Which of the following statements is true?

• A. Check behind and beyond your target to be certain you have a safe backstop and that no person or property could be endangered.
• B. The most dangerous part of any gun is the trigger.
• C. When a rifle has its safety in the ON position, it is impossible for the gun to fire.
• D. Guns not in use should always be on safety, unloaded, and stored with the ammunition.

Answer: (A)

Always check behind and beyond your target to confirm a safe backstop and that no person or property could be endangered. This thinking matters because bullets don’t stop exactly at the edge of the target; they can miss, fragment, or ricochet, traveling far beyond what you intend. Knowing there’s a solid, safe area in every direction beyond the target is the most reliable safeguard against unintended injuries or damage.

The other statements give incomplete or misleading ideas about safety. Relying on the trigger as the most dangerous part oversimplifies risk—the firearm can discharge from other failures or handling mistakes, not just when the trigger is pulled. Assuming that a safety in the ON position makes firing impossible is incorrect because safeties can fail or be bypassed, and not all guns behave the same way. And safe storage isn’t correctly described by keeping the gun on safety and storing it with ammunition; best practice is unloaded storage with ammunition kept separate, and the firearm secured.