Firearms Stack Exchange Archive

What is trigger discipline?

• posted by: Nick Chammas on 2012-02-17
• tagged: gun-safety, terminology
• score: 4

Every once in a while someone will post a funny picture to reddit that somehow involves a firearm, and there are always a few comments that mention “trigger discipline”. A quick search yields no authoritative definition of the phrase, so I wonder:

• What is trigger discipline?

• What are all the rules of good trigger discipline?

Answer 1059

• posted by: Ray J on 2012-02-17
• score: 10

Trigger discipline is the safety protocol that dictates that your finger is off the trigger and away from the trigger guard when your sights are off target and you are not ready to fire.

Sympathetic muscle contraction, startle response, and poor trigger discipline all lead to negligent discharges.

Being off target and not ready to engage while one’s finger is close to or on the trigger shows poor firearms handling and a cavalier attitude towards safety.

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