Reactions of Friends finding out you own/carry a gun?

[AndyC]

Don't poke your nose into my holster and I won't poke mine into your bedroom.

 

[SuperNaut]

When I told one of my friends that I was submitting my paperwork for CCW he said "dude, it's about time." Apparently he and one of my other friends took the class together last year, he has been carrying a 3" 625 ever since.

What can I say, I've always been a little slow.

 

[03Shadowbob]

Most of my friends are very cool with it. I have even gotten a few women to learn to shoot and CCW. It's like I tell my mom who always asks why I have to CCW. "You protect your family the way you want to and I'll protect mine the way I want to." Nobody has to give a reason for doing something that is lawful.

 

[Handyman]

I've had mostly stupid , negative comments from the few people I told . Didn't actually tell them I was packin , just said I had the permit .
1, are you crazy
2. are you paranoid
3 why do you need a gun
4 a criminal will take it away from you and use it against you
5 And the most rediculous one I've heard - "no one should have a gun , not even cops"
I don't talk about it anymore unless I know the person has a ccw permit too or is into guns like the people on this forum

 

[jcramin]

I live in MEMPHIS, TN anyone who lives in MEMPHIS knows you need to carry a gun.. LOL

J

 

[Mark_from_Iowa]

I'm in college, and as a result a large percentage of my social circle is "progressive". They all know I own firearms, and most of them shrug it off. A few ask why I "need" a baynet on my Mosin M44, or why my Remmy 870 "needs" a Pachmayr pistol grip, or why I'm in the process of getting my CCW permit, etc.

There isn't a lot of debate anymore. Most of my friends are politicallly vocal, so we had the RKBA debate a long time ago. If I come home from the gun show with a new toy, my friends will usually sigh and meekly ask to see it

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Most of mine make jokes about "going postal" or "Ya gonna start a war with that thing?"

 

[akodo]

Tell em 'take it up with the Dalhi Lama or Ghandi'

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." Dali Lama

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."-Ghandi

Regarding cops having speical training, I go for an argument along the lines of 'okay, so you have 2 people, 2 women lets say whose estranged husband has threatened to kill them and they want Concealed Carry permits, are you really okay with a situation where 1 goes through training, the same training as a police officer, and takes the shooting test, gets 85, a passing grade, but the other person only gets an 84, and doesn't get to carry a gun? Do you really think that 1 point on some test is going to matter when like too many other battered women who finally leave, the husband finds her and beats her hard enough to kill her?

Now, I can throw out 'so it is okay for police because hey, they are police! just like Latoya Jackson and a whole slew of other C level celebs on reality tv'

 

[ArfinGreebly]

I have one friend . . .

. . . I've known this guy since 1983.

I believe he served in the Navy, and I know from him that he has done some shooting.

When I told him that I'd finally taken up something I could call a hobby, told him some of what stands in the safe, and asked him if he had any of his own, he said, "Oh, I'd never own one: if I had one I know I'd use it."

He doesn't criticize my owning them or having the "hobby" and can even appreciate the value of some I have.

But his response . . . ? Dude! Who's been inside your head?!

 

[LkWinnipesaukee]

I'm also under 21 (16) so I dont carry, or even own a gun.

Living in MA, all my liberal little friends were pretty freaked out when they found out I was into guns (and made me very uncomfortable with offensive school shooting "jokes"). However I offered to take my more mature anti friends shooting, and nobody has rejected yet.

Once you seriously explain how gun safety (4 rules, etc) works, and how its physically impossible for anyone to get hurt of the rules are followed, they start to lighten up.

 

[davhina]

telling friends

Don't feel the need to tell everyone/anyone. Discuss the issue with your buddies. Keep the rest to yourself. With the exception of my wife,no one knows i own a pistol and have a ccw. Better that way.

 

[Alexfubar]

I've been heavily involved in martial arts since I was a kid ( 42 now). That alone creates more stupid comments than my guns do. " Let's pay Alex to beat up ___ ." & Assumptions that I am some kind of Zen monk guru guy - which always gives me a chance to be a total wiseass.

Getting older I transitioned to real self defense tools , to no one's surprise. Those who know me don't care , those who don't ... I don't care.

 

[Nanook]

I don't hang out with people who don't like guns. Makes life easier.

That is my approach as well. If I run into a rabid anti, I don't waste my breath. Just smile, nod, and walk away. I wouldn't want to disturb their world view. I'll let the inevitable criminal act do that.

It's too painful to try and wrap my head around such twisted logic. Life's too short.

 

[tubeshooter]

My close, true friends and family know. Past that, I don't really talk about it.

