I can remember, believe it or not, when I was 4, being told, “Don’t point. It’s not polite.”

Really, I am not writing this to brag about my memory. The thing is I was not much older when I was taught not to point a gun.

I have written before about gun safety and pointing guns. I should not have to repeat it. I should not have to say anything about it at all. Once a month, it should be repeated on TV. It cannot be repeated too much.

My three safety rules on guns:

1. Assume all guns are loaded until proven otherwise
2. Assume all guns are loaded, period.
3. Do not point a gun at anyone you do not intend to shoot.

Since I posted those three rules last, I’ve added two more. First, make sure there is no one behind anyone you are aiming at. You might miss and hit the one beyond your target. Moreover, the bullet can go through you target and hit the one behind. Actually, it is something of an extension of rule 3. Finally, don’t shoot unless you are in danger. Do not shoot to protect someone else unless you are ready to go to prison for it. I guess it is sort of that way if you are in danger. You might still end up in jail but, at least you’ll still be alive.

It is a fact, if you shoot someone or if you shoot at someone and you can’t come up with a good reason, there is a good probability that you will go to jail.

As a side note: even if you are completely justified, it is something that will stay with you the rest of your life.

You might wonder why I brought up the subject. That actor is again saying it was an accident. He is pleading not-guilty because he didn’t pull the trigger. It doesn’t matter. He pointed the gun at the woman. Moreover, though he was told the gun was safe, he never checked it. (Rule 1)

I believe he should be convicted and go to prison. He’ll be lucky it will be just 18 months. Fact is, even if the gun never went off, he should still get a good hand slap for pointing the gun at the woman.

I did find it interesting that the defense attorney said that he was handed a prop gun. If I were the persecuting attorney, if appropriate, I would have objected. The gun he was handed was not a prop. it was a real gun with at least one real live bullet in it. The fact that it was used as a prop did not change that.