People make silly assumptions. They assume that because someone handed you a gun that it must be unloaded right?
Whenever you are handling a firearm you treat it the same way every time – no exceptions. This minimizes the risks that something like this will happen.
The fist time you pick up the weapon:
- Clear it – even if you just saw the guy handing it to you clear it. Don’t trust anyone assessment of that weapon other than your own.
- Safe it – I don’t care if it is cleared, always put it on safe.
- Only point it at something you intend to shoot – because if you screw up or make a mistake on rules 1 or 2 this last one could save your life or the life of someone around you (as well as your fingers and your job).