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Here is my answer to your question, and I say it without a trace of malice.... ....Pay Attention!

About 14 years ago, I had a negligent discharge with my .44 magnum, in my bedroom. It happened because I thought I had emptied the cylinder before trying out the single action let-off on the trigger. I opened the cylinder, dumped the rounds into my hand, and thought to myself, "yeah, that looks like six." I pointed the barrel toward the ceiling, right next to my left ear (I'm left handed) and started cocking and dry-firing the pistol. That worked fine 3 or 4 times, but not so well on the next one.

I shot a hole in the ceiling, and deafened myself for the next couple of weeks.

Praise Jesus nobody got hurt. But ever since then, I've been a fanatic about making sure the pistol I'm picking up is either loaded, or unloaded, according to my purpose. An embarrassing lesson taught me to pay attention. The most important safety on any of my guns is the one between my ears.