Traits of someone that shouldn't own or operate a firearm.

[HikerKat]

Yah gatta be a real man to wear pink.

My Dad wore pink out on the golf course, and on the ballroom dance floor. I once wore pink paisley with a white leisure suit... in those days I had John Lennon glasses, muttonchop sideburns, and collar length hair. And a HOT girlfriend!!!

She knew a real man when she saw one.
Full-auto self confidence.

 

[GWS]

So why are you bothering teaching them? Because they can still learn.

I'll preface by saying I have a niece with down syndrome and she will most likely require family care for the rest of her life, but she is surrounded by a bunch of gun nuts and her safety has to be taken into consideration in how guns a handled and stored around her. That said she wants to join in on the fun she see others having so we let her. This is where the Cricket and the Henry Min-bolt come in handy, we get her down in the prone position and get down there with her and help her all the way. She has a lot fun being included and there is no smile bigger than a DS kid's smile. She is still capable of learning, just not everything.

Should she ever own her own firearm? Probably not. People with a severe mental disability are one of the very rare exceptions to the rule as they need to be protected from their lack of comprehension and there has to be that line. We don't let her wandering naked in the street either. She loves horses and I mean big time. She gets ride them with a seat belted saddle while being lead around. Would we let her hop on a trail horse and take off? Of course not.

So bottom line, should she be able to handle a firearm? Yes. Should she own one and have it hanging on her bedroom wall? Again, probably not.

As I'm sure you are aware, there are many levels of severity to people with Down syndrome. Some have learned to hold jobs live independently. Some never will, but even so, we taught them and continue to because we never know who will respond to education until we try. We can have success with some, even many of these kids, so we work with them all and hope for the best, but even the most successful kid I ever had should still not be left alone with guns and ammo.
So, there is an exception to the rule then.
The 2 exceptions I had to that rule turned out to not have intellectual disability
Both were non-English speaking kids who were evaluated by psychologists who only spoke English. They confused a lack of responsiveness from a kid who has no idea what they're asking for mental retardation.
We nicknamed these kids Marvins as in MRVN Mentally Retarded because they're Viet Namese
I am proud to say I got them kicked out of my program after several months and we convinced the district that maybe they should get people who speak the language of the kids they're evaluating

 

[Member 52301]

I'm ok if someone just isn't in to firearms. Not everyone will be, and that's perfectly fine by me.

^^^

THIS!

Thank you.

Cate

 

[Member 52301]

View attachment 786580
My wife's a big fan of pink, and hello kitty, lol.

She can't shoot it worth a darn because of her extreme astigmatism, but I love her and had fun doing this project. So she likes to tell everyone about her cute pink gun even though she will probably never shoot it again, good on her. Give those gun grabbers a coronary.

Looks awesome on the firing line at the range! I gotta kill an animal with it, just for the lolz.

I wrote about this before but here goes... I will make the story shorter! LOL It is an old story from an old forum that was 'sold' that I don't read much any longer.

A man that I knew on another forum had a wife that wanted to get into shooting more.

She LOVED the color pink. She picked out a color that SHE wanted for a firearm and SHE picked out what she wanted for a gun. She tried out her husband's guns and some in various gun stores to see what would work for HER.

So he painted a Ruger rifle in 22lr (10/22? I am not sure about my memory now for the MODEL. Sorry!) for her in a beautiful shade of a soft pink like what you would see on a SEA SHELL found on the beach or on a FAMOUS (Trade Marked.) old fashioned soft pink rose.

It turned out really nice and she LOVED her rifle. I saw lots of pictures of her rifle, the process of him making it PERFECT FOR HER, her holding and shooting it, lots of her gun gear including her hat, bag, etc. and her targets with her lady friends at events, etc.

She ended up with more of her pink gun gear that SHE personally wanted and picked out for herself, she joined a shooting group, she ended up winning shooting prizes, she joined pro gun groups but she was ALWAYS pro RKBA, she would look for sales of 22lr in all of their NY gun stores and stock up, etc.

She can shoot as well as her husband with her rifle. She LIKES to shoot even if some of her girl friends do not AND she has brought other people INTO the shooting sports world.

I think that she was into shooting some shotguns in the past too. She is close to my age (I am 70 years old.) and she still keeps up her skills.

She and her husband are like I am in some ways. WE are very much into the RKBA issue and we are into self defense.

We don't want to FORCE someone into getting INTO guns if they do not choose to do this.

Just don't take our guns away from us or vote for anti RKBA politicians in ANY party!

I LOVE the color blue and I like the color black too.

I love specific shades of blue. I love other very specific colors too!

I never had a firearm in blue but if I wanted one - I would BUY one!

