Gun Discussion - I don't get it...

[tac]

Gary Larsen - my hero cartoonist - nobody comes near.

tac

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I was in Fredmeyer the other day and I was carrying my 1911 in an avenger holster.

The coat I was wearing is shorter and and you can see an inch or two of the holster. I knew it could be seen but I don't give a crap, if it bothers people they can piss off.


I see a guy come walking fast up to me and he says: hey buddy, I just thought you should know you're showing.

I said I know I am, then he said well I just thought you should know and you should probably pull your shirt down over it and he walked off.

It kind of pissed me off! I would never go up to someone and do that, it is none of my business and it wouldn't bother me in the first place.

I rarely carry my 1911 as it is hard to conceal but I felt like carrying something different that day.

I always conceal carry but I have never gone out of my way to make sure I'm not printing or that it's sticking out from under my shirt.

What I was carrying.
View attachment 419089

full size 1911s are hard to conceal! i could give a crap less if some one sees me legally carrying my gun either.

i just got a new holster for my 1911. its an OWB. maybe i'll hop over to fred meyers for the trial run!

 

[RVTECH]

I have been a member of Clark Rifles for 30 years. Never saw anything like the tard

Sounds like this guy was a walking safety hazard as well as potentially intimidating to other range members. I can't remember if it was this forum or another but I recall a thread about something similar where a member posted a pic of himself with full Cammo attire and face paint and stated 'when I train I like to be in full combat mode' or something to that effect. Well if these types want to 'play army' they should join up or take their game far out into the woods where they won't be a safety problem - or intimidate others.

 

[Flymph]

I had a discussion with a stranger and let on that I had a few guns and was especially excited about a colt detective special my father had recently bought.
The obvious hipster customer immediately said sarcastically "it's fun to get all liquored up and shoot stuff"...
I told her I generally do not mix the two, and my father gets a sense of history from them. The only thing that surpasses his firearms collection is his holster and web gear collection. That he collects mostly English military firearms from about 1850 to 1960.
I rubber it in by explaining to her "here's the kicker, I vote Green Party"... she smiled and said "me too!"

Needless to say, she left the conversation with a totally different perception of who could and does own guns (which I think was an improvement).
Other times you just need to explain some laws to people as well as some mechanics.
A lot of liberals will agree that guns are not an issue if we can implement a good healthcare system, it's one or the other to them.

There are also bigots, like in any camp, that will completely deny others the joy and freedoms of life simply because they do not feel the same way. I actually know a guy who is anti gun simply out of spite for his father who is disappointed in him, I assume. Frankly, if that guy was my kid, I would be disappointed.

Also, please, no flak for voting Green Party. I feel that this thread is more about talking to people to change their negative perceptions of guns and their owners.

 

[Skier]

I started to reply to this thread, with regards to open/concealed carry, but decided that, since I was opening a discussion, I should probably make it a new thread, so here's that thread, for any who might be interested in reading/commenting on open/concealed carry, and the idea of a National Unconcealed Day...

National Unconcealed Day (or...)

 

[Skier]

...
Needless to say, she left the conversation with a totally different perception of who could and does own guns (which I think was an improvement).
Other times you just need to explain some laws to people as well as some mechanics.
...
I feel that this thread is more about talking to people to change their negative perceptions of guns and their owners.

That's exactly the kind of interaction I'd hope for in the related thread I started (see link in previous post) in response to earlier posts above.... No attitude, just good positive interaction.

 

[BillGabby1]

I'm familiar with Red or Blue, but I haven't a clue what Green is?
Tree hugger party maybe?
Fill me in please maybe I want to join, or not?

 

[EPS]

I blocked ALL them A-holes by closing my account. Eff em!!!

Never had Face book if you are or where my friend you have my phone number I don't need Mark Zuckerberg to help me with my friends

 

[Tony617]

It comes from watching too much CNN and MSNBC. All of my work colleagues do it and they hate FOX News.

 

[Who The F R U]

A badge is a sign that a person is to be trusted with all things including, but not limited to gun safety

JAckazz

 

[EPS]

It comes from watching too much CNN and MSNBC. All of my work colleagues do it and they hate FOX News.

You gotta love em lol they just want a hug or maybe something more lol

 

[SUPER X]

Yesterday, the wife and I went to Spokane to have breakfast with my sister and brother-in-law, both of whom I haven't seen in years.

