SAFETY FIRST WHEN HANDLING FIREARMS

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January 28, 2013 - 12:00 AM

Sheriff’s department hosts concealed handgun carry class

Possessions are not worth putting your life in danger, was a lesson learned in Saturday’s concealed handgun carry class.
Sheriff Bryan Murphy and master deputy Tim Beckham of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department led about 20 participants in the class that taught handgun safety.
Kansas allows open carry, meaning firearms may be openly carried in cars without any license, except where local counties have made open carry illegal, such as Wichita’s Sedgwick County. The 2006 Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, which allows a citizen the right to obtain a concealed handgun permit, makes the holder exempt from all local open carry bans within the state. Usually a license will arrive in the mail within 90 days, but Beckham said recently it has been taking about 120 days because of the high influx of citizens taking the class.
Allen Countians came out for their licenses for many different reasons, but the common denominator was for safety, whether personal or for their families.
The key to owning and carrying a gun, Beckham and Murphy agreed, is to feel comfortable with its operation through practice. A gun owner should always be an expert with their guns.
“If you never prepare, you will never react. The way you prepare will be the way you respond,” Murphy said.
Knowledge is essential to a minimal or full elimination of accidents.
“This is not the Wild West anymore,” Beckham said. “You can’t just go around shooting people up. It is a different day and time.”
Beckham and Murphy suggest practicing at a gun range or at home to get comfortable with holding and handling the gun. The gun range allows for gun owners to shoot their gun. Murphy says never carry a gun you have never shot.
There are safety regulations that must be followed when handling a firearm. The first rule is to “always assume (the guns) are loaded,” Murphy said. “There won’t be any surprises if you do.”
A lot of the rules of firearms fall under common sense. For example, making sure not to point the barrel at a person or animal that you don’t intend to destroy and to make sure you are aware of where your target is and the surrounding areas.
Know what kind of firearm you have and the type of bullet the gun takes and what you are willing to shoot.
Murphy said if the sole mission of carrying a handgun is for home protection then hollow point bullets are the best, “not ball ammo, it will go through walls.”
Another important factor to firearm ownership is its storage. Guns should be out of children’s reach.
There are many options for storage. The best option, Murphy said, is a safe with a secure lock, but it is also impractical if there is a late-night intruder.
“Combination locks, in the heat of the passion, are not so goo

d,” Murphy said.
The best option would be a safe with a fingerprint lock. There are safes that can record up to 200 fingerprints, Beckham said.
Keeping a gun on top of nightstand is not a safe way to store a firearm.
“Putting your gun in a drawer is the beginning steps to responsible care,” Beckham said.
In addition to keeping guns away from children in the home, Kansas law does not permit concealed handguns to be within school zones or bars.
“I don’t think I can emphasize it enough, if it has to do with schools don’t do it, just like with bars, don’t bring your gun into bars. Lock your guns up in a secure place,” Beckham said.

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