I was pheasant hunting in Western North Dakota, once, and saw some birds in a guy’s tree row. I stopped by the farm house to inquire about whether he would allow me to hunt the trees. He invited me in. Seeing as it was nowheresville NoDak, he probably just wanted some company for a bit. No problem.
I stepped inside, and literally every surface except the floor and ceiling were covered in guns. Every wall. Every counter. The desk. The bathroom. Everywhere. Thousands upon thousands of guns.
He started giving me a tour of his collection. Handed me an old six shooter from the 1800s.
Now in my training, one always clears the gun, demonstrates that it is empty, and then you hand it to the next guy. He didn’t do that. So I asked,
“Is it loaded?”
“Of course it’s loaded. They’re all loaded. What use is a gun unless it’s loaded?”
Words to live by. If I have to club somebody with my .45 it will be because I've missed him eight times.
When you have that many guns, might as well have them all loaded, eliminates the delay searching for the ONE, their all shooters.
My great uncle was a large farmer in eastern North Dakota and whenever I visited his farmhouse as a kid there was a loaded gun under or behind every piece of furniture.
Well, that is Rule 1 of Cooper’s 4 Rules . . .
;-P