Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed~
For those of us who grew up plinkin' or went into the military or became LEO, it is sometimes hard to imagine how ignorant most people are of the basic safety rules regarding firearms.
Case in point, I once invited friends, husband/wife, to go shooting at the local desert range. They were complete city folks, enjoying the cowboy image after having visited Tombstone with all the mock gunfights the day before.
A friend of mine with a size-able collection came along to add to their fun. After he safety-checked a stainless "Dirty Harry" S&W he handed it to the wife and started explaining about guns. I could tell she was only half listening while enjoying the heft of the revolver. Suddenly she grimaced and turned around to her husband and pointed the gun at him all playful-like saying, "Stick'em up! Pow, pow!"
Her 6'2" husband's eyes popped fixed on the huge barrel and he instinctively backed up with hands raised. Everyone else at the range froze in astonishment. She finally asked innocently, "What?" to which my friend slowly reached for the gun and cooly said, "We don't want to do that..." and continued teaching.
She actually cried later when she realized how she really scared her husband and all of us by fooling around with a real gun.
That is the level of ignorance people have with guns. It is not their fault if their only exposure they have with guns come from movies before they handle a real weapon. Guns simply aren't a part of their world.
Now do you want that kind of ignorance buying guns simply because they can afford to? That's what leads to meaningless accidents and ruins lives.
As the old saying goes, Common Sense ain't always so common. -It's got to be taught.
And like MSGT-R said, the learning can be made fun.
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Thanks, that example is absolutely sterling!
A momentary dis-connect of the common sense could have been devistating had that gun been loaded. This is what happens with children who get access to unattended guns (and they have never been taught about them). Fantasy kicks in before reality takes hold.
I was at at gun show this weekend; the Shootist was absolutely packed with people. Most that were handling guns had muzzle awareness, a few did not. I reached over to the man beside me and redirected the muzzle away from the chest of the employee behind the counter. I gently and politely told him that what he was doing was not a good habit to get into. Then the implication hit him...