Ever let someone borrow a firearm?

[fugi]

no, not unless I'm there, and they're never out of my sight. I've said no to my closest friend and my brother. the only exception was when my dad drove to new orleans right after the hurricane as he was the project manager of a large hotel renovation that was interrupted by the hurricane and he needed supplies. he ended up driving down there from austin with a trailer full of stuff and my pump-action 12ga with dual pistol grips on it. never need it, but I wouldn't have let him leave without it. it turned out that his hotel was the only one in the area that still was able to house people and most of the local law enforcement used it as a staging area.

 

[RH822]

Of course I do. I have loaned guns to my nephews, Nieces, brothers, co-workers and friends over the years and all of them came home safe and sound. As long as you know, I mean really know the person there should be no reason not to trust them. That is just my opinion.

RH

 

[Mandirigma]

Yes, strangely enough, only to friends. I could count them all on one hand. One to replace a weapon the police confiscated after use in self defense. Another to keep as a ready weapon when a female friend was being stalked/harrassed by an ex-boyfriend. And most recently I loaned out my 1911(nhc) to the circle of friends that loaned me theirs (couple of wilsons,and a couple of les baer) while I was shopping around to see which "brand" I wanted to get.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Due to hard lessons learned I will never loan out any firearms. Ruined 1 1903A3 to excessive rust in the bore. and 1 remington 742 to pits in the chamber turing it into an instant single shot.:banghead: :banghead:

 

[redbone]

Reminds me of something my Dad told me many years ago. One of the more insightful things he told me was "There are some people I wouldn't loan $10 to, and there are other that I'd go to the bank to borrow money for if they needed more than I have."

I've only loaned firearms to my sons; nobody else has ever asked. Each request would be evaluated based on something like the above logic. What is the basis of the request? (I.e., is someone thinking about buying that particular model, and wants to try one (in which case I'd probably be going to the range with them), does someone feel threeatened and needs protection, just wanna going huntin', etc.) How immediate is the need? Do I know for sure the person is qualified with that firearm, or can I take him/her to the range and convince myself that they are qualified?

I think I'd be pretty hard to convince. I'd probably be more likely to take someone to the local shop and pay for a gun to be sold to them if a friend needed one for a serious situation in a hurry, and I'd be damn sure they understood all the important stuff before turning them loose (including some range time).

On the other hand, if my sons needed something, there wouldn't be many questions asked, except maybe, what can I do to help you avoid whatever it is that's causing you to ask (assuming it's a serious situation and not something fun like a hunting trip or a trip mto the range with their friends)? But, both sons are well armed, so that probably wouldn't come up anyway.

So, I guess the bottom line is, I'd be pretty hesitant to loan anything, would make sure the borrower knows how to shoot and be safe and the basics of staying out of jail, and I'd be more motivated to help resolve a difficult situation some other way. Family gets what they need, and close friends that I've already shot with may get what they need as well.

 

[ScotZ]

Quite simply........It depends who wants to borrow it. I have many aquaintances that I wouldnt let borrow a screwdriver but a few friends and family members are welcome to borrow about anything they need.

 

[tubeshooter]

I have a Marlin model 60 that is a designated loaner if somebody I knew, liked and felt could handle it responsibly wanted to shoot .22lr. It's my first rifle so it's not a *total* beater, but it's easily replaceable and I've moved on to higher-grade .22s. So it wouldn't be too big a deal if it got damaged or broken.


Past that.... no loaning for me. Learned "the hard way", as some others have I'm sure.

 

[Red Label]

Yes but only to very special people now. I made the mistake of loaning the first shotgun I ever bought myself to a co-worker that I thought I could trust. It came back three days later with a big dinger in the rib He never said a word and when I asked him about it he pretended to not know what I was talking about. He never did tell me what happened but he did buy me a new barrel.

 

[gyp_c2]

huh?

...what I will do is pawn it to you for replacement value as a deposit...

 

[6inch]

Not a chance!

 

[ambush]

I recently rehabilitated a .410 single shot shotgun for a friend. Seems he lent it to a "good" friend to use to teach his 12 Y.O. how to shoot/handle firearms. As unbelievable as this sounds, its true because I saw the results of the negligence. The kid took the shotgun outside to "play" with it one afternoon when daddy wasn't home. Well, the little bugger "accidently" left it lying on the ground out back for two weeks . Really did a job on the finish. I was able to bring it back to where it looks o.k. I never did find out what happened to the kid though. Personally, nobody borrows my firearms, not for any reason.

 

[aaronrkelly]

Yeah I will loan a firearm to a buddy.....but only one that Im willing to lose.

 

[Ditchtiger]

I trust my kids but not the friends they take along, a big NO. But I do loan out ear muffs.

