Shephard nods. "Good," he says. "'Cause there's an awful lot of folks out there who got hurt mighty bad or got themselves killed when they were tryin' to clean a gun, or just put one away, and they thought it wasn't loaded. Even when they thought it was safe, that ain't always the case."

"You also got to make sure that if you got the weapon in hand, you do not put your finger here until you are prepared to fire," he adds, and indicates the trigger. "We're gonna go through what you got to do to prepare the rifle'n how you got to hold it when you shoot. Whether you're learnin' or out practicin' or usin' it for huntin' for real, finger stays off the trigger until it's time to shoot. You're a careful kid, so make that part of bein' careful and you'll do fine."