Is it me (probably) or are forum posters scary?

[jaykellogg]

Regarding folks who shouldn't own firearms, I would agree that violent felons and mentally ill shouldn't (and aren't) be allowed. Most folks are pretty green when they start. I have come to believe if you aren't willing to take the time to learn to handle a gun you should leave them alone.

A long time ago a coworker asked me what kind of gun his sister should get. She managed a convenience store in a semi bad area and had been robbed. The Police had advised her to arm herself. Of course, there is no correct answer in a situation like that, but i suggested a 1911 in a pancake holster. My logic ran along the lines of once the neighborhood knew she was armed the robbers would go elsewhere. The local police had offered the use of their range. She went to a LGS and the dealer sold her a .32 revolver. She kept it under the counter near the register and later it was stolen in a burglary. She should have either gotten a better firearm and some good instruction or she should have passed.

My neighbor has a sister who wanted a gun. She was an older lady. She had witnessed a purse snatching and she wanted to be able to intervene. I told her that once the thief had the purse in his hands there was nothing she could legally do. If she shot him she may get in trouble. She said she wanted to hold him for Police. I informed her that the law doesn't allow that and she might be arrested for kidnapping. He gave his sister a pistol and I gave her a gun lock so her grandchildren wouldn't get hurt.

A fellow related a hunting story to me. He was hunting in a powerline cut with a lever gun. His father was dressing a deer nearby and someone took a shot at him. There were several shots and they tore up the ground on either side. His father shouted "Leon, you're shooting too close". He replied that it wasn't him doing the shooting but he was being shot at. His father said "Did you shoot back?" He then took several shots at a speck on the far hill and the shooting stopped. I believe someone had a high power rifle with a powerful scope and was bored with hunting.This person was just shooting to scare him. I see a lot of signs damaged by bullets and I might agree that someone who would shoot at road signs should have the gun taken away.

Regarding rookie mistakes, I am happy to offer advice to avoid them as I have made my fair share. As long as someone is willing to listen to advice.

 

[Roadtrash]

Yeah, you have to be careful when you carry and what you do with your weapon. I know at our CC class our instructor told us to never pull the gun if you weren't going to shoot. And don't shoot unless you intend to kill. He said here in AZ that simply showing the weapon during a confrontation can be considered simple assault and can get you in trouble.

It's a shame that the criminal can put you in jail for protecting yourself from him. I really wonder what they are thinking when they are writing up some of these laws if they're thinking at all.

What am I thinking, it's politicians that make up the laws, I just answered my own question. Oh well.

 

[M3Stuart]

Well, I dunno. People who do foolish things with guns through carelessness, and then confess to negligence in a post, well, I think they serve to remind us to be ever vigilant in our safe handling of guns. I think that their conscience troubles them, and by confessing and publicly embarrassing themselves, which is painful, they are also making the point to themselves to exercise more care in the future.

I think the ones to worry more about are the ones who sweep these incidents under the rug without a lot of reflection.

Back in the day I used to fly small planes. If you've ever done that, and I'm sure lots of us have, you become familiar with all the "checklists". Early on my instructor told me something like; "...we use checklists for EVERYTHING! They are NOT optional. ...you won't live long enough to make all of the common mistakes..."

I really believe that. So on this forum, what we routinely see, I think, is people sharing their common mistakes. I also believe that they do this with the genuine, well-meaning, intention of hoping that we will make a mental 'checklist' so we don't repeat those mistakes.

JMHO!

 

[feralmerril]

VPNAVY, On that guy shooting at me mistakeing me for a deer: On doing nothing. I was I think 12 years old. When your a kid on your first hunt you assume adults are smarter than you are. At first I thought the guy must be shooting at a deer somewhere behind me that I couldnt see. He was shooting off a high road bed some feet higher than me crouching in frozzen swam and brush. Just couldnt belive he was shooting at me personaly. Every shot I heard whipping and hitting around me by inchs to feet. I also belived I had no confidence in my cheap single barrel slug iver johnson at the distance of a hundred or more yards. I just simply froze through the ordeal.
Today I wouldnt be armed with a single shot to start with. Being older and more experianced I would have first bellered and if shot at the secound time probley shoot, but not to hit. If they didnt stop, I would have more rounds to seriously shoot back. I only had the one shot available back then without digging for more. Chances were big I knew the man or maybe his family had I seen him up closer back then. It was a rual area where we knew everyone for many miles. New hunters do stupid things like pumping all their ammo out thinking they are shooting and arent, shooting at clogged brush thinking its deer etc. I seen a lot years ago. My dad had a close friend at work in those years. Another hunter mistook him for a deer and shot him through the arm. My dad told him he was lucky. His friend said I could have been luckier and have him miss too!

