Firearm misconceptions.

[Deadman]

Probably the practice put forth by hollywood that you can constantly drop opponents with single shots from handguns.

I never consiously thought about it, but seeing it so often, I just took it for granted.

Now whenever someone instantly dies in a hollywood film from one handgun bullet or a single stab wound to the gut I always mentally roll my eyes.

 

[Orion]

That what the man behind the counter is telling me is the Gods honest truth and that he's looking out for my best interests.

That the newest next bestest widget that will change the face of shooting will make me a better shooter.

That because the Army issues it it's the best avaialable (post 1986 of course)

I'm too well trained to have an N.D.

Glocks are perection and can be sneaked through a metal detecter because they's plastic.

 

[griz]

First, that shooting a handgun was easy, just like on TV. The first time I shot a revolver, a 32 S&W, I actually thought there was something wrong with the gun because I couldn't hit anything. I "knew" it couldn't be me, I could hit things with a 22 rifle.

Second, that bullets had knock down power. Experience showed otherwise.

 

[sm]

I grew up with 2 hanguns only (Gov't 45 and a 22 revo) in the house.
My only misconception I guess: you can't miss with a shotgun--

 

[pax]

Yeah, you can't miss with a shotgun. That was one.

And you don't need anyone to show or teach you how to shoot a shotgun. After all, you can't miss with it, right? So all you gotta do is keep one in your closet and you'll be able to kill anything that tries to climb in the window.

And, of course, you don't need to keep a shotgun loaded, because racking it makes a noise that causes intruders to crap their pants and run away crying for their mommas.

Plus, a 12 guage won't punch through any of the walls inside your home, no matter how thin the walls are or what ammo you use.

Had some trouble learning the various calibers. After all, the 9mm, 9x19, 9mm luger, 9mm largo, 9x18, 9mm steyr, 9mm short, 9mm parabellum ... you know, they all sounded pretty much alike to me! Plus, whenever anyone would start to explain 'em, they'd start with some basic little tidbit ("That's a 9mm") and then quickly add a whole bunch of extraneous stuff, up to and including summaries of all the caliber wars that have ever been fought, and with interesting little rabbit trails about which companies developed the round and why they developed it and why the FBI isn't using it anymore or has gone back to it or stopped using it again and why it's better than a .45 (or why nothing is better than a .45) and which guns it goes in and why it doesn't work so well in one of the guns that it was designed for and what weight of bullet you'd expect it to propel and why they've stopped making it and how much 'stopping power' it's supposed to have and which companies used to make it and don't anymore and which companies make it now but are rumored to be about to discontinue it and which new guns are going to be coming out which shoot it and by that time my eyes would be glazed over and I'd think, "I am never going to get the hang of this!"

Another misconception. I thought I wasn't good enough to take a class. (Hmmm, something wrong with the logic there -- ya think?)

I'm sure there's more ...

pax

We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones. -- L. Rochefoucauld

 

[Mark Benningfield]

Ignorance

Hello All.

Well, like many, I grew up with firearms. The main thing that I was ignorant of was how big a fuss some people were making over other people having guns. Until I was old enough to experience the wider world, it never occured to me that someone would have a problem with owning guns. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE I knew had guns and shot them, whether plinking or hunting or adjusting BG behavior patterns. When I got to college and ran into sheeple for the first time, I was flabbergasted. It was readily apparent that these folks knew nothing factual about guns, but when I tried to explain to them the truth, they would say "Well, that's not what I've been told..." ad infinitum. I still can't believe it to this day.

 

[PATH]

That firing a gun would beat up your shoulder so as to make you not want to shoot anymore. Never happened to me!

 

[gwalchmai]

I used to think no "ordinary citizen" needed a full-auto assault rifle.

I was told a .45 ACP would spin a man around if it hit his thumb at 100 yards.

And that M-16 bullets tumbled end-over-end toward their target, resulting in a cruel and devastating wound.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I liked chipperman's post that he used to think people who carried guns were paranoid. While attending Defensive Handgun I at Thunder Ranch, a firearms trainer for Hillsboro, Texas sheriff's department took liberty of poking fun at me for wearing a ballistic vest. More than once he suggested that my wearing of the vest was because I was paranoid. I had to laugh. I was in a class with 16 other individuals who were there to learn how to better defend themselves with handguns , but I was paranoid for wearing protection capable of stopping handgun rounds.

