We Would Do Well To Remember

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Treo

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I was at the gunshow this weekend, it was full of people who had NO CLUE about guns. I actually saw a woman pick up a small revolver and ask if it was a semiauto and did it have a safety. You know what the owner did? Acted like that was the most intellegent question he'd heard all day and answered it as such.

[RANT] My point is that because of this election a lot of people who never would have considered gun ownership now own guns that they know nothing about.

Where are they going to learn?

Well, I'll tell you this they won't learn it here if we keep labling them as trolls at their first stupid question.

I have changed my stance on several key issues since coming to THR, mostly through interaction W/ more experienced members.

But if I showed up today and asked some of the stupid questions I asked then I would be labled a troll by my second post.

I wouldn't have stayed here that's for sure and I might have ended up over on some AHSA forum being indoctrinated by them.

You might want to consider that the next time someone who can't spell ( I go to a college FULL of them) shows up here asking stupid questions [/RANT]
 
I agree. People with horrible grammar, I try to just ignore, because it hurts my brain, and if I can't say anything nice...

I'm more than happy to answer any little question I can though. We need as many people as possible who feel comfortable and proud to be "in the gun culture" exercising their rights. Those new gun owners might be next to you at the range next time. Let's put the right advice in their head, for everyone's sake.
 
I was at the gunshow this weekend, it was full of people who had NO CLUE about guns. I actually saw a woman pick up a small revolver and ask if it was a semiauto and did it have a safety. You know what the owner did? Acted like that was the most intellegent question he'd heard all day and answered it as such.
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You spelled "intelligent" wrong! (NOT trying to make fun of you - just pointing out the irony of that. I know you're a smart guy and it was just an honest mistake.)

The fact that she was a young woman probably helped. I mean, if I was selling guns and a young woman came up to me and asked me that question, I wouldn't say, "don't you know ANYTHING about guns?" OK, unless I was using the pickup-artist technique known as a "negative" (half-insulting a woman in a sarcastic but playful way) but even in that case, I wouldn't be genuinely mean about it. Discounting that scenario, I think the seller was probably just being professional by acting like her question was intelligent (I mean, what else was he supposed to do? Tell her she was an idiot?) He is, after all, there to SELL stuff...you don't sell stuff by telling your potential customers that they're stupid.
 
I've come to the conclusion that a bunch of folks who cry Troll have absolutely no concept of which they speak.
 
I may be totally misunderstanding your post, threefeathers, and, if I am, please grant me some grace; but, Treo is no troll.
 
U.S.SFC_RET I vote for those who are willing to try. Willing to try to find out and willing to try how to teach those who want to know.
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Amen and hallelujah. We, the agnostics, +1.

Man, we have been conditioned to believe that mistakes are bad things. Best lessons I have learned have been from mistakes. Seriously, there are no dumb questions, just the Academy gun counter guys. (Okay, that was below the belt.)

Give grace, be patient, and realize that everyone was a newbie at one time. I do that in a lot of areas of my life but not perfectly. The gym is one area that hits hard. Everyone has to make a start somewhere. So give the scrawny guy in the corner some credit for even trying to pick up twenty pounds. Don't laugh! At least he got off the couch. Same thing for the big people, give them credit for trying.

Guns are absolutely the same. "Does this revolver have a safety?" Yes ma'am. It is your finger and let me show you why, etc., etc..
 
Troll.




Just kidding, Treo. You make a good point. I would like to add that if someone is replying to a thread to point out the poster's alleged trolldom, and they truly believe that to be the case, the best option is not to reply at all. Trolls are like scabs, or street beggars; ignore them long enough, and they go away on their own.

For others of us (including me from time to time) it's harder not to sound like a condescending jerk when responding to the less initiated, especially if they extol knowledge born of sheer ignorance. I do try to play nice though.
 
psyopspec,

Where have you been lately? Haven't seen you posting. OT, sorry.

Great points psyops, condescinding is subjective at best especially for the defensive types. If only we could rid ourselves of this ego problem. :banghead:
 
The steepest part of the learning curve is recognizable as the condition of not knowing what questions to ask. Still, if they're asking questions, that shows that they are at least seeking the cure for their ignorance, and we should respond appropriately.
 
