My dad was a hunter safety instructor for 35 years, I sat thru that course every year since I was eight years old till I graduated from college. Every year I would hear him talk about the most important rule, and what that rule was. Since I have been handling firearms, I have been priveledged to witness negligent discharges on several occasions and every time the reason there was no disaster was because that rule was followed, almost to the letter. I say almost, because there would be no AD(accidental) or NG(negligent discharge if it had been followed to the letter.oh yess that most important rule....
Treat every firearm like a loaded firearm and never point it in the direction of anything that you do not want to destroy.

might well start with the most recent. I bought a Thompson Center Scout from an online auction. when I received it, i could hardly wait to shoot it, the bore was spotless and the brass furniture was bright and the blueing dark and lustrous. I was in my shop with my dogs, preparing for the maiden voyage, proceeded to pop a few caps to dry the nipple prior to loading. Caps are not very loud, but out of courtesey to the dogs, I stepped out onto the deck and pointed it down range and dry fired it..........you guessed it, the nimrod that had sold it to me shipped it loaded!. Not kidding. My encore muzzle loader instructions start with "drop the ramrod down the barrel and listen for the matalic clunk of the ramrod tip against the breech" definitely a prudent suggestion.

Unbelievable, but then, in reality, very believable. Impossible to escape from the human element that is, inherently as explained in The Bible, very failure prone, to say the least.

My background is LE and related tactical stuff, and I suspect I've been in the presence of close to a million rounds being fired. I've seen lots of silence when the guns hould have gone "BANG", and lots of BANG when the gun should have gone "CLICK".

Jeff Cooper's four "Gunsite Firearms Safety Rules" is still the the best practice when it comes to gun handling in any setting - simple, complete and concise. Of course, there's some discussion that must address the application of these rules, but it's not tedious by any means. I've taught it to Boy Scouts who have no problem following it to the letter.

1. All guns are always loaded.

2. Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.

3. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until your sights are on the target.

4. Always be sure of your target.

Compare the above to the "Safety Rules" ususally posted at most civilian and military ranges. It's like trying to memorize the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, and its no wonder people can't grasp a practical method of safe gun handling.