In our hunter safety classes, we try to instill the thought that a muzzle is never ever pointed at another individual regardless of the state of the firearm (loaded or unloaded, closed action or broken open). To safely violate this, the carrier has to keep asking himself whether a unit is loaded or not and have absolute confidence in the safety and sear if it is. The person in front of the muzzle obviously has to put his life to the hands of the carrier.
I can not envision the day that I would tell a student it was OK to point a muzzle my way as long as the arm was unloaded. I've been around about 4 unloaded arms that went off. Fortunately, they were all oriented safely.
I see the practice arising from two issues. 1) being to damn lazy to practice safe firearms handling, and 2) a complete lack of respect for the people looking down the muzzle.
Anyone who handles arms in that manner around me, will find themselves walking alone in short order. There are any number of carries one can employ, regardless of the marching formation, that will not endanger those around you. If one is going to pursue game in those environements, he should have enough conditioning to haul a 10 or 12 lb unit. One never sees them carrying anything else except binocs. Maybe they should come to north America, strap on an additional gear pack, survival gear, lunch, and water, and go climb a mountain in the snow. Just my rant, 1Minute