I agree Treo. I would rather have a small community of gun owners that were educated about safety than a huge community that knew nothing.

If someone asks an honest question, no matter how dumb or obvious, it should be answered.
 
why in the hell would you complain about that? i mean it could be looked at as a good thing right? better asking a few questions than just grabbing it up, i like how people tend to forget things. you didnt know anything about guns at one time either. at least thats another supporter in my eyes.
 
why in the hell would you complain about that?
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You need to read the whole post . He is not complaining, he is giving example of what should happen when someone without knowledge asks a question. And like the OP, I would like to see the members here concern themselves with answering questions in a appropriate manner.

Reminding a new poster/shooter that they can't spell ,instead of answering a simple question , is not my idea of doing it right.
 
i agree. some people just can not spell worth beans. my wife is one of them. i guess english just wasn't important to her, or she had several bad teachers, or a combination of both. i came out of school with a d average in english. i can spell to an acceptable level for the real world, and that is good enough for me. if your only real goal in life is to put down people who are not english schollars, maybe you should think about finding an english language blog and go there.
 
I showed up today and asked some of the stupid questions I asked then I would be labled a troll by my second post.
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I haven't seen this. The newcomers who are given that title are the ones showing up and saying things like "I believe in these sensible gun control measures" in their very first post (we al know which ones I'm talking about).

As for the spelling thing, I agree. This is a message board for guns, not a college thesis. I personally spell very well, but sometimes type too fast and/or don't proof read my post. If the error is minor, I generally won't bother to edit. That said, when the spelling or grammar of a post is so bad that the meaning gets lost, I'll say something, usually along the lines of asking that the post be clarified.
 
I agree Treo. On the other hand, we are seeing, in my opinion, an increase of troll posts here. Someone coming on and in their first or second post asking how to make a straw transfer or if they can shoot the guy across the street. We have to be vigilant and consider each question, and the post count, before we answer. If someone with 1,500 posts asks about a problem neighbor, I'm inclined to help him out. If someone with 5 posts does, I'm thinking troll who just wants to show his buddies over at Democratic Underground that the crazy gun nuts told him to blow away his neighbor.

As far as spelling and grammar, the only thing that bugs me is when it is intentional. People acting like they are posting text messages, using too much slang, or intentionally mangling their punctuation (like periods but no spaces). We will ALL misspell a word now and then, it is inevitable.
 
when i first joined i asked some noob questions.

of course i got some smart aleck remarks, but i also got some very good answers and i still do.

nobody called me a troll though.:D
 
It's pretty ironic actually, but I have already been called a troll on another blog concerning firearms, for asking a stupid question. I have since left that forum.

Because of that, I do not even dear to ask anything that seems obvious to others again. For example, I never really got the whole SA/DA functioning of a firearm. I have never been able to get this explained properly. Yes, I can search on wikipedia or something similar. And there I do understand what is meant. However, as far as I have an understanding after reading up on the interweb, when I get to certain posts I get lost again. Actually, only last week someone I knew was actually able to explain me properly.

greetz,

V.
 
Folks here are pretty good about answering honest noob questions without flogging the noob. Some are not, but they tend to be new themselves and haven't fully grasped the culture here.

OTOH, we do see people asking questions on how to break the law or making statements about same and they get treated differently. We also see some asking questions that appear to be trolling. Some folks maintain the code here and try to correct them while others see the question as trolling and respond based on that evaluation. That's a much harder call.

If you see a troll, hit the red triangle
report.gif
under the potential toll's name and alert a Mod.Then respond as you see fit. We need all the help we can get and if everyone takes a moment to alert the Staff to problems we can help keep the place running smoothly.
 
If you have read the "How to Troll" guide from way back in the usenet days you would realize that we don't have any true trolls on THR. We may have members who are; n00bs, willfully ignorant, plants, agents provocateur, thin-skinned, pot stirrers, arrogant, etc, but no trolls.

Now to be more positive, we also have; helpful, courteous, knowledgeable, loquacious, succinct, funny, interesting, and cool members as well.

IME it is astonishingly easy to determine which is which and who is who.
 
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