AIRGUN GUIDE: Air Gun Safety
READ THE OWNER'S OPERATION MANUAL PRIOR TO HANDLING ANY AIR GUN. PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO ALL WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS. It is the responsibility to know and obey all laws governing the use and ownership of air guns in your city, town, province, state, and/or country.
Remember that Air Guns are not a toys, They are functional weapons. Always observe all of the proper handling and safety procedures of a live firearm. Before you shoot any Air Guns read and understand the instruction manual and all of the Air Guns functions. It is essential that all Air Gun users understand the proper handling and functions of their Air guns or Airsoft guns. We recommended use by adults or by youth under adult supervision.
Air guns or Airsoft guns have the look, feel and basic operation of their cartridge-firing counterparts. All air guns, in general, look like guns, but those based on real cartridge-firing models even more so. It is important to remember that the vast majority of people cant tell an air gun from a cartridge gun. Never brandish an air gun in public. Always treat an airgun as you would a cartridge gun. The same manual of operation and safety should always apply.
Whether you're interested in hunting, plinking or target shooting, RedsAir.com wants to encourage you not only to enjoy air gunning, but to be the safest and best shooter you can be. Educating people interested in air gunning in the safe and responsible use of air guns is significant to us at RedsAir.com because well-trained shooters truly enjoy the shooting sports and attract new shooters to this time-honored sport.
Make safety your most important priority when handling, transporting, storing, and shooting air guns. Make it a routine to follow all the rules of safe gun handling. Always be aware of the air gun, your surroundings, and those people around you.
Safety Rules and Guidlines
This set of rules is not a comprehensive list of safety rules and guidelines for the use and ownership of Air Guns. This list is intended to assist the Air Gun Owner and User in understanding the responsibility that is a fundamental part of owning one of these products. There is no substitute for common sense and discretion when utilizing one of these products.
SAFETY FIRST!
- Always point your air gun in a safe direction.
- Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
- Always keep your gun unloaded until it is ready to use.
- Wear proper eye protection when playing with air guns. Full face masks are highly recommended.
TREAT ALL AIR GUNS AS IF THEY ARE REAL GUNS
- DO NOT ASSUME that an orange tip will clearly identify the air gun as such; the general public that is unfamiliar with airsoft can mistake air guns for real guns and criminals have been known to have real guns painted with orange tips.
- Keep in mind that at even a moderate distance, it may be impossible to tell an air gun from the real thing. In order to maintain a safe playing environment and to not alarm non-players, caution and discretion must always be practiced.
- When using air guns, make sure everyone within view of you understands and approves of what you are playing with and what you are doing.
- Always transport air guns unloaded and inside a box or a bag.
- Air Gun sports should only take place in legal settings, never in areas where it is prohibited by legal statute at any level, or contrary to the will of the landowner.
- Never use or display air guns in public places such as schools, parks, etc.
BE RESPONSIBLE, RESPECT YOUR COMMUNITY, OBEY THE LAW
- Most states require that you be 18 years or older to purchase and own an air gun or have permission from a parent or legal guardian.
- Parents and legal guardians are legally responsible for the minors possession and use of an air gun.
- If a law enforcement officer approaches you while you are using air guns, immediately COMPLY FULLY WITH THE OFFICERS INSTRUCTIONS and STAND STILL. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHOW THE POLICE OFFICER YOURORANGE TIP. If the gun is in your hand, drop it immediately. If the gun is on your person, do not reach for it and keep your hands clearly away from the gun.
- If a neighbor or nearby person asks you to stop playing with your air guns, immediately stop and stow away your guns.
- If you use your air guns to threaten another person, vandalize property, or shoot at innocent bystanders, you WILL be charged with committing a crime.
- Your local laws may vary and it is your responsibility to be fully aware of them.
Air Gun Safety Tips from Crossman:
A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PARENTS: TRADITIONAL AIRGUNS THAT SHOOT LEAD PELLETS AND STEEL BBS ARE NOT TOYS. Personal injury or death can result from improper handling if a pellet or BB strikes someone in a vulnerable spot. We are concerned that all users learn to use AIRGUNS properly without injury to themselves or others. You may be able to obtain further information for instruction in shooting from one or more of the following groups: Boy Scouts of America, National Rifle Association, conservation clubs, gun clubs, 4-H Clubs, or hunter safety groups.
Adult supervision is ALWAYS required when any type of AIRGUN is in use.
- ALWAYS know your state and local laws concerning the use of AIRGUNS.
- ALWAYS treat the AIRGUN as though it is loaded and ready to fire.
- ALWAYS treat AIRGUN with the same respect you would a firearm.