I LIKE/LOVE pretty, old fashioned, and classic guns in s/a revolvers, d/a revolvers - steel and wood, very FEW and very specific semi automatic pistols and rifles, plain black Glock pistols, SPECIFIC bolt and lever action rifles in wood and steel, some pretty shotguns - old fashioned ones even though I never owned a shotgun, etc. I like SPECIFIC firearms in specific calibers too.

So if a lady (Or a man.) wants to buy what they LIKE in a firearm and it works for them as an individual shooter... more power to them!

And if the Newbie learns and knows all of the safety rules and observes them as a Responsible Shooter whether they shoot a couple of times per year or becomes a moderate to a high volume shooter... good for them!

Blessings to you and your wife.

Old Lady Cate

 

[Member 52301]

That's what I'm trying to avoid. I was shot by someone I took out shooting years ago because I didn't spend enough time preparing them. I don't want it to happen again.

Are you serious about being shot?!

Cate

 

[Member 52301]

I won't lie, I always avoided FDE guns because to me they are ugly as dog poo. It's a major purchase for a lot of people and it's pretty normal to like pretty things.

I think that it is NORMAL to like pretty things in guns, sail boats, power boats, trucks, cars, furniture, china, flatware, glasses, clothing, plan for building a house, tractor, etc.

I don't BUY ugly guns - past, present or in the future.

And IF I do not LIKE how a firearm LOOKS, how it fits in my hands, what caliber it is in, it's reputation for being a good firearm company, quality made, etc. - I will NOT buy it.

I did that with firearms and I did that with any other thing that I bought in my life.

Old Lady Cate

 

[TNThomas]

Your description sounds alot like my wife, but with motorcyles. I taught her to ride an old kick start cafe racer, but her unwillingness to learn the system startled me, even when I was willing to spend hours teaching her. She still has her endorsement, but no longer rides, and I am happy f0or it. I was fairly sure she would be in a major accident. I personally don't think she has the demenor to ride motorcycles and I wont push her towards it again. Very similar to guns, you can die real easy on a bike, this is whst concerned me:

-Lack of spacial awareness
-Highly emotional (great for motherhood, bad for keeping her alive on the street)
-Unwillingness to learn and maintain her bike
-Unwillingness to wear Hi-Viz gear because it wasn't "cute."
-She trusts people too much, you cant trust anyone on a bike!
-Not willing to learn the mechanics of the machine, and as a result potentially putting her or others at risk.

 

[fredball]

She Sounds like my wife
so instead of allowing her access to guns I got her a German Shepherd Dog next best thing to a gun silent and deadly

 

[bbbass]

Well, actually, it was more of a "salmon"... Does salmon count as sexy?

Salmon is very sexy! Esp if you wriggle on the end of a 12lb line!!!

 

[bbbass]

a beautiful shade of a soft pink like what you would see on a SEA SHELL found on the beach or on a FAMOUS (Trade Marked.) old fashioned soft pink rose.

This post is worthless w/o PICTURES!!!

 

[GrayGoose]

Maybe you should take her to Disney Land.

 

[Certaindeaf]

She Sounds like my wife
so instead of allowing her access to guns I got her a German Shepherd Dog next best thing to a gun silent and deadly

View attachment 787177

Yeabut it's not pink.

 

[tac]

Reading through these last 10 pages I'm not so sure that I'm agin the way we are required to do things here, with compulsory probationary time before you can even apply to get a firearm.

Mind you, with the way things are here, you are never going to get anybody who is NOT interested in guns making the effort to obtain them.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Reading through these last 10 pages I'm not so sure that I'm agin the way we are required to do things here, with compulsory probationary time before you can even apply to get a firearm.

Mind you, with the way things are here, you are never going to get anybody who is NOT interested in guns making the effort to obtain them.

You have that right.. oh wait, no you don't.

 

[bbbass]

Your description sounds alot like my wife, but with motorcyles. I taught her to ride an old kick start cafe racer, but her unwillingness to learn the system startled me, even when I was willing to spend hours teaching her. She still has her endorsement, but no longer rides, and I am happy f0or it. I was fairly sure she would be in a major accident. I personally don't think she has the demenor to ride motorcycles and I wont push her towards it again. Very similar to guns, you can die real easy on a bike, this is whst concerned me:

-Lack of spacial awareness
-Highly emotional (great for motherhood, bad for keeping her alive on the street)
-Unwillingness to learn and maintain her bike
-Unwillingness to wear Hi-Viz gear because it wasn't "cute."
-She trusts people too much, you cant trust anyone on a bike!
-Not willing to learn the mechanics of the machine, and as a result potentially putting her or others at risk.

Well stated and maintains a sense of respect for domestic partner. Kudos!!!

