Gun writer and former Secret Service special agent Walter Rauch is credited with publicizing the importance of religiously checking the firing condition of your self-defense gun any time it has been out of your hands. I thought that this suggestion was so valuable that I printed up a pair of index cards with the reminder “Check Parts, Confirm Ammo.” Each double-sided card has a plastic hook attached to it. Every evening when I return home and secure my snubs and ammunition, I attach the hooks through the trigger guard and behind the trigger. In the morning when I retrieve the snubs, the hooks and cards remind me to “Check Parts, Confirm Ammo.” These cards are a simple device to help me develop the habit of reflexively checking my gun whenever it has been out of my hands or out of my sight.
R. Walter (Walt) Rauch November 9, 1938 – July 7, 2016
