Accountability and Responsibility

"Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician." ~ Jeff Cooper

Responsibility and accountability are words we hear regularly these days in a variety of applications. But what do they mean for gun owners in general and the Lodestone community specifically?

I recall driving past a local gun dealer in the opening days of the pandemic and seeing a line of people outside the door, wrapped around the building. At that time, the economy was still strong and the fear and uncertainty among the citizenry was high. People across the country flocked to gun shops to arm themselves. While I was glad to see people exercising their Second Amendment rights, I was left to wonder how many of them would learn to use the tools they were purchasing.

If you are reading these words, I think it is safe to assume that you understand that owning and carrying a firearm comes with a great amount of responsibility and higher level of accountability than is expected of the average, unarmed citizen.

Responsibility

What are your responsibilities as a gun owner? If you examine the core principles taught by Lodestone Training and Consulting, you will see that the foundation for everything we teach is safety. If you cannot safely manipulate your firearms, you are a danger to yourself and everyone around you. This is as true for the seasoned shooter as it is for the first time gun owner.

Rules of Firearms Safety:

1.    Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.

2.    Don’t point your firearm at anything you aren’t willing to kill or destroy.

3.    Keep your finger off the trigger, in contact with the frame of the firearm until you are on target and have DECIDED to fire.

4.    Know your target and what is beyond it.

While these core principles are immutable, they run deeper than their face value might imply.

For the new shooter, everything is new and is (hopefully) treated with a level of reverence. 

A seasoned shooter who is well acquainted with these rules faces other struggles. For those of us who have been around the block a few times, complacency can intrude on our responsibilities. Becoming lax with our safety procedures can have dire consequences. An experienced shooter with a new firearm might rely on old skills that don’t precisely coincide with a new manual of arms.

Safety is, first and foremost, the primary responsibility of every person who owns or handles a firearm. After the safety rules have become second nature, it is incumbent upon every shooter to acquire the proficiency needed to accomplish their desired task. The level of proficiency required of someone who keeps their firearms unloaded and locked up until they get to the range to practice is much different that the person who decides to employ their firearm for defensive purposes. Any instructor worth their salt will tell you that every bullet fired from your weapon is attached to a lawyer. We are responsible for every round we fire and the collateral damage it might cause. Learning to shoot with accuracy, learning what is and isn’t a threat, and learning how to assess the situation you find yourself in are all part of that responsibility.

Another aspect of our responsibility is the condition of our firearms. Are they clean, lubed and in good working order? Do you have the knowledge needed to diagnose potential problems with your weapon?

I’ll relate a short, personal story that highlights this aspect of responsibility. Recently, I ran a week-long, dim-light training program for my department. At the end of the week, my duty weapon was dirty and in need of some maintenance prior to resuming my normal duties. When I wrapped up training, it was late. I was tired and ready to go home. I decided to lock up my firearm and come in early on my next shift to get it ready for work. As I was transferring it to the locker it fell out of the holster. There was no magazine in the weapon and the slide was locked to the rear. I gave the gun a brief inspection, didn’t identify any issues and locked it up.

Upon returning to work I retrieved the weapon, reexamined it and found that the side stop lever had bent, jamming the slide in the open position. It was a simple fix but required me to fully disassemble the firearm and replace the slide stop. When I was done, I was 45 minutes into the start of my shift. While there were no consequences for this, had an emergency occurred during that time, I would not have been ready to respond. I did not live up to my responsibilities.

Accountability

As an owner of a firearm, we are always accountable for that weapon. A firearm that is not in your direct control must be secured at a level that is commensurate with your environment. Leaving a loaded firearm unattended in your own home is different for someone who lives alone than it is for someone with children or house guests. We must gauge who has access to our firearms and secure them accordingly. Even for the person who lives alone, having a location to securely store your firearms is a requirement.  

The best place to carry a firearm is in a quality holster attached to your body.

If you have decided to carry a firearm for self-defense the only place to securely carry that firearm is on your person. That can be in a holster attached to your body or in a bag or pack, as long as you maintain full control of the vessel holding the firearm.

As I write this, I can think of two instances in just the past few days where armed citizens did not hold themselves accountable. In one instance, a woman was carrying her handgun in her purse while shopping. She left that purse, along with the handgun, in the shopping cart and drove away. Fortunately, an employee of the store discovered it and reported it to the police. In another instance, a resident of a local hotel left his firearm in a nightstand and checked out. The weapon was discovered by cleaning staff and reported to police who recovered and secured it. Neither of these instances ended in tragedy but it is easy to envision how they might have.  Many years ago, a local Chief of Police left his issued duty weapon and body armor unsecured in the trunk of his car. His car was stolen along with the contents. The weapon was recovered years later during the commission of a crime.

Training

If you are here reading this article, you have already expressed interest in acquiring the training necessary to meet all the elements that we have discussed. The instructors at Lodestone Training and Consulting are professionals dedicated to providing you with the tools and training necessary to meet the standards required of the responsible armed citizen. We look forward to seeing you on the range and we thank you for the trust you have placed in us!

— Mike