I am one of those people that should not ride. Both times I owned a motorcycle, I wound up on the ground due to lack of maintenance. However, if I had somebody to do the maint and care for the bike, I wouldn't have had those problems. So, this aspect doesn't completely transfer over.... For instance, I am happy to maintain and care for my wife's guns as much as I do my own. It is something I do because I love her, love doing things for her, and because I enjoy her shooting with me. I don't believe she has to go full bore into it as a hobby like I do. Same thing with fishing... she was my fishing buddy. When needed, I baited her hook. And I remember a day when she caught many salmon and I was so busy taking care of them for her that I had no time to bait my own hook. She didn't need to know how to bash them to get them to stop thrashing around, nor did she need to know how to gut and filet. I really enjoyed her fishing success, watching her battle big fish on light gear, and those fish were sure tasty!! That's pretty win/win in my book.

If we look at guns the same way, does the loved one really need to know more than the safety rules and the levers and controls (which can be learned at the range)? Do they need to know how to clean and lube it if the "significant other" considers it the cost of enjoying their participation?

Discussion of points in post above as the might apply to guns:

Disclosure: I am an RO/SO for an IDPA club. I help new shooters, even female new shooters, shoot safely at every match. (It can be done!) (BTW, the only ND I've ever witnessed was at a match, before I was an SO, when a running competitor tripped and fell... he had his finger on the trigger while moving, a big no/no that the RO/SO should have seen and prevented!!)

Spatial awareness - anybody can die from lack of spatial awareness, whether they are carrying or not. At the range, the only spatial awareness needed is to keep all weapons pointed downrange and if action shooting to never break the 180deg plane (all spectators stay well back). Oh and, don't shoot yerself in the leg or foot.

Emotional - not sure how this affects gun handling. Again, more of a consideration for EDC... the OP was talking about going to the range. There, if wife is happy, I am happy. The only emotional problems I have seen at the range is when someone got all twitterpated and started waving the gun around... which also goes back to paying attention to safety. (One time we not only DQ'ed an older man during a match for waving a gun all over, including back at spectators, but because this was a repeated behavior, he even drew a loaded handgun that became pointed at my belly, he was prohibited from future match entry. He was becoming senile and losing it. It was not a pleasant experience, nor a fun thing to have to rule on. Diff is, I was acting in my official capacity, not as a spouse.) (I am glad you never thought it was your place to prohibit her from riding, even tho you worried about her!)

Unwillingness to learn and maintain - applied to guns... again, only needs to learn enough to shoot the dang thing safely and maint can be done by willing partner. It don't take a lot of brains to point the barrel and pull the trigger. Endless hours of dry fire and assbly/disassbly not needed/warranted of a newbie. And mag release, slide lock, etc can be taught at the range while shooting.

Unwillingness to wear Hi-vis gear - applied to hunting or range... Well, I personally wear neon orange hat and vest at the range because I am out scoring targets, but most others don't. That is ok with me as an RO/SO. In the woods, that is a whole nuther discussion!!! Applied to carry... I'm in favor of "grey man".

Trusting people too much - bad for both carry and a day at the range. Fully agree here!!! Merits a discussion, possibly more than one, with spouse but should not be prohibitive.

Not willing to learn the mechanics of the machine ( or gun) putting her or others at risk. - Applied to carry.. that could be a serious fail. Applied to a day at the range.... again, only need to know enough to make the weapon function, if action shooting (an advanced shooting outing I don't recommend for rank newbies to handguns, they must have mastered basic gun handling), then the mechanics of a safe draw and reholstering, how to unload and show clear, and eventually some malfunction clearing drills.


Sorry for the long post... I get chatty sometimes and engage in stream of consciousness (or unconsciousness) stuff.

 

[bbbass]

Maybe you should take her to Disney Land.

COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID!

 

[tac]

You have that right.. oh wait, no you don't.

True thing.

But it does mean that we don't often get the opportunity to rip our wives to shreds on a semi-public forum, exposing her doubts, concerns and perceived lack of abilities to all and sundry.

 

[jbett98]

So what you're saying is that your country has media censorship on top of draconian firearm laws.

 

[Dinglenutz]

Your description sounds alot like my wife, but with motorcyles. I taught her to ride an old kick start cafe racer, but her unwillingness to learn the system startled me, even when I was willing to spend hours teaching her.

On the other hand Danica Patrick eagerly admits she has little idea how the cars work and she seems to operate them OK.

 

[tac]

So what you're saying is that your country has media censorship on top of draconian firearm laws.

Not sure how you figure that one out, since you don't know what country I'm from. But whatever country it might be, and let's for the moment you assume it to be the UK, since I often post from there, I doubt very much that any husband would have gone on a wide-open forum like this one and given such a damning image of his wife to the rest of us.

Here there is the so-called 'freedom of the press' - a kind of catch-all phrase that permits newspapers to print more or less what they like. But, and here is the big but, they'd better be prepared to prove their assertions in court.

However, since it appears that you are about to enter into a 'let's rip this uppity Brit new one, eh?' I'll let you guys get on with it now, and take no further part in this thread. What you want? Buddy, you gots it.