[William Tell]

This was later reinforced in my concealed carry class when the teacher told us “All guns are always loaded.” Not “Treat every gun as if it were loaded”.

The safety rules as I practice them:

- Treat every gun as if it was loaded.
- Never aim the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
- Be sure of your target and what is around and beyond it.

You may notice that the rules as I follow them are all COMMANDS. Your version substitutes a statement of fact, "All guns are always loaded", for one of the commands.

In addition to eliminating the command, your statement of fact is FALSE. In your own posting you refer to "even an unloaded BB gun". Your statement of fact declares that there is no such thing. My command insists that you treat an unloaded BB gun as if it is loaded.

The point is:
Even if you KNOW that the gun is unloaded, treat it as loaded.
Even if you KNOW you are not going to fire, don't point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
Even if you KNOW that you will not inadvertantly pull the trigger, don't touch the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Even if you KNOW that you will hit your target, consider the risk to objects near or beyond that target.

[Drawsing]

In addition to eliminating the command, your statement of fact is FALSE.

Yes, of course I know it is false. The idea of saying "all guns are always loaded" even though we know that is not the case, is simply to put an extra psychological edge on the first rule of gun safety. I find it to be helpful. Others may think it is not.