 

[44 special Dave]

No, I don't want to be in charge of deciding who gets to exercise their 2A rights. I'm only trying to objectively observe behavior.

Fact is people do stupid things regardless of their right to do so.

Ask feralmerril; he got shot at numerous times because it was someone's right to hunt and shoot at what he thought was a deer. IDIOT. (not feralmerril of course).

Someone else pointed out some people shouldn't reproduce, but they do. Also some people shouldn't be driving a car yet they do.

To think this forum is really a cross section of society is kind of scary all by itself. There's a lot of stupid scary people walking/driving around.

To those that commented on how truly wonderful this forum is, I would have to agree. I do think the serious folks here out weigh the.........

I believe that while we have constitutional rights, they are not absolute in every circumstance. Ask any constitutional scholar that.

Except the one amendment that is unwritten;

To be a flaming idiot whenever I want to be, everyone else be damned.

Dave

 

[nipster]

There is another forum where a poster said that "the 357 SIG" is the most reliable round/cartridge ever.

I asked him to explain why, he couldnt do it without going on and on about his SIG and Glock which shot the round.

I tried to explain him that the weapon itself, not the cartridge itself was what made the platform reliable or not... he goes on and on about it being a necked cartrdige, blah, blah...

While not dangerous per se, I was frustrated by the stupid logic

 

[Engineer1911]

Nipster -- he was a glob owner. Why the confusion?

 

[sps282]

Yes and some people can't watch football, cause everytime the players get in a huddle they think they are talking about them!

 

[Pete99004]

Johngalt;sure why not? But seriously if you had asked; "I have a M&P 38 special that was my grandfather's that dates to the early 1920s. The cylinder chambers allow .357 magnums to go in. Is it safe to shoot with .357 magnums?"

If had asked the above question, you'd be "that" category.

By the way that was a real question asked in a gun magazine forum years back.

Dave

I don't get it...are you saying that it would have been better that the guy didn't ask if it's OK to put .357 magnums into grandpa's M&P 38 special because it's a dumb question? That he should have learned the hard way instead of asking someone on the forum who knows if it's safe? Heck he is researching the situation in his own way. Some people do their own research, then decide the action they are going to take, some people ask for advice from others. Now had he put the magnums in and fired the gun, without asking or doing any research on his own - then he would be in "that" category, IMHO. I don't think you should lump people who ask for advise into one group and then lable them as idiots.

Pete

 

[Old TexMex]

[QUOTE: If you could say one thing....]

Lots of things brought up already in this thread, it's fun.

"Having the right to" certainly means nothing other than the government is prohibited from depriving. Nothing in the Constitution about everyone being qualified to bear arms. Opportunity, not outcome-- is what our Constitution is about.
Oftentimes, the ability to learn is indicated by the ability to inquire. No sense in everyone having to err, we learn from others mistakes and their successes.
Being polite instead of being snotty is a good way to get a fair hearing.
I like this forum. It's well run.
Re: Forum contributors...
You can never tell the depth of a well by the length of the handle on the pump.
Oh, and BTW-
the name "Old TexMex" actually came from the railroad, and a fellow who was a guard on same, nothing "racist or bigoted" therein, though I could be referring to my own background.

 

[ladyT]

Well the OP sould be slamed for a false title. I thought this was going to be a thread about the Forum Halloween Party but it wasn't. I was looking forward to seeing some great costumes and funny shots from the party. Alad its just a you know what thread devoid of any pertinent information.

Well a belayed Happy Halloween to all.

 

[squidsix]

This is the most informative, most polite, most useful forum I have ever found for anything, much less firearms. Want scary? It rhymes with barfcom.

 

[The Tourist]

Well the OP sould be slamed for a false title.

No, I got the reference. And it's quite timely, as I've stated before, there are drug deals made in the food court just outside the coffee bar my wife and I patronize. People don't seem to care about decorum, safety or simple manners anymore.

That attitude can bleed into how they react in business, and how they act in leisure pursuits, like this forum.