- ALWAYS store the AIRGUN unloaded and away from children.
- ALWAYS aim in a SAFE DIRECTION.
- ALWAYS keep the muzzle of the AIRGUN pointed in a SAFE DIRECTION.
- ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard until ready to shoot.
- ALWAYS keep the AIRGUN "ON SAFE" until you are ready to shoot.
- ALWAYS check to see if the AIRGUN is "ON SAFE" and unloaded when removing it from storage.
- ALWAYS check to see if the AIRGUN is "ON SAFE" and unloaded when handing it to, or receiving it from another person.
- ALWAYS have you and others wear shooting glasses to protect your eyes.
- ALWAYS wear shooting glasses over eye glasses or prescription glasses.
- ALWAYS place a shooting backstop in a location that will be safe should the backstop fail.
- ALWAYS check your backstop for wear before and after each use. All backstops are subject to wear and will eventually fail. Replace your backstop if the surface is worn or damaged, or if a ricochet occurs.
- ALWAYS use the proper size ammunition in your AIRGUN. Check the markings on your AIRGUN to verify the ammo size.
- NEVER point the AIRGUN at any person or at anything you do not intend to shoot.
- NEVER reuse ammunition.
- NEVER shoot at hard surfaces or at the surface of water. The ammo may bounce off or ricochet and hit someone or something you had not intended to hit.
- NEVER attempt to disassemble or tamper with your AIRGUN. Use an Authorized Service Station. Using an unauthorized service or repair center, or modifying the function of your AIRGUN in any way, may be unsafe and will void your warranty.
- NEVER change the coloration and markings of an AIRGUN to make it look more like a firearm.
- NEVER brandish or display an AIRGUN in public - Police officers and others may think it is a firearm.
Industry Rules of Air Gun Safety
These are the five primary rules of gun safety taught by most instructors.
1. All guns are always loaded.
- Probably more people who have been shot unintentionally were shot with "unloaded" guns than with any other kind.
2. Don't let the muzzle of the gun cross anything you're not prepared to shoot.
- At conventional handgun ranges, if your gun isn't pointed at a person or object, you can't shoot that person or object.
- Keep in mind that if the gun is pointed at an upward angle and it discharges, the bullet may travel a very long distance and strike a person or object you may not even see.
- Similarly, many walls may not stop ammunition, so rounds fired at walls may penetrate and strike a person or object on the other side.
3. Keep your finger out of the trigger guard, up on the frame of the gun, until the sights are on target and you're prepared to shoot.
- Tradition places this rule as rule three; if I were starting fresh, I think I'd make it rule one.
- Guns do not discharge on their own. If, in the heat of battle or in total brain fade, you inadvertently point a gun at someone you don't intend to shoot, they can't get shot if your finger is not inside the trigger guard.
- Most guns are designed to be fired by a finger on a trigger. They are more natural to grasp that way, so the finger tends to drift there under stress. While a single-action pistol would seem more vulnerable to rule three violations, American police officers racked up countless unintended discharges in decades of using double-action revolvers, so it is essential to follow rule three regardless of the type of gun you're handling.
4. Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.
- The first part of this rule is absolute: you must always identify your target.
- The second part of this rule is relative: in a sporting or training environment there is no justification for not knowing what is beyond your target. In a deadly encounter you may be forced to fire in circumstances where you may not even be able to see what is beyond your target. All the more reason to select ammunition which is not likely to exit its original target.
5. Maintain control of your gun.
- Attorneys Michael Anthony and Robert Brown have researched civil litigation involving guns and found that most successful lawsuits against gun owners involve incidents where someone other than the owner has accessed and misused the gun.
- As a result, we have accepted their suggestion and now list this fifth basic rule of firearms safety.
- Make sure that you keep the gun within your control when you carry it. Guns in purses and other means of off-body carry are difficult to control, as are guns being shown to friends, stashed between couch cushions, placed in desk drawers, etc.
- When you must store a gun that you are not carrying, take reasonable steps to limit access by unauthorized users. If you must simply disable it with a lock, a cable lock is preferable to a trigger lock - most trigger locks violate Rule Three.
- A caveat to this rule concerns dropped guns. Modern handguns are designed not to fire when dropped and people have shot themselves trying to catch guns that have slipped from their hands. If you do momentarily lose control of a gun, let it fall to the ground.
Because we do actually unload guns and also place them out of our immediate control from time to time, a corollary of Rule One and Rule Five, the condition check, is also worth learning:
Whenever you pick up a gun that has been out of your control, even if only for an instant, open the action to determine that it is in the condition in which you want it, loaded or unloaded.