[Glenn E. Meyer]

I always regarded Cooper's rules as easy mnemonics devices as compared to absolutes.

They are :

1.All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2.Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
3.Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
4.Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.

But I view them as:

1. Don't shoot the wrong thing and here's ways you can do it.

a. You forget the gun is loaded and pull the trigger
b. You pointed it at something you shouldn't shoot but you pulled the trigger
c. You accidentally or stupidly pulled the trigger at the wrong time.
d. You shot the wrong thing as you didn't know what you were shooting at you shot the right thing but your round zipped through it.