Learned a new lesson about Handguns Tonight!

[Airbrush Artist]

Wifes sister came over with her New Husband,I mentioned I was busy going to a gun show earlier in the day which prompted Him to ask about My Revolver and I volunteered to let Him see it, so I went to the lock up in the bedroom brought it backed Unloaded it and cleared it twice,then Handed it to Him upon which He stuck his Finger in the trigger guard and Spun it like a Hula Hoop. I grabbed the Gun and He looked at me and responded "ITS Empty" Yep It sure is ,Then I asked Him if He Liked Holding it ,and he said "Yep" its nice, I said Thats great ,You'll never hold it again! and returned it to the bedroom..actually its My own fault and I will count that as a lessoned learned,Never again will I do that... Wife said I was rude afterwards and I said yes I was , and I will apologize to You..but not to him because anyone of us could be dead right Now had I not cleared the Gun...

 

[kyhunter]

AA. I find it okay to be rude when people are potentially holding a lethal tool in their hands and assume its unloaded then haphazardly endanger everyone i care about. Good job its an excellent thing you were safe about unloading and checking your wheel gun.

 

[col.lemat]

How old is he 12?

 

[9w1911]

I dont let anyone fondle my Kimber.

 

[Airbrush Artist]

I'm so angry at Myself..But I learned a Valuble lesson...One things for certain ,I will never forget it...I'm Thankful the Good Lord had my back tonight ,He is Good...

 

[Prophet]

Yeah, not real bright. That's what happens when you have a culture whose only knowledge of firearms is what they've seen on television. That's why I never hand a firearm to someone without first giving them a rundown of basic firearm handling etiquette. After a while I even started doing this with folks I expected to be familiar with handling firearms.

 

[TCB in TN]

Another reason I always either open the cylinder, lock the slide back, or other wise clear any gun before I hand it to another person. That said I would have likely been "rude" as well!

 

[Rawss]

Your brother-in-law should never own a gun.

 

[TennJed]

Your brother-in-law should never own a gun.

Maybe go the other route and use it as a teaching opp. Maybe the guy knows nothing about guns. This may have been a good chance to teach and bring another person into our hobby. I never condone reckless handling, but that may have been the first time he ever held a gun and was just trying to impress, not knowing better.

Airbrush, you know the situation better than me. Any chance of maybe inviting him to the range and teach him some safe handling?

 

[Fishslayer]

Maybe go the other route and use it as a teaching opp.

Woulda been the way I would go.

And the cylinder is always open when I hand a revolver to somebody. Always.

...and a warning about wrist snapping it shut for the n00bs.

 

[Texan Scott]

Your signature line presents a palpable irony here ...

 

[sota]

I would have been quite rude as well. However as others have suggested, maybe after an appropriate cooling off period you could sit this person down and determine the reason behind him thinking his actions were a good idea. (I'll guarantee in his head he finds he did nothing wrong.) If he is open to the fact he willfully and recklessly endangered everyone around him with that little display of Lone Ranger technique he might be saved from doing far worse in the future. If nothing else, consider you might have to deal with his stupidity in the future, if he were to injure (or worse) your wife's sister.

Best of luck on that one.

 

[BemidjiDweller]

I've had people do a twirl, snap the cylinder shut, fan the hammer, try to open the loading gate on a cocked blackhawk. A guy I didn't know picked up a rifle of mine, took it out of it's sock and started dry firing it at a buds house. I was there cleaning a few firearms and I went to use the bathroom. If I had known my friend was going to have people over, I would not have brought the rifles. I now don't let people handle any of my firearms except for a select few who I know how to handle firearms.

 

[DeepSouth]

I'm glad I don't get that worked up that easily.

Sure he was wrong, but man, use it to teach him not make him think gun owners are overly sensitive, paranoid, rude people.


Just calm down, after all you did know it wasn't unloaded.



My 2¢

 

[rondog]

Even unloaded, the fool could have dropped it and caused some serious damage to it. Yeah, like your signature says.....

 

[Inebriated]

I had a similar situation once. It was my 16 year old cousin, and he pointed my 21 at my dog... His parents never taught him gun safety, so I took the opportunity to give him the four rules, and a couple examples of why we follow them.


Of course, that was after the swift blow to the side of his head.

 

[Skylerbone]

Always best to do these things one-on-one, overtly demonstrating proper technique and asking a few qualifying questions in a casual manner. Remember an untrained adult is no different than an untrained child but we ought never talk down to adults.

I propose stopping by and inviting him for coffee and, whether you feel it warranted or not, apologize. There is no sense in having tension build between your wife and her sister and you have a teachable moment. Explain that as he broached the subject, you erroneously assumed he was familiar with safety protocol and it was reflexive action to regain control of the situation. Ask for a second chance and invite him to the range then make it a priority to follow through.

