I was recently looking through some photographs of a recent home defense style class when I saw this:
The problem in the photo should be readily apparent. While looking at, and reaching for the door knob, the shooter is muzzling his hand with his pistol. Couple this with the fact that the shooter’s finger barely outside and above the trigger guard and you have the potential for a HUGE problem.
You have to remember when you are doing non-shooting tasks with a firearm in your hand that you have to be hyper vigilant of where the muzzle of your firearm is pointed aka stay muzzle aware. It’s human nature for our hands to orient towards where we are looking/manipulating an item. This situation could be encountered when opening doors, picking up a child, or a million other tasks.
In order to avoid being like the guy in the photo, stay muzzle aware and try not to get sucked into a bad situation.
And remember; unless you absolutely have to do it; searching a building by yourself is fucking stupid.