One of the four primary rules of firearm safety is:

• A. Treat every firearm with the respect due a loaded gun.
• B. Always keep your finger on the trigger.
• C. Point the muzzle at people nearby.
• D. Load the firearm to check function.

Answer: (A)

Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. This mindset establishes a constant safety habit: you assume there could be a round in the chamber every time you handle a firearm, so you handle it with extra care. That assumption guides you to always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and to keep your finger off the trigger until you’ve made the decision to shoot. The other statements would steadily increase risk: keeping your finger on the trigger invites an unintentional discharge; pointing the muzzle at people nearby creates a serious danger; and loading a firearm just to check its function is unsafe because you’re introducing live ammunition into handling under uncertain conditions. In practice, you verify the firearm is safe by unloading it and inspecting the chamber and magazine, while maintaining a safe muzzle direction and keeping your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.