When you have an air gun, it is your job to know how to safely handle the weapon. Yes it's a weapon, since today's airguns pack so much power. It’s for your own welfare, as well as the welfare of those around you.
One thing to remember, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is to read the owner’s manual before using the air gun. Knowing how to properly use and care for your weapon is beneficial to you and it ensures that your air gun will not be misused or mishandled. Just because you have previously owned another air gun, or had experience with one, it is not a reason for you to assume you know everything. Different models have different features; it’s best that you know these features before you fire your gun. Even if you bought the same brand and model as your previous air gun, it still wouldn’t hurt to reread the owner’s manual in order to refresh your memory about the proper handling and care of the air gun. This will guarantee that you have fun when you go airgun shooting.
Whatever the case, knowing how to properly handle the gun and taking the necessary precautions to avoid accidents is important when you own an air gun. You can never be too careful when it comes to anything that can potentially do harm.
One thing to remember, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is to read the owner’s manual before using the air gun. Knowing how to properly use and care for your weapon is beneficial to you and it ensures that your air gun will not be misused or mishandled. Just because you have previously owned another air gun, or had experience with one, it is not a reason for you to assume you know everything. Different models have different features; it’s best that you know these features before you fire your gun. Even if you bought the same brand and model as your previous air gun, it still wouldn’t hurt to reread the owner’s manual in order to refresh your memory about the proper handling and care of the air gun. This will guarantee that you have fun when you go airgun shooting.
- When you’re off shooting, select an area where no one would be hurt from missed shots or a place where no one would suddenly run through the place you’re shooting. If there is a firing range, that's usually the best place to shoot since the the place is designed for shooting practicing with safety features installed.
- If you have to set up your own targets, check if there’s something behind it that could catch the pellet or BB in case you miss your target. Also make sure that if you’re firing into a wall, for example a wooden wall, your shot wouldn’t penetrate the wood and hurt someone or break something inside.
- If you think that shooting into water or any hard surface is safe, think again. Two outcomes of shooting at these are: one, the pellet gets embedded into the hard surface or enters the water, which are obviously safe outcomes; or two, the pellet ricochets and hits someone, it could be you, it could be someone else, but the point is it ricochets and has the potential to hurt somebody.
- When handling your air gun, always point the barrel at the ground. Never underestimate your airgun. It is a real weapon, so you should treat it as such.
- Don’t always assume that just because you put the safety on that the air gun won’t misfire. Accidents can happen and the safety could malfunction. Never abandon proper handling because you rely too much on the safety.
- Finally when storing your air gun, keep it out of the reach of children. Children should be taught that air guns are not toys and that they should be treated with respect.
- To prevent a child from mishandling the air gun, it should be placed somewhere the child could not get to like a locked cabinet. Do not think that just because you placed your gun on top of a shelf means that it’s safe from a child. Children are very inventive when they want something and they can always find ways to get to that thing.
- Also, to prevent other injuries, unload your air gun before storing it away. You might forget that it’s loaded and hurt yourself, or someone could accidentally fire it and get hurt.
Whatever the case, knowing how to properly handle the gun and taking the necessary precautions to avoid accidents is important when you own an air gun. You can never be too careful when it comes to anything that can potentially do harm.