Source of Misinformation: Hollyweird, Gun Shops

[twoblink]

Now that you all have me wondering; I tried really hard this morning explaining to my gf that "No honey, people don't fly back 6 feet from being shot with a Walther PPK despite what James Bond movies show."

Still, I hear "A 357Mag is so powerful, you have to shoot it with gloves or else you'll break your hand" from gun shop owners...

So... who's the source of more mis/dis information??

Hollyweird, or Gun Shops?

I'm voting gun shops now that I think about it.

One of the guys that tried to get me to buy a glock told me, "You know, Delta force throws their glocks out the helicopter while it's still about 30 stories up, and then they slide down the ropes to go fetch it. That's how tough these things are.."

 

[othermarc]

Hollywood hits a much bigger audience. For every fool in a gun shop there's about 100,000 impressionable fools that have seen something dumb in a movie and believed it.

 

[cheygriz]

I'm certainly no fan of Hollyweird, but some of the crap I hear in gun shops form the "mucho macho armchair commandos" makes Hollyweird look downright reasonable!

We've all seen the "rough and ready tough guy" in cammies with black Tee shirt, folding stock Ruger 10-22 with $25 (or cheaper) 6-18X50 Wal-Mart scope, muzzle brake, 30 round mag, and K-mart flashlight duct taped to the barrel. He's just champing at the bit to take on the whole Chinese army.

The sad part, is that if an emergency ever really happens, the rest of us will have to waste valuable time burying these jackasses.

 

[CZ-75]

Quantity - Hollywierd

Absurdity - gunshops

 

[CZ-75]

The sad part, is that if an emergency ever really happens, the rest of us will have to waste valuable time burying these jackasses.

Buzzards got to eat, same as worms.

 

[Tamara]

twoblink,

Actually, there is a pretty funny rumor about the Dekalb County (GA) PD, a helicopter, an eval Glock, and an equipment shed roof. Remind me to tell you sometime... (I mean, I know you're too tactical for dull ol' Glocks and all, but it's a funny story nonetheless... )

 

[BerettaNut92]

If it's the Glock .357 Sig Practical/Logistical model I'm sure Twoblink will wanna hear the story

 

[twoblink]

Tam,

Don't you know, if a .357Mag even whizzes by your pinky, it will spin you around and make you do a 720?? I mean the gun shop guy said it so it MUST be true!!

Ok, getting shot by Chow Young Fat and falling backwards, I can handle that.

a 357Mag spinning you around, that I can't handle!

 

[Ed Brunner]

Ignorant people just don't know

A whole lot of people would rather listen to the hype than hear the truth.
And
Other than Hollywood, "I have seen it so it must be true", how would they know?

 

[seeker_two]

Most people accept ANYTHING from Hollywood as fiction, but think that everyone who works at a gun store, gun show, or even Wally World are EXPERTS.

Scares me to death sometimes the things I hear...

 

[MessedUpMike]

I votes Hollywierd simply because the can get a larger audience. I suspect quality and volume of some of the schpilkus put out there is roughly equal. All you have to do (even around here some days) is start a one of the infamous caliber debates, the .223 vs 5.56 argument, or heaven forbid mention the words MOA and iron sights in the same paragraph.

Hollywierd in contrast would have you believe that all handguns are best shot sideways (stops powder burns), that .22 shorts will send you sailing across the room, and that guns dropped an ND are often more accurate than aimed fire.

At least gun shop tales don't embarrass all of us in full view of the public.

 

[coonan357]

ok who was the one who said the 50 bmg Barret feels like a 12gauge when shot !!! Famous line at the store I go to .. well it does if you are shooting the semi auto one , not the single shot thou.. and I believed them , hey they shot the thing before I did .. can you say sucker???

 

[yayarx7]

I am relieved to know that I am not the only one to hear the 5.56 NATO is not the same chambering as the .223 rem.
Or that "I would not trust my life to {insert handgun here}, I only carry the {insert a different handgun here}." note: any brand or gun or caliber will suffice in either, I have heard them all.

 

[sixgun_symphony]

How many times have we all heard the line about .357 Magnums penetrating the engine block of an automobile?

 

[Waitone]

Hollyweird for sure.

I maintain that virtually every man, woman and child in the US is trained in the use of firearms because virtually everyone watches TV, movies, or plays video games.

. . . . . and its all wrong.


Gunshops merely guild an absurd lilly.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Hollywood = FICTION (even when it's done well, ala Heat, its still "just a movie".)

Gunshops should be a place where the guy behind the counter tells you FACTS, not old wives tales. That being said, everyone is human.

I think the crap the armchair commandos spout at the shops is far more DANGEROUS than anything shown in a movie. It's worse when the gunshop owner doesn't correct the armchair commando, or even AGREES with him.

