How many people would you trust with a shotgun

[TCB in TN]

In a closed thread this was posted....

Think about YOUR life... how many people would you be around and trust with a shot gun? Not many I bet.

It got me to thinking, how many people would I be around and trust with a shotgun, or any gun for that matter????

Well I shoot fairly regularly with my wife, my children, my nephews, Dad, BiL, and a number of other family members. Say 20 or so people in that group. I feel very comfortable with any of them with a loaded weapon (shotgun, rifle, or handgun).

Well what about other people?

Well I have a number of friends that I have shot with or hunted with over the years. 10-15 men, and many of their wives and children. I cannot recall ever being frightened around them.

What about strangers who are armed in public?

I carry and know many, many more who do, knowing they are armed does not scare me. I have noticed many strangers carrying over the years, and besides making a note of the fact, and (when someone prints, or I can only see the grips) perhaps wondering what specifically they are carrying, I cannot remember ever being frightened, or having a lack of trust for that individual because they are armed.

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

 

[Bianchi?]

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

No more than usual

 

[Akita1]

Only the people I hunt and shoot with regularly (that's for ANY gun)

 

[19-3Ben]

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

Nope. It means it's a person who values his/her life enough to bother protecting it. I can relate to this person's values.
The way I see it, people are to be trusted until they prove otherwise. So when i see some clown at a range or in my LGS sweep me with a finger on the trigger, I stop trusting that person. But until then, he's just another guy exercising a right, same as me.

 

[JERRY]

about as many as i trust driving a car.

 

[MedWheeler]

Piers Morgan asked the owner of All Around Pizza in Virginia, who encourages his customers and employees to go armed, why he did not feel unsafe with all those "strangers" about carrying guns. The owner, whose name escapes me at this time, did not have an immediate good reply, but I did. I would have felt no more unsafe there than I do at the gun shop, gun show, or firing range. In fact, I'd feel even more safe there than at the firing range because no one at the pizza place is actively handling and shooting their firearms.
Morgan's argument was that statistics would indicate that "more guns" would mean more likelihood of violence (or accident.) But, if that were indeed true, those places I mention would be daily bloodbaths.

Here in Florida, odds are that at least one in 20-25 people I pass in a crowded area, such as the local mall, is armed.

 

[zdc1775]

about as many as i trust driving a car.

I trust more people with any guns than with a car.
As to the original question more than I can easily count.

 

[Outlaw Man]

If you're talking in a situation like pheasant hunting where you're sweeping the area with shotguns, not many.

If you're talking about being in a public environment with a shotgun slung over their shoulder (or a pistol on their hip, for that matter), I trust them as much as I do drivers, like Jerry said. If something bad goes down, I hope I'm safer because they're there. I'd much prefer them with a gun than only the bad guy with a gun.

 

[FitGunner]

Just once. A kid in high school showed up at a carnival waving revolver and muzzle swept everyone trying to show it off. Idiot. Otherwise I have not worried about this with people. I have not experienced this kind of behavior since. I am just aware of what others are doing and watch the way people act.

 

[fastbolt]

...

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

I don't exactly have an over-abundance of trust in the abilities and judgment of many folks when it comes to operating a motor vehicle or a shopping cart ... and that's without any undue stress or exigent conditions being present.

Why should I feel differently about people possessing, carrying & using firearms?

I make this casual observation after having worked as a LE firearms instructor for more than 20 years (during which I've also volunteered to work in classes which have been attended by a few hundred non-LE/CCW type gun owners).

Lack of training, in-grained skills, knowledge and hands-on experience can also be a disadvantage when someone may unexpectedly find themselves in a dynamic, chaotic, rapidly evolving and life-threatening deadly force situation.

Just look at what an "average" driver may do, and NOT do, when unexpectedly encountering even a minor emergency situation while driving ... and that's with the benefit of frequently operating and using their motor vehicle. How much less well equipped might they be if they only drove (or practiced) with it once or twice a year, or even monthly ... and then were thrust into the midst of an emergency situation?

 

[Trung Si]

I would trust the past and the present VP (Crazy Uncle Joe)!