I used to peruse martial arts forums. I got tired of veiled death threats to each other amongst the members. In fact, you could be targeted simply because they found no value in the discipline you chose.

We discuss firearms here. That means defensive weapons and personal protection ammunition. I use items like that to defend my wife and those in my care. A loonie might be attracted to living out his Halo fantasies.

In other words, this forum is just the tip of the iceberg. The people who the OP mentions are among us. I'm glad he started the debate.

 

[aguablanco]

Scary Posters

Just found this thread, and find it very enjoyable. I'd share some of the stories I have over the last 50 years of shooting, however, I'm afraid some of you might block me. One right we all have, and generally exercise way too often, is the right to be wrong. Politics, religion, guns, love, you name it one of us is usually wrong. Most likely not me.(LOL) I find most of the posts in the 15-22 section are generally informative and well reasoned. Most questions are truly a quest for knowledge. I really like sharing my limited knowledge, and certainly appreciate gaining new knowledge.
As for some people not being allowed to exercise their rights for whatever reason, I would agree, the problem is, who decides?
Rights For All,
RichH

 

[ogilvyspecial]

I used to peruse martial arts forums. I got tired of veiled death threats to each other amongst the members. In fact, you could be targeted simply because they found no value in the discipline you chose.

Ah, something like the age old, "My master is better than your master" thing.......

 

[44 special Dave]

As was just pointed out everybody has the right to do a great many things. I don't want to be the arbitrator of what is done or said by anyone.

My whole point of this thread was regardless of rights, people do stupid things. They should be called out when they do stupid things.

Disagreeing on politics, or whatever has a low threshold of getting someone hurt. Doing something stupid with a gun could get someone killed.

I sense a few posters on this thread are adamant about protecting their rights at all costs whether they are wrong or not. "the i have a constitutional right to be a moron" amendment.

Just drive down the street about any day of the week and you will see people doing stupid things with their cars.

And I'm sure someone will say, "what's stupid to one person is not to another person". Again an argument to be a moron.

Dave

 

[carpriver]

Frankly, I cringe a little when someone refers to a firearm as a "weapon" and is immediately reprimanded for giving aid and comfort to the enemy by suggesting that our "sporting goods" might actually be used against another human being. Not as much as I cringe at the mall ninjas, but a cringe all the same.

I my friend was trained to call a gun a weapon. I may in a post refer to a gun as a weapon, as a gun or even a firearm. My Pappy always referred to his shotgun as a firearm. We are all different with different views it what makes the world go around. Bad behavior is bad behavior, if you are not aware or made aware of your behavior you will not change it. I have packed up and left the range more than once because of some young guns behavior. I have called them on it also. the worst was me and a young man were at the indoor range at the gun club. I asked for a cease fire so I could check my target. he used the time to reload his pistol and lay in facing down range with the action closed. I then explained the posted range rules about handling firearms during a cease fire. He blow me off by saying it no big thing. Whether or not I made and impression I do not know. But I pick my shooting partners now and we understand range rules. These rule are for everyone every time. I have been a member here for about 7-6 months I find this forum to be helpful, informative, funny and not all that political. Last night I posted on the reloading forum about a mistake I made, I didn't do it to embarrass myself but as a reminder we need to think about what we are doing; we some times need to have a safety reminder.

 

[TunaFisherman]

Everyone can afford a computer nowadays.
Everyone who owns a computer is an expert.
Facts and opinions vary from forum to forum...on the same topic
There is so much misinformation on the Internet forums its scary.
Worse yet, people just assume the person posting above them is the expert...
A person must read and research and make your own opinion.

 

[627 city hunter]

I believe unbridled censorship is _*scary*_!

I say and do what I want and infringe upon no ones rights.

Don't tread on me.

 

[deerhtr]

boy this is gonna get me in trouble but here goes first I agree with dave people do post scary things on here. but we all need to be mindful about exactely what this is. Forums are (or should be) places where information is sought to increase your knowledge on whatever it is your looking for. no one here is absolute authority on anything just their opinion based on experience and or training. but i also feel forums tend to take on a elite club atmosphere at times case in point my post count will forever be low simply because of how i feel a forum should be used i try to only post when i think it can really be beneficial to the poster, another forum i visit has a water cooler room you can only get in after so many posts so im not in because i dont post trivial stuff just to up my post count. that being said sometimes we forget that everybody started as a newbie at sometime and i can guarantee you everyone has done something scary with a gun at somepoint in our lives.