At one point, the discussion turned toward guns, and my sister proclaimed that people, carrying openly, scare her to death. When I asked why, her husband stated "you never know what they're going to do". When I asked about police officers, I got the response "well, they're trained".

I followed up with questions about former military, off-duty cops, people carrying concealed, etc., and got the various negative responses, common with Liberals. So, I guess, unless you're wearing some kind of uniform...you can't be trusted with a gun?

Now, what I don't get is that these two people used to shoot. In fact, my sister used to sleep with a gun under her bed and was considered an excellent shot, by her husband. What happened to them, to change their beliefs, so radically???

I guess I'll just have to readdress the subject, next time we get together. If I discover any useful information, I'll come back and post it for the rest of you.

On a side note, I believe they would have been horrified to discover the S&W 340PD, in it's holster, beneath my un-tucked shirt and/or my wife's S&W 317 in her "concealed carry" purse.

 

[SUPER X]

I am acquainted with a person I did not know was a raging lib. He has a fare amount of old school radical firearms .but appears it is ok for him but not others .his wife was spouting off word for word Obama's nonsense and false facts and Identifies it as intelegance . So i did some research . In about a 1 year period
KNOWN MURDERS
USA . 15,656 POPULATION 324,420,000
MEXICO 22,932 POPULATION 119,530,753

THIS WAS JUST HOMICIDES NOT SPECIFICALLY GUN VIOLANCE
I wonder if these sideshow barkers look into facts before spouting lies.
THIS info was about a year ago

 

[tourproto]

IMHO, since talking about guns has become such a taboo growing up in America, people just don't know anything about them and will listen to whoever is stepping up to the microphone and currently that is the mass media and the left (probably one and the same to many on this forum). Gun owners and pro-2A orgs do a horribly bad job talking about the benefits of gun ownership (IMHO of course).

Somehow society just got to the point that it is just better to keep quiet about it, which probably isn't a good thing. I recently found out that a golfing buddy of mine is a huge gun fan. Known him for 20 years and didn't know he liked guns at all. Now we go shooting (I joined his gun club), he helped me sight in my new ARs and it is a blast. Despite all the stuff we have talked about on the golf course over the years, we never talked about guns until recently and I don't even remember how we got on the topic other than we did, and it was "really? you have one of those? I've got one of those too!". And now we talk about guns more on the golf course than anything else

But I would say that outside of these forums, there are less than 10 people I openly talk with about guns and most are family that are in Montana (and they hunt, and eat what they kill) or are in the armed forces. The only other people I talk to are my wife, this golf buddy and my best friend from childhood who got me interested in guns in the first place. In today's society, there is just no easy way to get into a discussion about guns.

I was always told never to talk to people about religion and politics and I have mostly kept to that my entire life. Seems that somehow guns have also fallen into the list of taboo topics.

 

[SUPER X]

IMHO, since talking about guns has become such a taboo growing up in America, people just don't know anything about them and will listen to whoever is stepping up to the microphone and currently that is the mass media and the left (probably one and the same to many on this forum). Gun owners and pro-2A orgs do a horribly bad job talking about the benefits of gun ownership (IMHO of course).

Somehow society just got to the point that it is just better to keep quiet about it, which probably isn't a good thing. I recently found out that a golfing buddy of mine is a huge gun fan. Known him for 20 years and didn't know he liked guns at all. Now we go shooting (I joined his gun club), he helped me sight in my new ARs and it is a blast. Despite all the stuff we have talked about on the golf course over the years, we never talked about guns until recently and I don't even remember how we got on the topic other than we did, and it was "really? you have one of those? I've got one of those too!". And now we talk about guns more on the golf course than anything else

But I would say that outside of these forums, there are less than 10 people I openly talk with about guns and most are family that are in Montana (and they hunt, and eat what they kill) or are in the armed forces. The only other people I talk to are my wife, this golf buddy and my best friend from childhood who got me interested in guns in the first place. In today's society, there is just no easy way to get into a discussion about guns.

I was always told never to talk to people about religion and politics and I have mostly kept to that my entire life. Seems that somehow guns have also fallen into the list of taboo topics.

I have noticed also nobody talks about firearms including myself now. Unless I happen to stumble into someone that is on the same page .

