Gun pointing at shops

[Guest truthsayer]

Meh, you did what you felt was right and operated according to your code. IMO, your actions were justified. Having said all of that, I'm neurotic about checking guns. In the casual handling of firearms (casual=any circumstance in which a projectile flying out of the muzzle is not the immediate and expected outcome), there is little that seems too safe. I will always hand a weapon back to someone with the slide locked back, cylinder open, bolt open, or action broken open. I drop the muzzle if I'm handling the weapon and someone walks in my line of sight. Why? Because I know that more careful and experienced people than yrs. truly have had accidents.

[ftncityfatboy]

That sounds like a cute little saying, but is it practical?

Fred, Joe, and Mark are in a room with a shotgun. All 3 of them assume your rule, and then check the weapon to make sure it's clear and unloaded.

Sam walks into the room.

Is the gun now loaded? Sam might assume so, but is it Fred, Joe, and Mark's responsibility to revert back to assuming it is loaded simply because Sam walked into the room?

If so - how do you even walk into or around a large gun shop with multi-wall displays, when there are - according to the rule above - literally thousands of loaded weapons pointing in all manner of directions?

I think aside from simply asking that a person not point a gun at you personally, it's silly to try to take it any further than that, and definately not your place to volunteer to become their personal firearms instructor.

It is then Sam's responsibility to make sure the shotgun is unloaded. CAUSE, Mark & Joe didn't know that Sam was sleeping with Fred's wife, and when Mark & Joe went to take a pee, Fred slipped a round into the shotgun. So in order to avoid a potential shooting, Sam now assumes the rule and makes sure it is not loaded. Then, when Sam finds a load in the barrel, him/Mark/Joe beat the crap out of Fred for this stupid & hidious ordeal. Sounds stupid doesn't it??? So does thinking a gun in a big box store is unloaded. Just my two cents worth!!

Edited January 8, 2009 by ftncityfatboy

[Guest Astra900]

Great analogy!

BTW Your real name ain't Fred is it?

[Guest TargetShooter84]

I dont see anything wrong with what you did. I would've done the same....

[ftncityfatboy]

Great analogy!

BTW Your real name ain't Fred is it?

hahahah----good one

[Guest 153blue]

a little tough love never hurt nobody. to some people it takes an ass chewing for them to remember. as for my rule number one. any threat to my family or myself will be destroyed.

[DaveTN]

I don’t care if it is unloaded; you don’t point a gun at a person…. Ever.

Some people are just dumb azzes.

(They way I read your story you didn’t know that the gun was safe; and it was pointed directly at you.)

[E4 No More]

Whether I know a gun is unloaded or not, I never point one at someone that I don't intend to shoot if they don't stop what they're doing, and I demand the same thing from others. I don't care where I'm at, or what they think they know, if someone's pointing a gun at me I politely and firmly tell them to point the gun elsewhere. I don't plan on becoming the recipient of the "I didn't know it was loaded!" story via inaction on my part.

[S&WForty]

People just plain scare me. I still go to gun shops, and gun shows, but I limit it to as few as possible. I'm not really worried about getting shot in a gun shop, but the collective stupidity of the masses churns my stomach. If muzzle discipline is this poor when everyone is watching, what will they do when fewer people are around, and the range for instance. I exclude you guys from my comment about the "masses". I don't want to believe anyone here would EVER sweep a muzzle across flesh and bone. It really sends a chill up my spine when I go into a gun shop, though. Some of the dumbest heehaw morons this state has to offer, have money and a clean record (and that's all it takes). Stupid people and guns:panic::panic:

I've been a gun owner for 13 months. I am slowly getting more comfortable with them, but they still intimidate me to some extent. I'm a very cautious person, so I consider this slowly-subsiding intimidation as a good trainer of good handling habits. It keeps me on my toes, but not on edge.

I have one friend that is a "thrill-seeker" type. He doesn't follow all safe practices, because - He's a Manly Man. His .45 has been pointed at me twice lately. And loaded. I didn't appreciate it.

A relative recently was sweeping a barrel at me, and I was pretty hot. (yep, it was loaded, too) In the case of that loser, I think the poor handling is mostly a result of that gun owner being a master in his own mind. "I grew up with guns, I am at one with guns, and I will handle them as I see fit." Both examples involve an arrogance of sorts.

Combine people like that with people that are just stupid, and I feel apprehensive around most people with a gun in their hand.

It's like driving. There are a lot of ignorant and stupid people driving cars. I've ridden with plenty. When I am riding with someone that drives like I do, I just sit back and relax. When I ride with others, I am tense the whole time. The two people I refer to above are also people I hate riding with. Imagine that.

[Punisher84]

I've been a gun owner for 13 months. I am slowly getting more comfortable with them, but they still intimidate me to some extent. I'm a very cautious person, so I consider this slowly-subsiding intimidation as a good trainer of good handling habits. It keeps me on my toes, but not on edge.

I have one friend that is a "thrill-seeker" type. He doesn't follow all safe practices, because - He's a Manly Man. His .45 has been pointed at me twice lately. And loaded. I didn't appreciate it.

A relative recently was sweeping a barrel at me, and I was pretty hot. (yep, it was loaded, too) In the case of that loser, I think the poor handling is mostly a result of that gun owner being a master in his own mind. "I grew up with guns, I am at one with guns, and I will handle them as I see fit." Both examples involve an arrogance of sorts.

Combine people like that with people that are just stupid, and I feel apprehensive around most people with a gun in their hand.

