Millions of new gun owners/thousands of new THR members

[Riomouse911]

I’ve perused numerous forums across the web for years, two or three get almost all of my internet time. A couple of others I go to for a specific question on a gun or cartridge/load combo that the forum focuses on. The rest I watched and left quickly without a morsel of remorse because so many of the inhabitants were such jerks.

THR has a large group of very experienced folks with a wide variety of gun likes and specialties. The vast majority of members will share what they know with new learners without being “that guy” lurking around the gun counter who obnoxiously drives you away.

You all have added to my knowledge base without judgement or snottiness, I hope to be able to share what little I know with others as well.

This is why I come back.

Stay safe.

 

[Dain Bramage]

After all these years, I'm just about getting a grip on cartridge naming conventions and Smith & Wesson third generation model numbers.

Now, on to tackle .45 vs. 9mm.

 

[bullseye308]

I have spent many hours on fakebook in a few reloading groups trying to help out the many new shooters and reloaders figure out what they are doing and how to do it. Stepping on a few rude folks and pointing out disinformation at every turn to keep folks interested and safe. It is interesting and just like posting here I learn stuff all the time. I have referred quite a few here and cast boolets site to get more or better info than I could provide.

Never be afraid to tell someone “I don’t know” but tell them I know where we can find out. Been doing that with my kids and friends many years. It is so much easier now than when I was new and had to hit the library and search the card catalog and hope the book was in. Now you just ask your phone and get most anything answered, but without experience you don’t know if the info is correct and safe. That is where hobby specific forums like this one come in, and we would be doing newbies a disservice by not being patient with them and teaching them that they don’t know what they don’t know. I think that is the most important lesson of all. What we now take for granted they don’t have the luxury of, experience. Many of us already made the mistakes, or learned from someone that has.

Point out the threads like “things you wish you knew when you started”, what things have you invented to make _______ easier”, “reloading on the cheap”, and of course “Read this first” threads that they normally wouldn’t think to look for and reference. Remember folks, we were all new at one point and remember how we wished we had resources like this one.

 

[Hokkmike]

Give me the excited newbie engaged in the old 9mm vs. 45 ACP over the "know it all" veteran any day.

Fact is though - they are both great adds to the gun shooting family. Let's just treat each other like friends.

 

[wbm]

Be considerate and patient and help them along because that's what we're all here for in the first place.

In the second place, it is sad that there seems to be a need to say that. But after more than seven decades on this rock I have come to the realization that everyone has a rectum, some try to be one and some are one so I understand the need to say that.

Have been helping a new shooter and his two new shooter teen daughters get the basics for the past year....it has been a real pleasure. Both the girls 13 and 16 got their elk this year!

Experienced shooters and reloaders can drastically shorten the learning curve for beginners.

 

[old lady new shooter]

yep....and telling folks to use the "search" function instead of giving a answer, is not that endearing. I find I skip over those types of threads anymore and let the not so newbies give the newbies the answers.

Along similar lines, telling people there is a stickie on the topic of their question which turns out to have a hundred or more pages of posts is also not very helpful. It would be better to give a short answer and then say there is a stickie which covers a lot more ground, which they may find interesting.

 

[old lady new shooter]

^ OH wow, the trifecta debate.

Total tangent, I had no idea CZ's are argued along with Glock vs 1911. Care to summarize?

 

[Commader47]

GRUMPY OLD MEN......GRUMPY OLD MEN......Well, harumph....hem...haw....I resemble that remark. Dag nab it. I promise not to rant and rave too much. Actually, I feel I earned my right to be a grumpy old man. If you are a seasoned citizen, and NOT grumpy....what's left?

 

[old lady new shooter]

It is coplicated.
CZ owners like me are snobs
Who were brought up on1911's
And eschew tupperware but own them.
Go figure!

All I know about it is I once asked about the new Beretta 92X after reading about it, thinking if I were going to go to a semi-auto it sounded good, mentioned that I liked the idea of DA/SA, and Dave said if I am interested in a DA/SA to check out some CZ model I forget now. (Are they all DA/SA?)

 

[Ignition Override]

Robert: Yes, and the temptation for anybody to make what appears to be rude remarks can be replaced by a Second decision--

--they can leave the topic and go read something different. Nobody here is forced to read anything, unlike the young thug Alex in "Clockwork Orange's" rehab. program.

Anti-gun spouses and families often are where so many new shooters came from.
Allow their curiosity to blossom, and the varying degrees of families' closed minds sometimes perceive a (first time for them) rational, level-headed approach to what frightens them or total distortion by some media sources..

 

[old lady new shooter]

Enough people drank the CZ Koolaid that the snobs haved moved onto FK BRNO to keep their club exclusive

Never heard of that before, just went googling, would love to try shooting one!

 

[DustyGmt]

I thought I saw a bunch of new guys. Definitely a good thing.

 

[lightman]

I think by now we've all heard about the millions of first time gun owners from 2020. We're seeing more and more folks signing up at THR and there are some things as "old hands" we should keep in mind.

They'll be asking all the same questions or repeating same TV/Movie/Anti/Internet myths that many of us asked/repeated when we were new to this. We don't want to run them off acting like a bunch of grumpy old gun guys swatting at eager "puppies". We need to be patient with them just as the old hands were patient with us. Changing people's attitudes and previously held beliefs is best done with a helping hand instead of the back of the hand.

These folks may be a little vexing to the impatient members at first, but they're really not much different than anyone new to shooting. There's just going to be more of them than usual. Be considerate and patient and help them along because that's what we're all here for in the first place. They represent the future and an opportunity to cultivate supporters of the 2A for the future.

