City of St. George, Utah :: Firearm Safety

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175 East 200 North

St. George, UT 84770

(435) 627-4000

March 20, 2010

Police Department 200 East 265 North St. George, UT 84770 (435) 634-5000
Animal Control 605 East Skyline Dr. St. George, UT 84770 (435) 634-5829
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Firearm Safety
Deputy Chief Russell Peck

As police officers, one very important aspect of our job is firearm safety. We constantly train to maintain and improve our firearm skills. We are around firearms every single day and wear our pistols as part of our "tool belt" to defend ourselves and others should the need arise. We adhere to basics when it comes to firearms safety. We rely on the following firearms safety rules and go over these basics consistently. They are:

Treat all guns as if they were loaded.
Point the muzzle in a safe direction and don't cross anything with your muzzle that you are not willing to destroy -the laser rule.
Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you are on target and have made the decision to fire.
Be sure of your target and what's behind it.

When I was ten years old, I persuaded my Father to let me unload his shotgun after a pheasant hunting expedition in the fields next to our home. All my family was gathered around in our living room. I did observe the laser rule and the gun was pointed to the ceiling. As I jacked out the first shell, my finger was on the trigger and as I chambered another round, the gun went off. Booooooom! I blew a nice hole in the ceiling and remember watching in disbelief as the insulation fell through the hole. My Father grabbed the gun from my bewildered hands. Whoops! Thank goodness nobody was hurt or killed. It was an important lesson to me. Violate one of the basic safety rules and bad things can happen.

I've been a police officer for 19 years. I've seen bullet wounds to the living and the dead too many times. Every police officer has throughout the course of their career. It is an ugly sight. I've also seen many accidents happen that could have been disastrous, but fate was kind -like my own example. There is no such thing as an accidental discharge. We call any kind of unintentional firing of a weapon a negligent discharge. With firearm ownership comes a great responsibility.

Another important aspect is the storage of firearms. Firearms should be stored securely -another basic rule. This could be in a gun safe, with a gun lock, or any other method to keep them safe and secure and away from children who are naturally curious. We even provide free gun locks for those that are interested at the St. George Police Department. Keep ammunition secure and preferably in a separate location from the stored firearms. Keeping firearms secured also takes away the opportunity for theft. Unfortunately, firearm theft is far too common in our area. Please secure your firearms.

The shooting sports can be a lot of fun. To many people, firearms and shooting are common events in our "neck of the woods." But again, we have a great responsibility to ourselves and others to so in the safest manner possible. Please take that responsibility seriously. It literally can mean the difference between life and death. Please be safe out there, and always be aware of the basic rules of handling firearms safely.

  Sunbrook | SG. Golf Club
  Red Hills | Southgate
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