 

[c4v3man]

Realizing that criminals are already armed, and will be regardless of any laws put in place, I'd feel more comfortable in a society with "friendly strangers" having firearms. I can't see them carrying around a shotgun everywhere, and I'd probably give them a long second look if they were. Unless they did something reckless with it I'd be comfortable with their having one.

 

[thorazine]

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

Don't care.

Typically I am carrying one or two firearms as well and the girlfriend if she is with me is carrying one. =D

 

[MikeJackmin]

I trust legally armed strangers more than I trust unarmed strangers. To be legally armed, you have to have made it to adulthood without a felony conviction, and without a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction. That puts you into a statistical subgroup that is at very low risk for serious crime.

That does not exclude idiots, of course, but being idiotic and carrying a gun is often self-limiting, and such combinations diminish over time. The group that's left is well above average in terms of trustworthiness.

 

[22-rimfire]

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

It depends on the sitution. If I was in a downtown portion of a city and a couple guys get out of their vehicle carrying shotguns, I might be a little concerned.

In small towns and rural areas, I generally don't have a problem with anyone who is armed as long as they aren't waving the gun around for no reason at all.

Do I pay attention? Yes.

MikeJackmin, how can you tell if they are legally armed? All I see is a gun...

 

[Satasaurus]

about as many as i trust driving a car.

+1!!

I trust no one but close friends and relatives that have proven themselves. Pretty much anyone else I'll stay way away from and keep my eye on them. I've seen some really, REALLY stupid people at the range before. People that shouldn't have been allowed to have kids or guns.

One memorable time was this guy that handed his ~10 year old son a 9mm and basically walks away. The kid was waving it in all directions while it was loaded, pointing it at people. The dad was too busy talking to his friend to watch him I guess. It's just like what they teach you when you get your motorcycle license; act like everyone is trying to kill you and be thrilled when they don't.

 

[45_auto]

I trust no one but close friends and relatives that have proven themselves.

So how do you treat all those people with concealed carry licenses carrying guns that you don't know about?

Do you react to people differently in public places where guns are supposedly not allowed, versus everywhere else?

How does trusting no one but close friends and relatives make any difference when you don't know if the person has a gun or not?

 

[Sgt_R]

If a person is armed but not actively handling the weapon (rifle on a sling, handgun in a holster, etc.), then I see no reason for concern.

If a person is armed and safely handling their weapon, then I see no reason for concern.

If a person is armed and unsafely handling their weapon, either through negligence or malicious intent, then I will act as I see fit, either by correcting the unsafe behavior, removing myself from the unsafe situation, or by neutralizing the threat.

TL;DR: I don't care who has a gun, s' long as they don't point it at me.

R

 

[Texan Scott]

Our 2a rights are our rights until we prove by our choice of actions that we cannot be trusted

Your 2a rights should not be based on whether or not Chuck Schumer feels trust in you;
Fortunately, my rights are not based on how you feel about me.

 

[longknife12]

Having shot skeet and trap for years, I honestly have never seen unsafe
useage of a shotgun. Bird hunting, I observe all others for a few minutes if
a prob exists, I don't go with that person again!
Dan

 

[The-Reaver]

The only people I associate with are as armed as me.

 

[smalls]

I don't trust anyone. But that's the price of freedom.

 

[allaroundhunter]

So I guess my question is, do you distrust someone because they are armed?

Well, just having a gun does not make me not trust someone. After I see them use it my opinion might change.

Having shot skeet and trap for years, I honestly have never seen unsafe
useage of a shotgun. Bird hunting, I observe all others for a few minutes if
a prob exists, I don't go with that person again!
Dan

I RO'd a 3 gun match recently, and I was swept twice by people holding loaded shotguns...

I am quite young, but I have already been peppered more times than I can count while birdhunting....Maybe I'm just a pellet magnet

 

[beatledog7]

Trust is earned.

I know and generally trust some non-gun people--people who lack any sort of gun training. If need be, or if they asked, I could get many of them up to speed fairly quickly.

In one sense, I don't currently trust these people with a gun. To their credit, these folks know that they know nothing about safe gun handling, and therefore would not handle one. In that sense, I trust that they would know what not to do with one, namely, pick it up.