# Knowledge is Responsibility



## Grinch (Jan 3, 2016)

Hello everyone, tonight I swung through the gun store which just so happens to be " on the way " and I picked up a few little things, a man came in he was in his early forties and he had a 280 Remington, I have the exact same rifle it's your standard run of the mill nothing fancy Remington 760. Now the first thing I noticed was he had the action closed, kind of a red flag to me, because that just shows to me that he did not care about safety. He tells the owner who is a very caliber-knowing individual that his rifle jammed, so the owner ask him you know the standard stuff, have you cleaned it recently, did you make sure they were the correct shells ect. So this man tells him " yeah I got the box in my car " he retrieves it and the man did manage to free up the gun. The problem was he put a 284 Win in it and touched it off. 

So the man brings the box of 284's in and shows the owner who tells him of his mistake, the man says " well my buddy told me you can do it ". The owner proceeded to tell him that just because something can fire correctly does not mean it should through a gun. This man then ask him about his 357 Desert Eagle why it won't fire 38's through it. The owner informs of him of the lower pressures ect and warned him it would not be wise to keep doing that. 

You know I will admit I've made mistakes when it comes to dealing with guns, who hasn't ? But you know something, it strikes me odd at how such stupid people can not only own but carry a gun. It's sad to think that some of these people might be preppers. I know there's the whole thinning the herd mentality at play here, but you know it makes responsible gun owners look like complete idiots. Truthfully it's sad, I mean when I was younger my old man had me write down the general ballistics of calibers I wanted to help me learn how to write and stuff I was brought up in an incredibly gun-friendly environment. None of my relatives were these so called operators or anything like that, but I was still taught safety and responsibility with a firearm. 

By no means do I think that the populous should be disarmed, I do strongly believe though that there should be something ANYTHING out there to rid guns from the hands of the incompetent. Personally I like Trump's idea of nation wide carry permits, but guns fall into the hands of too many the government finds to be suitable for gun ownership. I read too much about guys complaining because their 10mm's won't cycle 40 S&W's properly and things like that. I do not believe to be suitable for gun ownership one must know the exact chamber pressure and everything about the cartridge, my grandfather thinks there should be one question on a background check and that is; Are you an idiot ? 

Lets face it everyone after SHTF there's going to be too many people out there who think they know a lot more about guns than what they do, and they are going to be the biggest danger out there. Like I've said before I don't know everything there is about guns. If I did or anyone did they would have published 1000 books covering it and went on to a different subject, what I'm saying is there should be more responsible AND informed gun owners out there instead of just gun owners.


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## Grim Reality (Mar 19, 2014)

Yes, you do see it often. I recall a fellow with his 110 lb. wife came into a store while I was there. He wanted to
get her a 12 ga. and have them put a pistol grip on it for her to have a home defense gun.

I did my best to tell him differently..."Has your wife ever really fired a 12 ga.?" "No, but I know this is a KICKASS
weapon that'll stop ANYONE!" "Have YOU ever fired a 12 ga. with only a pistol grip? I believe it will have too
much recoil for her...some men have trouble with it." He became irritated and ignored me...I didn't go further.
He had a preconceived idea of what to get and there was no dissuading him.

I would like to have seen the exchange between the two of them when she fired that thing the first time! I have
figured that there just might not have been a SECOND time! He might be more investigatory next time around.

I do recall recommending at least moving to a 20 ga., but again, it fell on deaf ears.

Grim

Now I'm going to have all sorts chiming in about the elephant gun their wife shoots!


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## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

I volunteer as a range safety officer on Fort Carson @ Cheyenne Mountain Shooting Complex... good people there.

One Saturday, while going down the firing line checking peoples tables, I take a moment and something catches my eye.

A pistol on the table facing backwards ( opposite of downrange ).

I politely motion for the owner "Sir, could you help me for a second?"
Gun Owner: "Sure!"
Myself: "Could you point your firearm downrange?"
Gun Owner: "Oh yeah, sorry about that."

I had already noticed the mag was still inserted.

Myself: "Sir, is your firearm loaded?"
Gun Owner: "I dunno."
Myself: "Okay, please drop the mag."

Gun owner drops the mag and it is full...

Myself: "Sir, please rack the slide."

An unspent round flies out the chamber... and a look of shock is on his face.
He begins apologizing...

Myself: "I understand, mistakes happen, luckily this time there weren't any consequences."
Myself: "Just make sure whenever you lay down your firearm next time it is pointed down range, and you have the range safety indicator inserted. Thank you."

People make mistakes, yet I can't begin to comprehend how you make that one.
Thankfully he was willing to listen and learn, I only wish all firearm owners were that way.
*I wish I had the time to work with every single person 1:1 to teach safety.*

I am grateful even though I am not paid for my time, that I had the opportunity to potentially save a life that day.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

At least it will work out once the SHTF. Survival of the fittest and it won't be them for long.


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## Doc Holliday (Dec 22, 2012)

sar-1l said:


> i volunteer as a range safety officer on fort carson @ cheyenne mountain shooting complex... Good people there.
> 
> One saturday, while going down the firing line checking peoples tables, i take a moment and something catches my eye.
> 
> ...


*yikes!!!!*


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## BuckB (Jan 14, 2016)

Grinch - 

I agree with your entire post. But just to be difficult, I am going to play devil's advocate...

I grew up hunting. From the time I was 10 or 12, I knew how to safely shoot a 22 rifle, a 20ga (later 12 ga) pump/bolt action shotgun configured for bird hunting and a 30 cal bolt action rifle for deer. That's it, end of story. I was taught by my father and grandfather to be the safest guy in the woods with those three weapons as long as I was hunting. When I started learning pistols and semi-auto rifles, I had no idea what I was doing. In my case, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the sport of shooting (rather than hunting) by a Marine. So I learned from the best. But not a lot of guys have that luxury.

For really the last two generations, folks have not grown up learning to shoot safely for shooting's sake. Some might learn enough to hunt safely. Most do not even learn that anymore.

I think a lot of it goes back to Americans losing our heritage of being a nation of Riflemen. If you doubt me, look at the similarities between the Revolutionary war and the Vietnam war. In the Revolutionary war, a good soldier could load and fire between 4 and 5 rounds per minute. From that, he could reasonably assume to get 1-2 hits per minute. During Vietnam (the last conflict I could find stats on) a soldier could fire at the rate of about 900 rounds per minute and still get 1-2 hits per minute.


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