Gun safety

Gun safety is the study and practice of managing risk when using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms, airguns and ammunition in order to avoid injury, illness or death.

Gun safety includes the training of users, the design of firearms, as well as the formal and informal regulation of gun production, distribution, and usage. This includes mishaps like accidental discharge, negligent discharge, and firearm malfunctions, as well as secondary risks like hearing loss, lead poisoning from bullets, and pollution from other hazardous materials in propellants and cartridges.

Accidental explosions of stored gunpowder date to the 13th century in Yangzhou, China. Early handheld muskets using matchlock or wheel lock mechanisms were limited by poor reliability and the risk of accidental discharge, which was improved somewhat by the introduction of the flintlock, though unintentional firing continued to be a serious drawback. Percussion caps, introduced in the 1820s, were more reliable, and by 1830 security pins had been designed to prevent accidental discharges.

Trigger guards, grip safeties and integrated trigger safety represent further iterations on the various safeties built into modern firearms to prevent discharge from dropping, or without positive and deliberate manipulation of the trigger.

As mechanical reliability improved, human error became a more significant cause of harm. In 1902, the English politician and game shooting enthusiast Mark Hanbury Beaufoy wrote some much-quoted verses on gun safety, known as "A Father's Advice" or "The Beaufoy Verses" meant to instill safe practices in his son. Various similar sayings have since been popularized.

There were 47,000 unintentional firearm deaths worldwide in 2013.

Most firearm safety relates to management of human factors. This includes training to mitigate unsafe handling, as well as restricting physical access to firearms by untrained or unfit persons (such as unsupervised children). Handling practices and doctrines necessarily vary between use cases with additional mechanical and procedural mitigations implemented as required.

Environmental hazards such as lead exposure and noise pollution are managed via shooting range design, maintenance procedures, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).