Leadership Role Concerning Weapons Safety

Leadership Concerning Weapons Safety

If you are in a business that requires a weapon then your role as a leader is monumental!

There is the term Accidental Discharge used in the weapons arena but in my opinion there is no such thing as an accidental discharge. A weapon has to be loaded and the trigger must be pulled to allow the hammer to fall forward striking the firing pin which ignites the round in the chamber. This has not been done by accident, ignorance of weapons handling, carelessness or poor to non existent training is the real reasons.

Leadership has to ensure documented training on every associate to ensure they have provided sufficient training. I have had to conduct numerous investigations in my life, some that caused death and the facts are astronomical that training was insufficient. It’s amazing how the person that slipped through the cracks and missed training will often be the person that causes an incident.

Leaders should constantly challenge their team on weapons safety. The number one question I ask after each string of live fire training is did you put the weapon on safe? Add some stress to the situation and watch the numbers increase until sufficient training has been conducted.

A few area’s I recommend are to have the weapons handler explain the nomenclature of their weapon,  safety features, loading and unloading, immediate action and the definition of deadly force.

The leader’s role concerning weapons safety never ceases, it is a daily task that has to be taken dead serious as if you fail to do so then the results could quite easily be the loss of life. Check your training records, go in the field and discuss safety so everyone realizes the extreme importance of weapons safety, you will feel more comfortable, I guarantee it.

You don’t want to ever look back and ask yourself, did I provide proper training and if so the incident could have been avoided.