 

[G.I.Bill]

I like several others will loan a gun to family members. They have all handled all of my firearms and I trust them not to attempt something unlawfull with them, such as rob a bank. I have left all of my firearms with my family while away for extended periods, which I think is just like loaning them out. However, I can not see any reason good enough for me to loan a gun to anyone else.

 

[230RN]

I used to lend guns to folks every once in a while.

Not any more.

You never know without an official check whether they're eligible to possess one. Yeah, I know, "knowingly," nevertheless, "could have known or should have known" trumps the "knowingly" if a hotshot prosecutor decides to be a pissant.

Even if the party had a CCW, I'd think hard about it.

I've borrowed a couple of them over the years just to try out and always brought them back in as good or better condition --Ruger .44 Mag SA (hated it), Ithaca 16 gauge double with fake damascus pattern, just to see what 16 gauge was like (neutral), a high-grade pellet rifle whose owner passed away before I could return it and his widow said I should just keep it. (I asked her three times if I could return it.) That one I loved, and I still shoot it from time to time. Sproing.

One Remington .30-06 bolt rifle (I forgot the model) I borrowed somehow broke the plastic trigger guard and I told him I'd have to delay returning it until a new guard came in and I'd installed it.

When I returned it and I showed him the old trigger guard, he agreed that the break was at a poorly-designed weak spot.

Damn plastic. They shoulda made it outa good ole arn.

 

[oweno]

I've done it from time-to-time over the years but it depends on the person. To some I've said "Sure, no problem."; others "Sorry, I never loan a gun."

But, I NEVER loan my chainsaw. If you don't own one, you don't know how to operate one safely. If you're going to kill yourself, you'll do it with your own chainsaw (or, a rented one).

 

[McCall911]

Nope!
"Never a borrower or a lender be!"

 

[jerkface11]

The only people I'd trust to borrow a gun have enough that they probably wouldn't need to borrow one in the first place. If they did i'd suggest a temporary trade for one of theirs.

 

[JWarren]

When I lost a number of guns to a burglery recently, My brother-in-law sent word that he wanted me to come over and go through his gun safe and borrow whenever I needed until I replaced a few.

To me, that was an incredible offer to make-- but one I could not accept. I called him and explained how much it meant to me that he would offer, but that I would not want to put any of his rifles at risk of being damaged, etc.

Today, I would make the same offer sincerly to him, and I have absolutely no doubt he would refuse for the same reasons that I did.


CLOSE family are the only ones I would consider letting use my firearms. It's sad to say, but some of those good friends are the same ones that will sue you when they shoot thier eye out.


John

 

[tydephan]

I have a brother that I would never lend anything to. He doesn't take proper care of anything I lend him, and I've learned that over the years. If I do lend something to him, I write it off and never expect to see it again.

However I have a cousin that I would trust with anything I own. He's the type that if I let him borrow my truck, he brings it back with a full tank of gas and typically has taken it to the carwash too. When my house was burglarized last year, he was the first one to show up and before he left he had let me borrow one of his handguns, as my had been stolen. We are close enough that I know exactly how he takes care of all his rifles and handguns, so I would trust him with any weapon I own. And I know he would return it.

On his recent request for me to help him purhase a new handgun, I told him he could take any of mine and shoot them for as long as he wanted. I never worried a bit about it.

There are probably only three people (all family) that I would lend a firearm too. It all comes down to character and their propensity to properly care for other's property.

Respect, in other words.

 

[Brutus45]

IF I'm not there, neither are my guns!

+1

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I'll lend any of my guns to my dad (mainly because he let me hunt with his before i could buy my own)...other than that, if I'm not there my guns aren't either.

 

[ilcylic]

Yes. I loaned several firearms to a close friend who has a history of personal and financial responsibility, when he needed them for making a movie. (No live ammo involved, not even blanks.) He knew, going into it, that he was ultimately financially responsible for the fireams in question, and if anything came back damaged, he was going to pay for it. Since he had already paid for minor cosmetic damage to my truck from an incident in a different movie, I had pretty good faith that he would be an upstanding person about it.

There are a few other people, all responsible gun owners, to whom I would lend firearms, and in fact, have left firearms with during long absences from home.

But most of the general population: no way.

 

[hank327]

It Depends...

It depends on the person, the situation, the gun to be loaned, lots of things come into play. At this time, I've only loaned a rifle out once. This was to my best friend of over 20 years for a deer hunt. We were hunting together, so except for the times we were on our seperate stands, the rifle was within my view. The hunt went well, my buddy killed two does for his freezer and the rifle was none the worse for wear.

I can count the number of people I would loan a firearm to on one hand and have a couple of fingers left over. I would never loan a firearm to someone who had never owned one before.

 

[RoyJackson]

I lent an SKS rifle out once (for a weekend) to a coworker who was interested in buying it.
Only time I've ever lent a gun out.