On the last day of class, while we were getting our certificates, I had not changed out of my gear. Deputy Fife once again commented that I could take of my vest since nobody was shooting. I asked if he still had his gun on him and his reply was that he did, that he always did. I explained that I had seen his targets and that I was much better off with a vest on so long as he had a gun in his possession. He didn't think that was funny, but the rest of us had a good laugh.

 

[telewinz]

That the 32 acp was pretty much useless for self-defense. Stats have proven me wrong.

 

[armabill]

When I was a kid, you could carry your firerarm from the house to the river, creek or shooting range in plain sight.

Now the area that I use to hunt is off limits and being built up. We always had good picken's behind the airport but now is not allowed.

Even though with all the "progress" in the area, the rabbit and pheasant population has grown. Due to no hunting.

Man, wish that I could go back there and de-populate it some.

 

[Orion]

Yeah, I wanna add to this again.

That owning an AR or other Black Rifles was a bad thing.

That Select Fire or automatic weapons were banned or regulated for the good of the community.

That the Police were here to protect and serve me and mine.

That the second amendment would always be there for me if I ever needed it.

Boy did my eye open.
just a little too late.

 

[armabill]

It's never too late. You have seen the light and that's a good thing!

 

[Viking6]

In my youth I thought that having a firearm would protect me without the requisite training and will to use it. Not really a misconception but a realization, owning a firearm doesn't make you a good person or a bad person, it makes you a firearm owner.

 

[armabill]

With responsibilities and hopefully common sense.

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

That the police were required by law to protect me and my family.

That I could purchase a firearm in New Jersey without six different kinds of governmental humiliation.

- pdmoderator

 

[ball3006]

The only one I had was....

when my Dad told me when I was a teenager back in the 50's that all of those old Springfields at the army surplus store for 15.00 were junk and you shouldn't waste your money....chris3

 

[Kukri]

That I could hit anything with a .38 S&W snubbie. The only thing I hit was a big can at 25 yards and I wasn't even aiming for it!

 

[GaTech]

That I could hit a target at about 20 yards with a Ruger 44 Mag without ever shooting a handgun before.

That you accurately shoot the Ruger 44 Mag one-handed like Clint Eastwood (aka Dirty Harry).

That it was illegal to open carry in Georgia.

That you needed a permit to own a handgun in Georgia, etc. etc.

 

[faustulus]

That a .45 was better than a 9mm

 

[larryw]

I used to think I was a good shot. Now I know I need more practice.

 

[Peetmoss]

I was knee high to a grashhopper when the Glock hit the market. And I believed it was an evil gun cause thats what I saw I the Boob tube. Now I own one of those evil guns and love it to pieces.

 

[NewShooter78]

I used to not know why anyone would want to own a fully automatic weapon. But know I would love to own one just to shoot for fun, and I can't get one.

 

[444]

Owning a "silencer" is illegal.

Owning a machinegun is illegal.

I once talked to a guy that was convinced that possession of "M16 ammo" is illegal.

A .25 ACP, .22LR, .32 ACP, .380 ACP etc. won't kill anyone, "it will just piss them off"

One Shot Stops

People "know how to shoot" just because they are police officers or have served in the military.

The choice of a scope is dependent on the caliber of the rifle or how much you paid for the rifle; "Why would you put a scope like that on a .22?" "I can't buy that scope, it costs more than the rifle".

"I shot that deer at 400 yards" How do you know if was 400 yards ? "It must have been that far". Where does you rifle hit at 400 yards ? "I just held at the top of it's back"

When shooting a submachine gun, you just aim at their feet because it is impossible to control the muzzle climb.

Silencers are silent

44 Magnum is the most powerful handgun in the world and the recoil will break your wrist.

Firearms knowlege based on something that was in a movie.

 

[cheygriz]

The most common misconceptions when I was a kid:

1. a .357 magnum will penetrate an engine block in a car.

2. a .45 automatic will stop a bad guy quicker than a 9MM or .38 special, AND the .45 acp is so powerful that the recoil from a 1911 will sprain your wrist.

3. you can't miss with a shotgun.

4. If you get into a (civilian-self defense) gunfight it might be at long range, (over 7 yards.)

5. The '03 Springfield is a .30-30 (Had a retired 30 year marine master sergeant tell me that one.)

6. you can't hit a man sized target with a handgun past 100 yards.

7. all veterans know at least a little bit about small arms.

8. SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST : People who write articles for gun magazines know what they are writing about.