Just easier that way, I guess. I hate having people act like I might do something extreme just on account of owning guns (aside: for antis, it seems like you either own no guns, a (singular) gun, or you're getting ready for WWIII. No in between). My close friends and family don't do me that way, thank goodness.

 

[crunker]

I live in the oppressive state of NJ.

While my friends accept responsible gun ownership, few of our parents own guns, and no one has a permit to carry as it's impossible to get one here.

Most people around here are pro over-and-under shotguns, but when it comes to black rifles, they want to BAN BAN BAN

 

[Rosstradamus]

I live in Texas, I haven't seen anyone who thought carrying a gun was weird.

Quite so. I once went to a company outing [NB] and a woman who'd been to the range that day for the first time in her life had a handful of targets with her that she wanted to show off. I didn't hear any comments other than "What did you use?" or "Good shooting."

 

[Long Knife]

I believe in don't ask, don't tell, but all my liberal friends know I own guns, then some of them do too.

When I was 16 I got to shoot my Dad's M1 Carbine and 03A3. Now I own them but never in my wildest imagination would I think I'd own one then, let alone a Bushmaster.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Except for a neighbor, I doubt I know anyone who's not a shooter.

 

[Strings]

>why I "need" a baynet on my Mosin M44<

I had that once: pointed out that it balances better with the bayo extended (since that is how the gun is meant to be shot)...

 

[salvador31c]

"How do you have a gun, you're not even 21?" (there seems to be a strong notion that you have to be 21 to even touch a gun)

"Do you even have a license to have those guns?"(there also seems to be a strong notion that you must have some sort of permit or license to own a gun)

i hear these two the most when i open carry and from every single person in my family when i bought my first pistol, but they got over it so its all good

 

[zookrider]

Not trying to hj the thread....

but FWIW "God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible. It is actually an ancient proverb which entered usage in the US thru Poor Richards Almanac.

Not that it changes any of the sound logical arguments for packing one whit.

 

[ralphie98]

I've only gotten one negative reaction from a friend finding out about me carrying. We were at a bar with some other friends, and I was chatting with one about going to the gun show that weekend. So this girl we're with, who was the only one there that didn't know I owned guns, overhears the conversation and finds out I own guns. She says "whaaaa? JUSTIN... you have guns!?!?" (ralphie is just a nick name)
my lame brain buddy replies to her with "you do know that he probably has one one him right now, right?" (I didn't... beer in hand = gun at home).
If you multiply her reaction to me owning guns by 10, that's about how much she freaked out about it. I still have to talk to that buddy of mine and explain that it was not cool to mention it to her like that.

I've also had some people, who seem all cool about it when they find out, but make those comments about going postal, or knowing who to go to if they need somebody whacked. These make me more than a little uncomfortable and always get ignored.

 

[cracked junior]

i dont ccw as i dont have the money for the training course nebraska requires for it and its new this year. but on owning and using guns for various reasons. people i know and hang out with all own guns or have used guns. except for my girlfriend. she hates guns but im slowly trying to turn her. she dont want to go to shooting with me because she thinks i will shoot her or she will shoot herself. i said to her, did you know that you have been in the truck with me and 3 guns before and guess what, nothing bad happened. and you wont shoot yourself if you keep the loud end away from yourself. although her dad has guns, he hunted in his younger years but stopped aftering having kids. still has several guns though. her mom isnt bad about guns. when i got my xd 45acp, girlfriend was with me so she told her parents. her mom was asking me what i got, what caliber is it and all the other gun stuff.

 

[Iacabo]

I'm 16 and I live just a tad north of Cincinnati, a few weeks back I heard a few kids in my AP Economics class talkling about a Bengals apparently who got arrested for some firearms violation. A football-player, said he got arrested for having semi-auto rifles (he probabl'y just added the semi part to sound like he knew what he was talking about). Then a girl asks why would he even have them. "I don't maybe its what he does for fun, he's a redneck I guess" said Mr. football. THen a kid who often talks about hunting said those rifles weren't illegal. Mr. football matter of factly responds "Dude they were rifles". Then another kid says "you need a license for those don't you". the hunting kid tries to talk some sense into the great minds of our school and ten Mr. football then ends the converstaion with "I dunno maybe they were grenade launchers or something." I just observed this as I was too terrified to speak. Those AP students can be so strange sometimes.

 

[bthest86]

I was once told by my friend's brother that my Yugo AK was an illegal machinegun. He thought it was cool though. Not really an anti just ignorant of this stuff. I've also had another friend say that my SAR-1 isn't a real gun because "it isn't heavy. Real guns are heavy"

Yes some of my friends aren't very bright.

Other than that case, nobody who finds out that own firearms cares that much.