I feel it's important and here's why: if it were your child you caught playing with that firearm you couldn't very well shun him/her for life nor should you want to. Having a family member who is unsafe with firearms left to his own ignorance means everyone is still at risk of injury or death. Don't let that be on your conscience.

 

[sota]

I never ceases to amaze me how quickly and effectively a good ol' fashion cuffing to the head seems to immediately correct bad and/or unwanted behavior. Why did we ever let the hippies take that from us? I'm sure it goes along with the loss of respect (and even a little fear) of parents. I believe I'm one of the last generations (i'm 40 fyi) where the phrase "wait until your father gets home" actually struck fear and terror into my soul... and even then it was on the way out for most of the people I grew up with. Not that I ever actually got the whoopin' I most likely would have deserved, but the THREAT was enough to give me cause for concern about soiling myself.

 

[beatledog7]

Educate him.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Had a similar experience. It was not fun.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

While painfully annoying, potentially dangerous, and certainly rude, there is a flip side of the coin here...namely the assumption, however "natural" it may be, that any given person actually comprehends the nature of firearms and firearm safety they way they should.

As I learned a long time ago in the Navy, when you "assume" something, you make an "*ss" out of "u" and "me".

One would never intentionally give a firearm to a person of known inexperience (such as a child, young adult, or first time shooter) without proper instruction on safety and handling. Likewise, one should never give a firearm to a person of unproven experience without somehow either confirming their experience or reinforcing proper behavior in the process.

Much of what we all like to refer to as "common sense" has been relentlessly pounted into our heads over quite a bit of time in order to ingrain it into our every action with a firearm. This leads to the development of good habits which embody safe handling of a firearm. A person's age alone does not confer either "common sense" or "good habits".

I never forget that I am ultimately responsible for all my firearms regardless of whom I let handle them. Yes, there is an element of personal responsibility on the individual of the person handling them, but they are MINE and I always treat them as such.

Most cases I'm pretty sure of a person's experience before I hand them a (properly cleared) firearm. But I will still carefully observe everything.

When I'm uncertain, I might do something like clear the firearm, hand it to them, and direct them to verify it free and clear and to keep the weapon pointed in a certain direction. Observations and corrections follow as necessary.

There is a need to weigh further actions based on observations, of course, but I've found that in most cases people are not "maliciously ignorant". In fact, with some tutoring, a significant portion of potential "problem children" with respect to ignorance turned out to be very adept students on the matter.

 

[hso]

There's no "new lesson" in not allowing people you don't trust with your life to handle firearms without at least a brief discussion on safe/proper handling. Never assume that someone won't cowboy twirl or "Kojack" a cylinder or point a pistol at family. That might have prevented all the drama.

 

[BADUNAME30]

Maybe go the other route and use it as a teaching opp. Maybe the guy knows nothing about guns. This may have been a good chance to teach and bring another person into our hobby. I never condone reckless handling, but that may have been the first time he ever held a gun and was just trying to impress, not knowing better.

Airbrush, you know the situation better than me. Any chance of maybe inviting him to the range and teach him some safe handling?

Great response TennJed. That is exactly what i was thinking.

AA, He indeed is good and you were presented not only with a good opportunity for humility but to do as TennJed said. I'm sure it was very easy to give a 'knee jerk' reaction given the circumstances, especialy in the midst of the mixed crowd you were in.
I see two great lessons in this situation. Next time, you'll now know to politely ask someone if they have any experience handling a firearm and better assess the situation before a 'knucklehead' action can occur.And, if they don't, take advantage of the opportunity as TennJed said and maybe bring a newbie into our hobby by being able to share some correct and experienced knowledge with them.
Like the guy or not. I think i'd be eatin some crow and offering an apollogy. If for no other reason. He may come away from it with a better understanding and or appreciation of gun owners.

 

[PRM]

Agree with you TennJed... It was a missed teaching opportunity and probably a chance to get someone into shooting. If people don't know, they don't know. At some point we were all that way (maybe not the unsafe act), but somebody taught us.

I just gave my son his first Colt DA revolver. One I have carried as an LEO and now have passed it on. He is well versed in semi-autos, but never has owned a revolver. First thing I did before putting it in his hand was to go over the proper way of opening and closing the cylinder. Too many revolvers have been damaged by "flicking" the cylinder out or "snaping the wrist" to close it. I took the moment to explain the damage that practice can cause to the crane. They don't make them anymore - so treat it like it was designed. He's happy and I am confident my old friend will see another generation of use.

Moments like that aren't planned, but can leave a life long impression on someone.

 

[Walkalong]

You missed an opportunity to educate him and have now ostracized a possible gun owner/voter.

Don't let emotions drive your actions. Calmly tell him that is bad for a revolver and show him how to handle it properly. Make a friend. After all, you are going to have to be around this fellow at times, being semi related.