It is people like that who give gun-owners everywhere a bad name.

[cysoto]

Have you ever encountered someone which is so irresponsible around guns that you have told yourself:'
It is people like that who give gun-owners everywhere a bad name.

If so, have you had the opportunity to correct their actions? Did it make a difference?

[StagLefty]

I had a neighbor who was the perfect example of gun irresponsibility. He knew I was into firearms and brought a rifle over and asked me to look at it. Always kept his finger on the trigger, muzzle sweeping constantly , and of course there was a round in the chamber. He wouldn't listen to anything I told him about safety so I finally told him to leave and never bring a gun to my house again. Oh did I mention he was half in the bag also ?

[BPTactical]

I had a neighbor who was the perfect example of gun irresponsibility. He knew I was into firearms and brought a rifle over and asked me to look at it. Always kept his finger on the trigger, muzzle sweeping constantly , and of course there was a round in the chamber. He wouldn't listen to anything I told him about safety so I finally told him to leave and never bring a gun to my house again. Oh did I mention he was half in the bag also ?

What Stan fails to mention is he was looking in the mirror........





Having worked in a retail firearms shop we saw this buffoonery constantly. I always liked it when some dumbass would look straight down the muzzle and then I would tell them that was a really bad habit.
Some got it and turned white as a sheet when they realized just what they had done.
Most didn't though and would give you a dumb look and ask: "What do you mean?"
Never mind....






Love ya Stan

[cysoto]

I always liked it when some dumbass would look straight down the muzzle...

If it were not because I have witnessed this behavior from countless people, I would say that you were jesting.

[rbeau30]

I had a couple friends out with me shooting at a place on some state land. This person had come with us several times so I felt somewhat comfy with his safety and experience with firearms.


He decided to bring his younger sisters with him one day. As I was attending to a firearm with my buddy at the firing line, somehow the hairs on the back of my neck started standing up.

I look behind me to see that somehow the three of them had apparently scooted back a full 30 feet or more behind the firing line over that last 15 minutes or so. The worst feeling in my life. The established firing line was now well in front of them!


Blaze orange spray paint is now ALWAYS with me to mark the firing line.

That and being VERY selective on who is with me at the range. I don't shoot with many people anymore.

[ZERO THEORY]

Any time I went into my local gunshop during peak weekend hours. Rule 1 violations everywhere.

I was camping over the summer and my friend's younger brother asked to check out my XD before we were about to go shooting. I withdrew the magazine, locked back the breech, and did a visual and physical inspection, then handed it to him with the muzzle down. He proceeded to start waving it around, flagging me in the process. I took my weapon back and told him why. He proceeded to tell me he thought I was 'taking safety too seriously; it's unloaded'. He didn't touch my weapons again.

[rbeau30]

he thought I was 'taking safety too seriously

I can never take my life too seriously.

I think that the lack of firearm safety in youth, and the practice of firearm safety while supervised by competent parents/guardians, etc is a big issue.


I was shooting competition at age 11 with structured rules and ranges. Safety was ENGRAINED in me. There was no there was no other way to handle a firearm without observing core values that the rules of the ranges and my grandfather taught me.

[bryjcom]

I get that feeling every time I drive out to Pawnee and see all the garbage left, (Shotgunners are the worst) and all the blasted road signs.

No reason you can't pick up your shit and no reason you need to be destroying taxpayer property...

[ZERO THEORY]

I can never take my life too seriously.

Exactly. We exchanged a short volley of deliberate words, although the conversation stopped at the non-verbal cue that I put forth which was essentially that if/when he did it again, he would get punched. It's not a joke or a passe matter to me, nor should it be to anyone else. Potentially wounding or killing someone in the process of an 'I told you so' moment isn't something you can just pass over.

[osok-308]

I can never take my life too seriously.

I think that the lack of firearm safety in youth, and the practice of firearm safety while supervised by competent parents/guardians, etc is a big issue.


I was shooting competition at age 11 with structured rules and ranges. Safety was ENGRAINED in me. There was no there was no other way to handle a firearm without observing core values that the rules of the ranges and my grandfather taught me.

^^^ This. There is also a side note here. I actually have won people, who were terrified of guns, over through my safe handling of firearms. I explain every rule all the time. My father-in-law asked me if I could check out an old rifle of his. While doing so, his daughter got very uneasy she explained to me that she knew a kid who shot himself with his dad's "unloaded" gun. I began to explain to her one of the four cardinal rules to guns: Treat every gun as in it were loaded. She began to see that the muzzle was pointed in a safe direction, that my finger was off the trigger. I took the bolt out even. After a few minutes of seeing me handle the rifle, she began to relax and even ask me a little bit about guns.

Any time I go to a gun store I feel like I see people breaking the firearm rules, it's not funny, it's upsetting. I'm surprised I don't see more places where the firearm safety rules are plastered on the wall somewhere.