When did people start teaching trigger discipline?

[puffer]

I'm 73 years old and have been shooting all of my life. I remember clearly my earliest instruction included the admonition, "keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot". Trigger discipline has been around that long for me.

I be a "young 67 +++++ & DITTO !!!

Puffer

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[varob]

I'm guessing that trigger safety was invented shortly after the first AD.

[OD*]

I'm guessing that trigger safety was invented shortly after the first AD.

That is probably the best answer yet.

When did people start teaching trigger discipline?

I think it's been around a long time. A person's age, perception, the length of ones involvement in the shooting sports, their knowledge of it's history, their training, all play a part. There are several picture threads running on the M1911.ORG forum dealing with the model M1911/M1911A1s used in the world wars, any number of them show servicemen with their trigger finger indexed along side the slide, and many are shown with their fingers on the trigger. There is an ad running on the History Channel hawking a disc set about WWII, in one scene, it clearly shows a GI trotting across a street during a fire-fight with his finger along side the slide and the hammer cocked. Many think carrying "cocked & locked" is a fairly modern phenomenon, invented by Col. Jeff Cooper, it isn't, he did greatly popularize it, but it has been a form of a carry since at least the 1920's by southwestern lawdogs (Texas Rangers Charlie Miller & Joaquin Jackson to name just a couple) and many other gun savvy pistoleros. Many, many people think the "high thumb" hold in pistol shooting is relatively new, it too isn't anything truly modern. Pick up the old book (1st pub. 1930) "Shooting" by J. Henry "Fitz" FitzGerald, you'll find many pictures of shooters using a "high thumb" hold with 1911s and revolvers. There really is very little "new under the sun," just different packaging.

[cmdrdredd]

For me I knew about guns, but my father owned none. My grandfather was an avid hunter and had a few long guns and some BB Guns he taught me to shoot. Generally speaking I mostly learned from personal experience with the weapons. I don't recall much in the way of rules except that I couldn't touch them except if I asked and was supervised. Up until I was old enough to safely handle them myself (the BB guns that is). Once I got into purchasing my own weapons I joined the NRA and took a CCW class and made the rules of gun safety my life so to speak.

[peckman28]

My Grandfather taught me too keep my finger off the trigger until I was ready to shoot when I was a kid. I think the idea has been around about as long as firearms have, as someone else indicated.