Every firearms range reminds folks about the rules of firearms safety, including keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction – and one video posted on X is an object lesson as to why.
For all the fun that one can have with firearms, it should always be kept in mind that these are items that can inflict serious injury – or death – on people, and this is a constitutional right that comes with great responsibilities attached and safety comes first, even on a day at the range. One video posted Monday on social media shows why it is important to keep this safety rule in mind.
The 57-second video shows two shooters operating an AR-15-style 12-gauge shotgun at a range. It starts with one shooter loading a round into the chamber getting ready to do some shooting – just a normal day at the shooting range, right?
This is why keeping your gun pointed in a safe direction is a must. Guns can malfunction, but your safety habits shouldn’t. pic.twitter.com/ylEawT4ZKd
— Gun Lovers Club (@GunloverClub1) June 1, 2026
Well, not this time, because when the charging handle is operated and the bolt moves forward to get the firearm into battery and ready to fire, the firearm discharges – even though the shooter’s finger is not on the trigger (in other words, they did not intend to fire the gun just yet). Houston, if the gun goes off when the trigger isn’t pulled, we have a serious firearms malfunction.
Fortunately, when the shotgun discharges, the first round seen in that video goes into the ground at about seven seconds into the video. It might have been better to have the gun pointed downrange, but in this case, the ground was soft enough to absorb the contents of the shotgun round instead of sending them all over the place.
The other shooter tries to operate the shotgun about four seconds later in the video – and the gun discharges again when the bolt is moved forward even though the second shooter’s finger is also not on the trigger, with this round going downrange. Now, here’s where the shooters’ common sense may have gone for a walk: There are two more iterations of the gun discharging when the bolt moves forward in the 57 seconds.
One discharge without a finger on the trigger can be explained by anything – but two such discharges indicates that in all likelihood, there is a serious problem with the firearm itself. These shooters should have been calling it a day for that firearm and making the appropriate arrangements with either their local gunsmith or the manufacturer – not trying twice more after two separate unintended discharges when the finger was off the trigger.
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