Gun-related sayings that need to go away

[Carl N. Brown]

I wonder if anyone back in the day tried to justify the Winchester 1866 by calling it a modern sporting rifle?
It was just a "civilian" version of the high-capacity rapid-fire Henry 1860 used mostly by lucky Union soldiers.

 

[Tommygunn]

I don't know if this has been posted before ....... but is anyone here, like me, annoyed by the phrase "packing heat?" It's come to really grate on my nerves......

 

[Archie]

My pick to forget is the phrase 'gun violence'.

Human beings do violence to one another. It is violence regardless of instrumentality. One notes no mention is make of 'knife violence', 'hatchet violence', 'poison violence', 'strangling violence', 'rope violence' or 'baseball bat violence'.

 

[John_R]

AR15s are modern, and used by civilians for sport 99.9% of the time. They are not combat rifles. What should they be called?

Too bad we can’t just call them “rifles.”

 

[SamT1]

That seems to be the basis of that aspect of the culture. However, it was an unpleasant culture and not a role model. Any implication that a dueling society would be a good thing is a fantasy. If we move away from that and think that the right to bear arms makes for a more free society and one that allows self-defense, that is a different implication from the story.

I’d venture to say that today’s enforcement of laws by lawyers to the point of where you can’t settle something with a fist fight is downgrading American society as a whole. People have zero respect for each other and say and do things that 20 or even 10 years ago would have got their butt kicked. The internet and social media no doubt play a roll too. People get used to being a jerk online and it translates to public life.

 

[boom boom]

That seems to be the basis of that aspect of the culture. However, it was an unpleasant culture and not a role model. Any implication that a dueling society would be a good thing is a fantasy. If we move away from that and think that the right to bear arms makes for a more free society and one that allows self-defense, that is a different implication from the story.

We already have that culture present in the U.S. in places today where dissing- (disrespecting) someone causes gunfire to break out. Deplatforming and shunning are also parts of a honor culture albeit less violent.

Montesquieu has some interesting things to say about honor cultures and why the British, who by and large eschewed it, did better than the French in economic development because of they channeled their competition into business rather than the French aristocrats in attaining status at the court.

 

[Shimitup]

I don't like the term "gun culture" or any other term created by the anti 2a left.

 

[luzyfuerza]

I hate the phrases "packin' heat" or being "strapped".

Another: "Look at the [gun] that followed me home today".

 

[TheSquire]

Any over-used phrase becomes meaningless with use. Its not the phrases that I dislike so much as the lack of thought or engagement that generally goes with it. A quick reply with some old chesnut / cliche closes down a conversation and often trivialises things to the point that further conversation is pointless.

 

[Old Dog]

Variations of any statements including the phrase(s):

"It [usually referring to someone's attire or method of carry] just screams 'gun.'"

"It doesn't scream 'gun.'"

Sorry, but even when I see some overweight, bearded guy attired in the latest 5-11 pants with polo shirt covered with a tan safari vest, coolly sporting Oakley Gascan shades and trying hard to look like a retired Blackwater contractor just back from downrange, no one or nothing is screaming "gun" to me or anyone else. Now, do most of us know this guy is likely packing? And if we see some dude trying to be the gray man and blend in, do we automatically assume that person doesn't have a gun? Phrases that facilitate buying into stereotypes or "common knowledge" can be dangerous.

 

[ATLDave]

And if we see some dude trying to be the gray man and blend in

If we "see some dude trying to be the gray man and blend in," have they not, perforce, failed?

I'm reminded of this scene:

 

[John_R]

I'm sick of reading that a revolver "locks up like a bank vault." Stop it. Just, stop it. I've never seen a revolver that doesn't have at least a tiny bit of wiggle in the cylinder when the hammer is cocked.

 

[.308 Norma]

I wonder if anyone back in the day tried to justify the Winchester 1866 by calling it a modern sporting rifle?

LOL! Probably not, but I doubt there was anyone calling a Winchester 1866 an "assault rifle" either.

 

[The Evangelist Cowboy]

I'm sick of reading that a revolver "locks up like a bank vault." Stop it. Just, stop it. I've never seen a revolver that doesn't have at least a tiny bit of wiggle in the cylinder when the hammer is cocked.

Then you haven't seen alot of revolvers.

 

[redneck2]

So for me, while I understand the concept behind the “all guns are always loaded” language, I dislike it.

Exactly. Treat a gun as if it’s always loaded. I can live with that

 

[Chaparral]

“Locked and loaded” or “lock and load” annoy me. Origin and exact meaning seem uncertain - possibly from a Hollywood script editor who thought it sounded better than “load and lock”, which would make more sense.

 

[Creed Bennett]

It’s probably already been said somewhere in the 9 pages but “run or running” in a gun discussion drives me nuts! “What kind of scope are you running on that rifle”. I’m not running anything in or on a firearm. Running makes me tired and I’m too #&$@ old! And I know it’s about phrases but “Tactical” is just a stupid word anymore. It won’t be long before we have tactical toothpaste at the rate we’re going! How about tactical toilet paper? And don’t forget the ladies...they may need tactical tampons!

 

[Mn Fats]

I'm sick of reading that a revolver "locks up like a bank vault." Stop it. Just, stop it. I've never seen a revolver that doesn't have at least a tiny bit of wiggle in the cylinder when the hammer is cocked.

I agree for the most part BUT I did have a Dan Wesson 15-2v Monson, Mass that I picked up in a small shop in Wisconsin a few years back for $350 w/ holster that when cocked, it didnt wiggle one bit. Maybe someone tuned it up before I got it but that sucker "locked up as tight as a bank vault" Maybe tighter? Bank vaults might have a little play.

 

[jmorris]

Wow, #219 has to be, it’s not the size of the boat but the motion in the ocean...

 

[Robert]

9 pages of stupid sayings seems like more than enough.