Is it impolite to point a gun with your hand over the muzzle?
- Thread starter BigBlock
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yes dont "sweep" someone else with a checked and unloaded weapon or a hammer for that matter.. or a paintbrush... these including the gun are just tools... nothing more... you can be safe without acting like a 10 year old child in his hunter safty course
benEzra
Moderator Emeritus
Ninjas on the ceiling? Or straight down?
I'm trying to visualize why either a Sabrina-like or sul-like position wouldn't work even if you are standing very close to others, unless the lighting was very bad.
Masonry walls (even cinder block, mortared in place) will stop handgun rounds and is a safe backstop. However, putting one's hand over the muzzle of a handgun is only slightly more effective as a backstop than nothing at all.
Holstered pistols with the trigger guard protected are inert. Guns in people's hands aren't.
Speaking for myself here, when I clean guns, nothing goes in front of the muzzle until the gun is disassembled. I may sometimes run a bore snake through a gun barrel with the action locked OPEN, but even then I do not let it point at my body, just the hand pulling the snake or holding the cleaning rod, out of (good) habit. And I would never point even a disassembled gun at someone else (exceedingly bad manners).
Yes, I have checked the inside of gun barrels, with the gun disassembled. In the case of a revolver, I can see that one might have to settle for the action being open. As far as checking revolver lockup by looking down the barrel, no, I've never done that and probably never will.
The thing is, none of those things justify sweeping someone else with the muzzle of a gun in a store or anywhere else, and I would be uncomfortable (and a bit peeved) if swept regardless of how crowded the shop was.
Zak is probably too modest to toot his own horn here, so just so you know where he's coming from...
There's more, but that's a-plenty...
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Zak Smith
Member
Personal attacks aside, there is no reason for the safety violations described in the opening post. The vast majority of the respondents in this thread agree.
Funderb
Member
ohkay, good,
now STOOOOOOOOOP!
please?
now STOOOOOOOOOP!
please?
They sell .50BMGs as well. I'm sure those are pointed at the wall.
I'm not talking about using my hand to stop a bullet, I'm saying "I'm so confident this gun won't go off that I'll risk my own hand".
This is in a store mind you, that hands you a pistol without first checking to see that it's loaded.
I DID NOT come here to get a safety lecture from self appointed experts.
You never answered me Zak, have you ever looked down a gun barrel?
rbernie
Contributing Member
Lemme get this straight.
You ask us for our opinion. We give it to you. It differs from your own. You then proceed to insult our capabilities, experience, and knowledge.
I have to ask - if you already know the answer, why do you bother to ask the question?
a gun loaded in a hoslter should not be considered simply inert and to say that a unloaded and checked weapon is less inert by some fools logic is simply fools logic... and fools logic has no place on gun furoms where people are asking actual advice and seeking knowledgable opinions... and there are no personal attacks... and unloaded gun is nothing put metal and wood or plastic.. completly "inert" unless your gonna use it for blunt force trauma of then this thread would have asked... would you be offended if while checking a unloaded gun i bashed you in the face with it?...
Funderb
Member
STOOOOOOOOOP!
CMON guys this thread needs to be over.
He's not "AIMING" the pistol at you, man, hes looking at it. If he pulled the trigger with you downrange even empty, that would be bad, but I think you, and a lot of people aren't reading the whole post before responding.
CMON guys this thread needs to be over.
He's not "AIMING" the pistol at you, man, hes looking at it. If he pulled the trigger with you downrange even empty, that would be bad, but I think you, and a lot of people aren't reading the whole post before responding.
rbernie
Contributing Member
I don't care if he's looking down the sights or not. If the action is closed and the gun is in his hands, he needs to treat it as if its loaded (and so does everyone else around him).
It's just that simple.
Betchya this dude wished he had:
http://www.9news.com/news/world/article.aspx?storyid=111159&catid=347
It's just that simple.
Betchya this dude wished he had:
http://www.9news.com/news/world/article.aspx?storyid=111159&catid=347
Funderb
Member
:banghead:
rbernie
Contributing Member
I've been to hundreds of gun shows. I've been swept constantly. That doesn't mean that I like or, or that it's safe, or that it's correct.
I've also been in places where people routinely beat the snot outta each other in a drunken rage. That doesn't mean that such behavior is acceptable; it only means that people do silly things sometimes.
I've also been in places where people routinely beat the snot outta each other in a drunken rage. That doesn't mean that such behavior is acceptable; it only means that people do silly things sometimes.
rbernie
Contributing Member
I see no such logic. I only see the logic that says that it you handle it and the action is closed, you must treat it as if its loaded.
If you are afraid of handling loaded weapons, well then OK - leave it on the table.
I have no such fear. I simply don't point a gun at anyone while I'm looking at it or holding it.
If you are afraid of handling loaded weapons, well then OK - leave it on the table.
I have no such fear. I simply don't point a gun at anyone while I'm looking at it or holding it.
KevinAbbeyTech
Member
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I don't think I would like anybody pointing a gun at me if it was at all avoidable, but I do (after unloading and checking the chamber) look down the barrel of my firearms.
In my home state, pointing a firearm at a person (unless in self defense), loaded or unloaded is a misdemeanor.
In my home state, pointing a firearm at a person (unless in self defense), loaded or unloaded is a misdemeanor.
rbernie
Contributing Member
Kevin Dunn doesn't think that fear is so irrational, right about now.
as previously posted, it is best not to perform the aformentioned actions while examining a gun.. .there are several ways to avoid it... point elsware, request someone step back...etc.. personally,I would recommend, as previously stated, removing the cylinder or locking the slide of any gun being "examined" as would be the case in the hand over the muzzle senario... do that, inform those around you of a gun being pointed their way in the near future(if no option) and, if it makes you feel better, put your hand over the end of the barrel... I dont think anyone will object to that. (maybe the hand, but it is your and I understand)
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