacent in their safety standards, Glock’s hashtag effort seems well worth the digital space it’s printed on. If you don’t feel like the refresher is for you, take heart in knowing that it may well be important for the next guy or gal that comes across it.
With that in mind, here are those four all important rules we’ve all had shouted in our faces at one time or another:
Rule Number 1: Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
Rule Number 2: Never point your weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot.
Rule Number 3: Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
Rule Number 4: Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.
Glock has launched its annual month-long campaign to emphasize firearm safety with a hashtag, a YouTube video starring none other than the Gunny himself (R. Lee Ermey), and perhaps most importantly, an opportunity to win a brand new fourth generation Glock 17.
Their campaign is called #FollowTheFour and is intended to increase awareness of the four basic firearm safety rules every responsible gun owner should follow. Most people who have spent time on a range are familiar with these rules, and the Gunny even questions the need for a campaign to spread “common knowledge” in the short video produced by Glock – but as another participant explains, these four rules aren’t as commonly followed as they should be. Although accidental firearm injuries have decreased consistently over the years, hundreds of people in the United States are hurt or killed every year simply by making a mistake, and failing to adhere to those common safety rules.
SOFREP also touts the importance of firearm safety, as do many of our subscribers in the comments sections below the articles we run about the guns we love. Spending a month re-emphasizing the four rules many of us learned in boot camp about how to properly handle a weapon may seem unnecessary to some, but if it can save the life of one person that may have grown a bit complacent in their safety standards, Glock’s hashtag effort seems well worth the digital space it’s printed on. If you don’t feel like the refresher is for you, take heart in knowing that it may well be important for the next guy or gal that comes across it.
With that in mind, here are those four all important rules we’ve all had shouted in our faces at one time or another:
Rule Number 1: Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
Rule Number 2: Never point your weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot.
Rule Number 3: Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
Rule Number 4: Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.
Now, I know one of the rules taught to me in the Marine Corps wasn’t on the list – but coming from Glock, that makes some sense. Their pistols don’t come with external safeties, after all. With that in mind, I’ve decided to add a fifth safety rule for those of us that aren’t always carrying a polymer-piece with “Austria” stamped on the side:
Rule Number 5: Keep your weapon on safe until you’re ready to fire.
On Glock’s website, you can review these rules and then click on the button that says, “Pledge Now,” to add yourself to the list of people who pledge to follow the basic rules of firearm safety. Once you’ve done that, you can get to the meat and potatoes of the site: where it tells you how to enter to win your own brand new Glock 17.
Entering the drawing is easy enough: simply take a picture of yourself and post it to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtag #FollowTheFour. By posting your picture with that tag, you are automatically entered into the drawing to win the pistol.
Let’s be honest, they’re only giving one of the pistols away, so our chances of winning are pretty slim, but ultimately, what’s really important is that gun owners take this opportunity to re-familiarize themselves with the rules that may seem like an old-hat, but are still of the utmost importance. We’re all guilty of slipping up from time to time when it comes to safety, but being a gun owner comes with a responsibility to ourselves and those around us to behave in the safest, most responsible manner we can with the guns we carry.
Keeping us all alive should be prize enough… but I’m still hoping to win that Glock.
Watch the YouTube video below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=svwAuXO6wq4
Image courtesy of Glock
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