“In the present circumstances, no one can afford to assume that someone else will solve their problems. Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient; we must become actively engaged.” - H.H. the Dalai Lama, The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom (Compass)
His Holiness is not just goofing on a scene in Blackhawk Down. He is, in fact, illustrating the universal value of Responsibility. There can be few human activities which call for greater individual responsibility than defensive gun use.
Range safety rules can be imposed, and overseen. Gun manufacturers can design mechanical safeties and do their best to engineer accidents out of their products. Legal council can provide user manuals full of cautionary advise and even - as Ruger owners know - engrave warnings right on the barrel.
But all of that is external to the individual gun user. The individual holding the gun bears total responsibility for his actions, and truly his trigger finger must be his safety.
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