It's like driving. There are a lot of ignorant and stupid people driving cars. I've ridden with plenty. When I am riding with someone that drives like I do, I just sit back and relax. When I ride with others, I am tense the whole time. The two people I refer to above are also people I hate riding with. Imagine that.

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you need better friends if you're gonna be around long enough to get your post count up lol

[S&WForty]

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you need better friends if you're gonna be around long enough to get your post count up lol

You have a good point there! The friend I shoot with is super safe. I try to stay clear of the other two!

Thanks for the welcome!

[Guest mark_justmark]

I second that! I hate having lasers all over the place

I always wondered why gun shops don't have a sign up above the racks and clear of people that has a small target and a "point unloaded guns here if you want to point it somewhere" text as a reminder. the counter person could then just point to the sign when a customer starts pointing elsewhere, with minimal confrontation or embarassment on the part of the customer.

Sounds like a win/win to me.

[towerclimber37]

sounds like she has good sense. You knew the gun was unloaded, the clerk knew it was unloaded, he was not taking a bead on you.

There is too much freakin drama in the world already.

PS: I voted for reminding about the 4 rules

I disagree.

if there is any sort of drama needed, I would say that reinforcing a persons knowledge of safe firearm practices would be a good place for it.

you either live by the 4 rules and actually practice them or you run the risk of shooting something you didn't intend to shoot.

I don't ever believe a firearm is unloaded. ever.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are tools designed for one thing and one thing only.

while they are useful tools, they don't have a conscience and sadly, many folks handle them with less than the proper training.

Sorry Mike..I would have to say if someone pointed a firearm at me, I WOULD have a problem with it. if they pointed it at my family, I wouldn't be nice at all...and I WOULD inform them that they make that mistake again at their peril.

2 things you can't take back are spoken words and fired bullets.

Edited January 12, 2009 by towerclimber37

[Guest FortyFive2Life]

S&WForty, I'd find new friends before you no longer have the choice

I get swept a lot when I'm at the local sporting goods stores. The clerks at these stores do visually check the chamber (most put their finger in as well) before handing it to the customer, but that's not the point.

As a responsible gun owner you should know better than to ever point the barrel towards someone, even if you are 100% sure it's not loaded. As far as what I do in that situation it just depends. Normally if I'm at the sporting goods store and it's happening a lot, I just move and walk away until that particular customer is done looking.

Most people are way too arrogant to be corrected on the spot, especially in front of others by someone that they don't feel is an authority figure. If the clerks behind the counters let them know they'd probably take it a bit better and be more cautious.

[Guest Astra900]

I've been a gun owner for 13 months. I am slowly getting more comfortable with them, but they still intimidate me to some extent. I'm a very cautious person, so I consider this slowly-subsiding intimidation as a good trainer of good handling habits. It keeps me on my toes, but not on edge.

I have one friend that is a "thrill-seeker" type. He doesn't follow all safe practices, because - He's a Manly Man. His .45 has been pointed at me twice lately. And loaded. I didn't appreciate it.

A relative recently was sweeping a barrel at me, and I was pretty hot. (yep, it was loaded, too) In the case of that loser, I think the poor handling is mostly a result of that gun owner being a master in his own mind. "I grew up with guns, I am at one with guns, and I will handle them as I see fit." Both examples involve an arrogance of sorts.

Combine people like that with people that are just stupid, and I feel apprehensive around most people with a gun in their hand.

It's like driving. There are a lot of ignorant and stupid people driving cars. I've ridden with plenty. When I am riding with someone that drives like I do, I just sit back and relax. When I ride with others, I am tense the whole time. The two people I refer to above are also people I hate riding with. Imagine that.

Uhh, wow. I hope you can find some better friends here.

That's re-friggin-diculous.

Good luck, and mind your rear.

[S&WForty]

S&WForty, I'd find new friends before you no longer have the choice

...

Most people are way too arrogant to be corrected on the spot, especially in front of others by someone that they don't feel is an authority figure. If the clerks behind the counters let them know they'd probably take it a bit better and be more cautious.

Uhh, wow. I hope you can find some better friends here.

That's re-friggin-diculous.

Good luck, and mind your rear.

The arrogance factor is why I bit my lip on one (the thrill seeker type). He would have started yelling at me for daring to tell him how to handle his firearm... Had we been in private, I'd gone on the offensive.

I bit my lip with the other because if I had corrected him, I would have gone overboard and referenced past gun handling another relative put up with out of him years ago, but since I wasn't born then, he'd just deny it. And that's a LONG story. LOL

[Guest Fenris]

I had an incident this evening. I was at Academy Sports with my daughter. I stopped by the case to look at the Sarzelman Hancer. There was a big guy to my right blocking me from view from his SO on the other side of him.

There's a crowd at the case so I decide to come back later. I step around the guy and find myself looking down the barrel of a .40 cal handgun that SO is trying out. I said "whoah" and stepped back behind the guy.

The lady was very defensive. As if it was my fault that I stepped around a guy in a store in front of where she was pointing the gun. Her fella and the store owner asked her ot point it at the wall behind the counter. I decided since they both said something I wouldn't.

Still an unsettling event.

[Guest TJones8611]

A little off topic, but many many years ago my older brothers and I was sitting on the front porch before leaving to target practice with a couple of handguns. My sister, about 10 at the time walked out and picked one up without us noticing. Next thing we knew was holding the gun pointing it directly at us. She didnt know, but we did, it was loaded.

I grew up with guns and gun safety was installed in me with my first BB gun at a very young age. Moral of the story, carelessness can kill. Loaded or not, I dont want a gun pointed at me.