Another crop of firearm enthusiasts have undergone the mandatory safety course, this one offered by Ponoka Fish and Game at Lake Pofianga, March 23.
“We’re teaching Canadian firearms safety gun course,” said Fish and Game publicity director Robert Greene. “ACTS and PROVE is what it amounts to.”
Both nationally accepted acronyms cover the general and most important parts of gun safety and, along with hands on learning and firearm handling, were the focus of the course.
ACTS stands for Assume every firearm is loaded, Control the muzzle direction at all times, Trigger finger must be kept off the trigger and out of the trigger guard and See that the firearm is unloaded.
PROVE means Point the firearm in the safest available direction, Remove all cartridges, Observe the chamber, Verify the feeding path and Examine the bore for obstructions.
Although once offered together, the March 23 course pertained only to non-restricted firearms, leaving the restricted firearms course for another time. “We usually only teach them when we get a demand,” said Greene.
“Handguns are the restricted course,” he added. Non-restricted firearms cover rifles and shotguns; the long guns.
“There’s a lot more restrictions on hand guns than there is on long guns,” explained Greene, who added it was the federal government that decided the two different courses were needed.
Of the approximate 27 registrants of the course, many were younger men and women, and the group itself was larger than what Ponoka Fish and Game cater to. “Every once in a while, we get an influx, the next generation comes on land,” said Greene.