 

[Flymph]

Having a conversation about guns is easier done between people of similar political persuasions.

 

[tourproto]

Having a conversation about guns is easier done between people of similar political persuasions.

Yes, but if you don't talk "politics", how do you figure out if you are of the same political persuasion? I have not found it to be that easy to ascertain. There are a lot of people who, even if they are of the same political persuasion, are very adept at politely steering the conversation away from anything political, so you never know what their alignment is.

 

[Skier]

In today's society, there is just no easy way to get into a discussion about guns.

Now about "have you ever been shooting out in the woods?" Perhaps followed by "Would you like to? It's a blast!"

Or maybe just use opportunities when you're with a friend who shoots to talk about it in front of others who's opinion you're not sure of, keeping it positive and about the enjoyment of it, and avoiding the politics of it.

About half of my team at work has guns, and the other half hadn't really touched them. Sometimes at lunch, we've talked about guns in front of the gun-less folks and at some point later, we were out for a team lunch, and our manager (of all people... totally surprised) says, out of the blue, that he'd like to try shooting sometime. I told him I'd be happy to put together an off-hours, voluntary, team-building event for the whole team to come and shoot everything from 22 pistol to AR-15s and more. I totally thought it was be a non-starter, but he actually expressed interest in doing it. The rest of the "gun-guys" on the team and I had a couple meetings about a safety plan, shooting plan, etc, and let him know that'd we'd love to host/lead the event, provide all the ammo/guns, etc, and would be exceedingly conscious when it comes to safety...

Surprisingly, even after another manager suggested it might not be a good idea, he said we should go for it. So, we went out to a nice gravel pit, with a toy hauler (for preparing lunch [it was raining off and on], and bathroom convenience, especially for the ladies), our team, two large EZ-Ups, and a nice variety of guns... We went with 4 gun-guys (leading the event) and about 7 other team members, 4 of which had never shot (or even held) a gun before. We started with a basic briefing that covered safety, the parts of a gun, safety, shooting techniques, and reiterated safety, including what it meant when the range was called hot/cold, etc.

We had 4 lanes setup for shooting and started with 22LR rifles, moved to 22LR handguns, then 9mm handguns, then ARs (All 4 of us had each of these types/calibers, so we moved through them together, with short, gun-specific briefings before shooting each of them) and then went to "whatever else we got" (e.g. hunting rifles, pistol caliber carbines, shotguns, etc) to close out the day.

Everyone had a blast, and were quite comfortable with the learning environment we setup and the weapons they shot. I heard numerous comments from the previously-non-shooters that it was the most fun team-building event they'd ever attended, and almost unanimously, the AR-15 was the favorite gun they shot. (You know, the big, scary, black ones, hehe) As a side note, we even had a potato gun, and that was a hoot. LOL.

Anyway, at the end of it, no injuries or safety issues, everyone had fun, and I think we increased the number of people on our team that were no longer intimidated by the "mysterious and dangerous nature" of firearm by about 110+%, plus they got a chance to understand why we like it, and that's not because we're crazy, paranoid gun freaks. Ya can't beat that. Lunch was covered, and were even helped out for the cost of our ammo (about 75% covered). To me, even if I covered the cost of the ammo entirely, I think it was a good investment.

So, instead of approaching guns as a subject for debate, for me, it's been much better received to approach it as "here's something I enjoy, I like you, and I'd like to share one of my hobbies/passions/leisure/sport activities with you, and I bet you'll enjoy it too."

 

[Skier]

Having a conversation about guns is easier done between people of similar political persuasions.

I'd say it's also a bit easier with people with whom you've already established a mutual respect and/or friendship and/or other common ground, but even other people can sometimes be won over with the right attitude and situation.

 

[tourproto]

Now about "have you ever been shooting out in the woods?" Perhaps followed by "Would you like to? It's a blast!"

I actually have tried something similar to this and the results are 50/50 and the wrong 50 has made for some very uncomfortable situations. So been there, done that.

Not dissing your suggestion, but some of the responses I have gotten have made me very cautious about starting the conversation, and to date, with the exception of my golf buddy that I mentioned earlier, guns just don't come up in regular conversations, especially in the blue state of Oregon these days, unless it is "OMG, another shooting, why they heck doesn't the government just ban all guns????"