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Cooper's Four Rules

Col. Jeff Cooper is often called the father of practical shooting. He started the Gunsite Academy for firearms training, among many other accomplishments. Below are his carefully designed rules (and commentary) for safe gun handling. Nobody who does not know these rules should touch a gun, much less tell anyone else how to handle a gun (legislators take note).
LEARN THESE RULES WELL!

RULE 1
ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again.

RULE 2
NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY
You may not wish to destroy it, but you must be clear in your mind that you are quite ready to if you let that muzzle cover the target. To allow a firearm to point at another human being is a deadly threat, and should always be treated as such.

RULE 3
KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
This we call the Golden Rule because its violation is responsible for about 80 percent of the firearms disasters we read about.

RULE 4
BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET
You never shoot at anything until you have positively identified it. You never fire at a shadow, or a sound, or a suspected presence. You shoot only when you know absolutely what you are shooting at and what is beyond it.

What is interesting is that none of these rules was obviously violated. The gun WAS loaded, and the employee knew it. He pointed it at the floor (it was a ricochet that hit the kid). According to him the slide slamming forward caused the round to fire (maybe, maybe not). And he didn't fire the weapon intentionally so #4 is not really the cause either. Interesting.

Obviously there is no good reason to load a handgun in a gun shop floor. Or if there is there are bright red plastic dummy rounds for just this purpose.

Comments?

KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

Actually, until you are good and ready to pull the trigger. Your finger should remain on the trigger guard until such time, even if your sights are on a legit target. If someone has a weapon in their hand that I want them to drop, they will be in my sights, but my finger won't be on the trigger.