Language is a strange device. Lord only knows how many weird phrases we learned as children. You know, useful stuff like, “You’d better watch your p’s and q’s,” or, “He’s the spittin’ image of his father.”

Many phrases grew out of simpler times. “Spitting image” evolved from the phrase of someone representing the “spirit and image” of a parent or other ancestor.

A common phrase that mystifies many folks is the admonition not to go off “half-cocked.” Although I had the impression that going off half-cocked was a bad idea, I never really gave much thought as to why being half-cocked was undesirable until last weekend, when I sat in on a hunter safety class sponsored by Bass Pro Shops in Manteca.

I took my first hunter safety course with my brother when we were kids. It was required if you wanted to get a hunting license, and we were taught the basics of gun safety. A decade or so later, as part of Big Brothers of America, I again attended hunter safety classes to accompany my “little brother,” Billy, so he and I could go hunting together. Some techniques changed, but the basic message remained constant; Safety, safety, safety.

A decade or so ago, my son and I attended hunter safety classes at the Ripon High School rifle range. Can you imagine that? A rifle range at a high school! Amazingly enough, there have been no mass killings in Ripon and those evil guns don’t seem to have made Ripon a terrible place. Ripon may well be one of the safest towns in the valley despite all our guns.

For Christmas, I signed up my son-in law, Jonathan, for hunter safety classes at Bass Pro, and there was a six-month waiting list. I thought it would be interesting to see what sort of newfangled teaching aids were now being used to teach the old message of gun safety. I envisioned PowerPoint presentations, laser simulators and other state-of-the-art goodies.

Guess what? We got to sit at tables and study illustrated comic books and learn: Safety, safety, safety. There was no high-tech stuff at all. The course now includes sections on archery safety and even instruction on safety with muzzle-loading guns that shoot black powder.

Students handled all sorts of guns to familiarize themselves with their safe use. There were young boys eager to become hunters like their dads and teen girls who wanted to hunt with their boyfriends. There were single women who’d never held a gun and retired men who wanted to take up shooting for the first time.

We learned how to safely handle every sort of gun imaginable, how to check the action to see that a gun is empty and then memorized the eternal rule that you treat every gun as if it’s always loaded, to be sure of your backstop behind your target, and how to carry your gun with the muzzle pointing in a safe direction.

We also learned that with the old cowboy-style single-action revolver and some models of lever-action rifles, some folks would pull back the hammer to a half-cocked position and think the gun was safe to carry. Hence, the phrase, “to go off half-cocked.”

The problem is that a gun at half-cock can fire if it’s dropped or something strikes the hammer. I had a farmer friend who carried a break-action shotgun on his tractor while working his orchards. Somehow, the gun fell and the hammer hit a tire lug, which fired the shotgun into his guts. Doctors at an emergency room were unable to save him, and he suffered for several hours before he died.

There are 80 million gun owners in the United States, and each year there are fewer than 1,500 accidental gun deaths. By contrast, there are more than 120,000 accidental deaths each year caused by physician mistakes. Neither figure is acceptable.

We must constantly keep on guard to avoid accidents so our lives can be safe. Gun owners suffer from the same problems as physicians: They come from the human race. We make mistakes.

Hunter safety has achieved remarkable success. Even if you don’t hunt, you should consider taking an NRA-approved hunter safety course.

Firing a round of sporting clays is sort of like playing golf with a shotgun. You shoot from different angles and distances. Target shooting is a great challenge, and even plinking cans with a .22 is just plain fun. Hunting will get you closer to nature and the family members with whom you hunt.

But the most important part of all is to do it safely. Don’t go off half-cocked.

Until next week, Tight Lines.

• To comment on this week’s Tight Lines, forward messages to Sports Editor Ike Dodson at 239-6351, ext .306, or e-mail ike@sunpost.net.