A safety area is a term from the

shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airgun ...

describing a bay with a safe direction where shooters can handle unloaded

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s without the supervision of a Range Officer (RO). Safety areas are widely used in dynamic shooting sport disciplines (e.g. IPSCIPSC 2015 Combined Rules, Rule Section 2.4 Safety Areas
/ref> and PPC 1500), and may for example be used to pack, unpack or

holster A handgun holster is a device used to hold or restrict the undesired movement of a handgun, most commonly in a location where it can be easily withdrawn for immediate use. Holsters are often attached to a belt or waistband, but they may be att ...

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

, cleaning or repair,

dry firing Dry firing is the practice of simulating the discharge of a firearm without any live ammunition, or practicing with an inert laser/infrared training platform and may also include the use of a target/feedback system. The terms also commonly re ...

and training with empty

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s. The handling of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

is expressly prohibited within the safety area, including any

dummy round A dummy round or drill round is a round that is completely inert, i.e., contains no primer, propellant, or explosive charge. It is used to check weapon function, and for crew training. Dummy ammunition is distinct from "practice" ammunition, w ...

s. Outside the safety area ammunition can be handled freely to load magazines, but firearms may only be handled under the direct supervision of a Range Officer. This strict separation of firearms and ammunition prevents accidents like

accidental discharge An unintentional discharge is the event of a firearm discharging (firing) at a time not intended by the user. An unintended discharge may be produced by an incompatibility between firearm design and usage, such as the phenomenon of cooking off a ...

(AD). Violators will be prosecuted as a rule, with immediate disqualification and exclusion from the competition.

References

Shooting sports {{shooting-sport-stub