Shooting Safety – I Shoot 22

Safety First – Shooting 22 Caliber Is No Different From Any Other Firearm!

Some of you might ask – why say such a thing? Or more succinctly DUH!
Let’s hope everybody says this! However, it seems to me our wonderful little 22 caliber firearms tend to be plagued with an inferiority complex.

They are underpowered.

They have no “stopping power”

They are rimfire, not centerfire

If you search on the subject, you will be hard-pressed to find any real issues with the “lowly” 22. That said, most of the self-defense crowd will go on for hours about 9mm vs 45 vs 38 vs 380. The 22 rarely gets a kind word. Should it? Probably not.

For most of the reasons above, I do not think it is wise to depend on a 22 cal firearm for self defense in most cases. For those individuals who simply cannot hope to fire a larger gun, the 22 may be their only valid choice. It is better than nothing and I doubt if anyone looking down the barrel of a gun stopped to ask what caliber it is before deciding what action to take or abort.

The whole point of this post is simply to remind us all that while it may not be the mightiest firearm, it still deserves respect. After all it’s been documented that a 22 has killed bears, even elephants so there! Even if you don’t have any rogue elephants roaming around in your back yard today, keep in mind the four rules of firearms even applies to the 22.

Four rules firearms

- - Always Keep Firearm Pointed in a Safe direction. Never point your gun at anything you do not intend to shoot. …
  - Treat All Guns as Though They are Loaded. …
  - Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger until You are Ready to Shoot. …
  - Always Be Sure of Your Target and What’s Beyond It.

To the above, I also suggest you always wear safety glasses (or goggles, as I must) to protect your eyes. This is especially important when shooting 22 because it is not considered a long range round so the common distance for most practice is 25 yards. The closer you are to the target, the less distance there is for something to comeback at you.

In addition, I recommend ear protection. Sure, 22s are not nearly as loud as other rounds but they still make plenty of noise – enough to damage your ears, so do it right, follow the four rules and use eye and ear protection.

Welcome to I Shoot 22!

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re all about shooting .22 caliber ammunition. Why 22? Because shooting is fun and 22 is cheap!

You can get more practice and more practice helps you shoot better.

We’re just getting started but you can expect to see posts on shooting, guns, gear, and accessories. We’re not above selling something or getting paid by linking to an affiliate but that’s not our focus. All we really wanna do is have some fun.

WRONG! Just WRONG!

Please do NOT do this at home… or at the range… or ANYWHERE ELSE!

For those of you who are new to shooting or live under some rock…

1. That fellow facing us (PLEASE do NOT tell me he is an “instructor”) should not be downrange.
2. The girl with the gun (BB, pellet, or firearm – it does not matter) should NOT be pointing it downrange when someone is in front of her.
3. The fellow should ABSOLUTELY NOT walk in front of the muzzle of this weapon.
4. The shooter has now eye protection
5. Neither party has any visible ear protection

There is probably more wrong with this but I’ll leave it to you sharp-eyed readers to add anything more.

Granted, she may have an airgun in her hands. As such ear protection is not as crucial but I contend it is still a good idea for a couple of reasons.

As one forum posted – once lost, you cannot get your hearing back!

The second reason is the same for all those who might be shaking their heads in disagreement, assuming this is indeed an airgun range – bad habits die hard.

Whatever else, this girl is shooting and safety rules for shooting should always be observed.

If you are in the habit of shooting without ear and eye protection you might “forget” when handling more dangerous weapons.

If you are in the habit of ignoring safe weapon handling practices, you are setting yourself up for potential disaster.

One of the most important aspects of any endeavor is muscle memory or practicing something until your body does something without thinking. Muscle memory works just as effectively with bad practices as with good.

Finally, please keep in mind that most “accidents” with firearms seem to happen with unloaded weapons. At least this is the excuse I see most often:

“I didn’t know it was loaded.”

We don’t know if the girl in the gif had a loaded weapon or not. It shouldn’t matter. EVERY such weapon should be ALWAYS treated as if it were loaded.

Virginia Gun Safety Devices Tax Credits

I just came across this. As I am NOT a “tax professional” I’ll explain this as best I understand it in (hopefully) plain English.

If you live in Virginia, pay income taxes, and bought or plan on buying some sort of gun safety device – such as a trigger lock or a gun safe, you could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $300. Okay, so details…

Let’s start with the “UP TO” part. The legislature has capped the total amount of credits allowed at $5 million dollars. These are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis so file early because once that $5 mil is gone, no more credits!

How do you qualify for the full $300? Spend at least $300 on gun safety devices. This can be one or more items. If you file jointly, the other taxpayer can also qualify for a credit. Now does this mean you can go in together on a gun safe? I don’t know. At first I thought not but after reading the code again, well, it really doesn’t say. Personally, I think they just might allow it but I won’t know for sure unless someone puts this to the test.

Understand, you won’t get a dime if you don’t owe any Virginia income tax.

Now when I came across this, it specified the year 2023 so if you didn’t buy something last year, too bad – right? Think again. I had to dig a bit but according to the Code of Virginia this tax credit will be available up to and including the tax year 2027. (It ends Jan 1, 2028 so I’m guessing it won’t apply for the 2028 tax year.)

One other thing you should note – the gun safety devise must be purchased from a federally licensed gun dealer (FFL) so be sure you’re not buying one off the back of some dude’s truck!

If you’ve looked into this at all, you know this stuff can run into quite a bit of money. Even if you can’t spring for that “21 gun safe” you’ve been drooling over this year, any trigger locks, smaller handgun safes for your home and car, etc. all qualify and they add up. Save your receipts. Hand them all over to your tax pro. You can print out the pages from the links above if you like or just bookmark this post.

All said, I highly recommend purchasing as much gun safe as you can afford. Even in this rural area, houses have been burglarized. Not only that but there are lots of thefts of guns left in automobiles reported every year. Even a cheaper safe can prevent a thief from stealing your weapon as thieves are typically lazy critters who prefer easy targets with no work involved. seeing your safe attached to something solid by a thick cable is likely to thwart their “efforts”. Worst case, you can at least demonstrate to the insurance company that you made efforts to prevent the theft.

Note and disclaimer here: all safes pictured here are from Dean Safe in CA of all places. These links are NOT affiliated links and I receive NOTHING for linking to them here. It is for your convenience only and while I do believe Dean Safe to be a good company offering decent products, I have no basis from which to endorse any of their products.