Is it finally time for a 5th rule?

[GardoneVT]

How about just one:

Think, and don't do stupid shit with guns.

What of the morons? They have a right to carry and own guns too, and this rule won’t work for that group. I don’t say this as a matter of criticism-we are left with the dilemma of teaching effective gun safety to people who are clumsy and inattentive. That Guy all the warning labels get written for has the same right I do to own a firearm.

[ST911]

Replacing the traditional 3- or 4-rule model is really easy. Open curriculum, "find...replace" with new language. Most important, teach safety in context via practical exercises. The safety lecture as instructional method needs to die.

As for the idea of an omnibus "don't be stupid" rule, negative instruction never works. See also: negative parenting, negative supervision, etc. Telling people what not to do never teaches what to do.

[DueSpada]

The four rules are a checklist you go through everytime you put your hand on a gun. It has to be short and vivid,
easily recalled and simple to do. Musings on the proper storage and securing of firearms are for another time. One of the most maddening fouler of things up is the propensuty of teachers and pundits to over complicate things so they will have more things to teach and say.

[Tom Duffy]

I like the idea of all those signs at ranges and gun stores being updated with "all guns should be secure from unauthorized access"

Not sure it needs to be one of Cooper's rules, but it should be a law. Doesn't everyone get tired of the instances when a child gets hold of a loaded gun and shoots himself or someone else? It always get described as an "accident" or a "tragedy" when, in fact, it's criminal negligence. Yes, morons need to be protected from themselves, not for themselves, but for the people impacted by their stupidity.

[Jack Ryan]

After spending some time as an RSO, it’s my observation people only observe the Four Rules when they’re in public- and if it’s perceived the weapons are loaded. Unfortunately laypeople are pretty atrocious at determining if a guns loaded or not. I’ve got way too many stories of people bringing loaded guns to my range and not knowing they’re chambered.

“Oh my” ....40 caliber round zings out of the ejection port....”I didn’t remember it was loaded”.

“Honey...” embarrassed guy turns to smirking wife “did you load this? I don’t remember it being loaded”....as I pick up a .223 round from the floor near the clearing barrel.


The Four Rules were written in a society of personally accountable people. We don’t live there anymore, and should adapt our safety standards accordingly.

Most of the people who think things about "laypeople" and believe THEY HAVE FOUND a better way are normally about them MOST "lay" of all the people there are and couldn't tie their own shoes. They think they have found a latest and greatest "new" thing every time they take a breath. AIR! It's awesome! O2! You guys should try it! We read in school today...

[philpac33]

I don’t need it added to The 4 Rules; my fine state of WA recently made it law. I am now the criminal if any of my unsecured firearms are stolen.

[Drang]

Not sure it needs to be one of Cooper's rules, but it should be a law.

No, it shouldn't. Unenforceable, feel good measures passed just to be seen to "Do something!" are how we got in the mess we're in today.

[HopetonBrown]

Not sure it needs to be one of Cooper's rules, but it should be a law. Doesn't everyone get tired of the instances when a child gets hold of a loaded gun and shoots himself or someone else?

According to Freakonomics on NPR a child is 10 times more likely to drown in a non boating accident than killed with a firearm. So locking up pools and tubs would be much more fruitful.

[Tom Duffy]

According to Freakonomics on NPR a child is 10 times more likely to drown in a non boating accident than killed with a firearm. So locking up pools and tubs would be much more fruitful.

Oh please. This is a gun forum not a pool forum. The question at hand is gun safety.

Laws try to codify morality and acceptable behavior in a society. Would securing guns, which as a gun owner is your moral responsibility, reduce deaths, particularly of children? Absolutely. This is not feel good legislation such as the 15 vs 10 magazine laws.

Doing the right thing would have a very pragmatic benefit, as well. Every time a child is killed because of an unattended gun the media jumps all over the story. The non gun owning public, who are in the majority in the country, view this as a clear example of irresponsible, if not criminal, gun ownership. They paint all gun owners with that brush. Gun owners really ought to get behind laws like this for two reasons.

One, we mandate proper behavior with appropriate penalties for those who don't have the common sense to keep their guns secured.
Two, we show the non gun owning public that we are reasonable and not against any gun legislation, per se. The NRA is vilified, in part, because it stance is that any gun legislation is bad legislation. The public backlash to this attitude is here and it's building and it's going to hurt all gun owners, not just the NRA.

[BehindBlueI's]

According to Freakonomics on NPR a child is 10 times more likely to drown in a non boating accident than killed with a firearm. So locking up pools and tubs would be much more fruitful.

I'm sure that's very comforting and relevant to the parents, siblings, medical professionals, first responders, and coroner staff who deal with the aftermath of children shooting themselves with found guns. I know it's made me feel a lot better about the dozen or so such incidents I've personally responded to and investigated as lead detective. Fuck, it, let's just leave our guns loaded in their toy box until this whole pool thing is sorted out first.