The fundamentals of gun safety seem quite simple, but as an NRA instructor, I’ve seen a wide variety of ways that these simple rules can be broken by shooters of all skill levels. Studying these violations in my classes led to watching for these same violations during informal shooting sessions at my local range, and later to discussions with other instructors about various ways that students just seem to mess up. My next few blogs will discuss scenarios to watch out for when you’re at the range, along with the potential perpetrators and the best way to correct this wrong behavior.

Mistake—The Turn Rack
This happens when a shooter brings a semi-auto handgun close to the body to help in racking the slide. Think bringing the hands and arms into the body to aid in opening a bottle of pickles with a stuck lid and you’ll understand this concept.

The problem with this, especially on a shooting line, is that the gun is turned against the body to provide the most leverage. If the person is right handed and the body is facing straight forward then the muzzle is pointed left down the line.

The person most likely to commit the Turn Rack is the older gentleman with years of shooting experience (didn’t expect that did you?). Basically what happens is that as strength declines with age or injury, these gentlemen have learned to manipulate the slide in this manner and keep on shooting. Bringing the gun in close is a great way to rack a slide with limited hand strength; however, Rule No. 1 (Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction) must be followed.

The solution is simple, but overlooked considering the number of times I’ve had to reprimand a shooter on the shooting line. If you must bring the handgun into your body to rack the slide, turn sideways to keep the muzzle pointed downrange. This also works in the real world by turning your body to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.