Well Said!
The more the merrier! Not only should we welcome them, we should try to help them in this time of shortages. Spot a new shooter a box of shells, offer assistance in finding a place to shoot, or something. Let them know that we are not the evil monster that we are portrayed to be.

 

[bikerdoc]

@lightman said, spot a new shooter a box of shell

Excellent idea. But For me only (1) if they know the four rules, (2) have a understanding of the legalities ((3)) they come to my range and I see they are safe handlers.
So far 7 in the last 10 months

 

[Thunderchicken]

I am a relatively new member and I have had extremely positive experience on THR. There is a lot of stuff I don't know and people are usually happy to tell it to me in bite-size pieces. I try to pay it forward on the rare occasion someone asks about something I happen to know the answer to.

 

[CDW4ME]

"Use the search feature" - just stop it
-Threads go off topic
-Members may not have posted in it
-People change their mind
-Thread could be locked and they can't post
-It may be a beaten topic to you but that doesn't apply to everyone, especially new people

 

[bullseye308]

I have no experience with the cz, but do carry a Glock 17 or 1911 Springfield Range Officer daily and love both in their own ways. I like both, shoot both, and enjoy the discussions about them, both positive and negative. My 1911’s are 9mm and that opens another can of worms.
I’ll help you shop for whatever gun you like, honestly point out good points and bad points with no brand bias(even if you pick a hi point), and unless you just try to get by with a lorcin 25 or a Davis 380 or Jennings 22, I won’t object. I have helped many shop for their first gun and accessories with just enough input to get them something that fits them, fits their budget, and they will be able to shoot. I have then explained the legalities, function, safety rules, breakdown, cleaning, and discuss storage options. Teach them where to look to study the laws, point them to forums like this one for its wealth of knowledge, and be willing to help get the the right ammo for practice and defense.
I have even had groups and many individuals over to learn how to reload, and a few to come back to learn how to cast bullets. After we go out and they get to try their loads out and it’s on. I don’t charge for anything but have accepted donations if offered. It’s just one of many ways to give back to a sport that has given me so much enjoyment.

The pain in the butt newbies are our future and we must remember that we all started at the same place sometime. We were someone’s pain in the butt newbie at some point. We need them now more than ever, on our side, safely, responsibly, and educated.

 

[Insignificant bill]

Not a problem for me, like to help if I can

 

[HoploDad]

Great attitude and fully agree with the OP. Graciousness is in short enough supply everywhere else; you like to think Grace will be found at a forum with this name. Welcome, new people!

 

[Hal]

Gee - this would be a wonderful thread - -except for the fact that I've lost count over the last 20 years when someone new here was either broomed by a staff member or told to "use the search function" or rudely told to read the FAQs or told in not so many words, we have a bunch of posts that ask that we don't need another - and the closed the thread.

& for the record - I can personally say that I have done everything I could to make a new person to this or any other forum as welcome as I could.

If they later proved out to be a jerk - they got that in return.

Sorry - but - this advice is 20 years too late & it should have been something done all along - by everybody.
For the small number of people that have - nice going.

 

[FFGColorado]

Thanks! NJ's a weird place. There are pockets of people that are very pro-2nd Amendment. Then there are pockets of people who own firearms, but really have no interest in the legislative side of things. As if, if they don't speak up, it will all just go away. And those are also the ones who tend to vote a certain anti-2nd Amendment way. I don't get it at all.

Because, guns, like everything else, isn't a zero sum game. It's not a 'us vs them', single issue, my way or the highway gig. The US on just about anything and everything is a hundred shades of gray(or purple)yes, yes, there are people at the fringe of both sides of any issue but MOST are firmly in the middle, plus or minus...
BUT, what I dislike is how many threads devolve into politics...'us vs them', the descriptive words used here and other forums are the best thing there is to encourage somebody new to find the delete button on this and many other gun forums.

Remember 'new' doesn't mean 'young'. A 'few' of us have been around for a while, have various life histories but 'may' still be new to guns...

 

[KevininPa]

GRUMPY OLD MEN......GRUMPY OLD MEN......Well, harumph....hem...haw....I resemble that remark. Dag nab it. I promise not to rant and rave too much. Actually, I feel I earned my right to be a grumpy old man. If you are a seasoned citizen, and NOT grumpy....what's left?

Not only did we earn our grumpiness, but these days we seem to have a lot more to be grumpy about.

 

[NuShootr]

Not only did we earn our grumpiness, but these days we seem to have a lot more to be grumpy about.

Nah. Life is grand. If you have a roof over your head, food in your belly, clothes on your back, and your health (to a degree), you have nothing to complain about. Being grumpy is a choice.

 

[BlueHeelerFl]

Gee - this would be a wonderful thread - -except for the fact that I've lost count over the last 20 years when someone new here was either broomed by a staff member or told to "use the search function" or rudely told to read the FAQs or told in not so many words, we have a bunch of posts that ask that we don't need another - and the closed the thread.

& for the record - I can personally say that I have done everything I could to make a new person to this or any other forum as welcome as I could.

If they later proved out to be a jerk - they got that in return.

Sorry - but - this advice is 20 years too late & it should have been something done all along - by everybody.
For the small number of people that have - nice going.

Add to that the old school members (and some mods) complaining that a poster is "whining" when its a topic they don't approve of

 

[hso]

Guy's we get that THR and THR members aren't always ideal or uphold the ideals of THR. Maybe that's why this thread is here. To remind everyone to try to be tolerant when we see new to shooting folks bringing all the same old same old we've seen before.

As pointed out, we were all new once and folks gave us a helping hand and resisted throttling us for the goofy myths we believed and clung to.

Be tolerant, be helpful, if someone is being dangerous or rude walk away and simply report them if they won't accept gentle correction and let the Staff address them.