:banghead:

We all tell our tall tales at times, by being misinformed, misled, or just plain ignorance with the occasional white lie thrown in just to see the look of astonishment on someone's face. "Yup this here rifle will kill a man at 1000 yards! (Yeah IF the shooter is good enough to hit a man at that range and practices every day, AND feels the need to do so, which most of us don't)

We also have or own Mine is Better than yours days. "Dagnabit my Old Colt will shoot the eyes out of a snake at 25 meters and I wouldn't give you 26 centavos for that cheap pice of cast Brazilian pot metal... " (except i really kind of like it, I mean if I could afford one I'd probably brag about it, just like I brag about my Colt Junior, and don't go reminding me it's actually an Astra made in Spain)

We also have the one that got away "Yep that bull elk musta weighed 16 tons, and his antlers were so big they blotted out the sky, the ground shook and spoiled my aim, course normally I can make that 400 yard shot downhill in a high wind off hand without so much effort as a sneeze..." (except that it was really 40 yards and you spooked a spike while you dropped your drawers to take care of business in the great outdoors, your rifle was against a tree and your tripped over your long johns trying to get to it. The spike meanwhile stood there mocking you before leaisurely strolling off.)

We also have the Grave authority. "My daddy shot him 15 Japanese banzai charging hard assed marines and wouldn't trust no wussy 30 cal car-bean no way no how. (Daddy was actually in supply and was never trusted with a firearm his entire military carrer, he did however serve honorably and has some neat souveniers)

Play nice.

Rob

 

[ahadams]

I'll vote for hollyweird.

Folks I know it's a pain, but maybe part of the local gunshop problem is that a lot of us gave up trying to correct the gsc types a long time ago. Somehow I'm thinking maybe we need to start speaking up again? just a thought.

 

[cheygriz]

Arlin,

You might be right. I know I hate to expose a flaming a##h*le in public, especially if he's a customer inside someone else's business establishment, but maybe I should. Maybe we all should.

 

[twoblink]

Here's the thing, there are tales, and there is dangerous information.

What I don't mind hearing at the shop: "This gun is sooooo accurate, it will put a bullet through the same whole at 50 yards all day long." Assuming it was in the right hands, optimum loads, laser sights added, it _COULD_ be, so I have no problems with that.

The Authority from the Grave I don't mind either... "My dad in 'Nam, with his M1Carbine, and 1 clip left, shot 30 people, one bullet each and they all died." One shot deaths are highly possible out of an M1Carbine, and I was not there, and his daddy's in the grave, so I don't mind that either...

"The recoil is like a cat scratching at ya, that's all..." Well Buba behind the counter is 300lbs, and so it probably IS like that to him.. And recoil is 100% subjective, and so I don't even mind those..

But there are things that really REALLY piss me off..

One time, I was at the store, a lady said she "feared for her life" and would like to buy a gun. First, the guy should have said, "Here's a list of classes you can sign up for." But, instead, he hands her a snubbie 2" revolver, and a box of 125grain 357Mags and says "Here's what you need." errrr.... NO... the 95lbs 65 year old woman does not need a snubbie 357Mag. I shoot that thing, and it wrings my hands, I'm sure the lady will fall on her toosh and not even hit the ceiling...

What I can't stand also, is the outright lies about what a bullet can and can't do. I mean, come on! Heard a guy say the .223 will hit a guy hiding behind a car, it will go through the car lengthwise and still clear the guy's skull straight through... :banghead:

The "gun shop stories" are almost comical to us, but dangerous to those who don't know..

 

[MCNETT]

"Buzzards got to eat, same as worms. "

Nothing like a Josey Wales quote to pique my interest in a thread!

-Mike

 

[cheygriz]

Twoblink,

You're right on target, my man!

I heard one jackass at a gunshow remark that when he was in "The Nam" he "emptied a 30 round clip from his M-16 into a gook at point blank range and it didn't stop him." He pulled his trusty 1911, and put the gook down with one shot.

He said that after that he traded his M-16 to an ARVN officer for an M-1 CARBINE, because that big hard hittin' .30 caliber bullet would splatter a gook all over the countryside.

This clown was about 30 years old. He was dirtying diapers when we were in "The Nam."

He got very irate when I pointed out to his small audience that he wasn't old enough to have served in Viet Nam.

 

[ahadams]

chezgriz - that's some of the stuff I'm talking about, where we really *have* to speak up because folks listening may not know any better. Twoblink's right as well. I helped out instructing in back in VA and it got to the point that the Senior instructor accumulated half a dozen used .38 spls (not all S&W, but he sure leaned that way!) so that when there were 98 pound folks who showed up for the CCW course, who had obviously gone to the gun store and said *ahem* "what do I need to defend myself?" *ahem* and bought whatever they were told, we'd give them something a little more in line with their capabilities, at least for the duration of the course.

Hey, I used to be in the Army - I don't mind the occasional "there I was, up to my arm pits in empty brass and grenade pins with only a broken bayonette left to defend myself" story, but when the situation has the potential to make the difference between a person doing something right and doing something lethally wrong, I say, we gotta step in and say something...and that includes the guy with the dressed up 10/22 who is best suited to deal with a shortrange attack by an army of rabid gophers.

 

[twoblink]

I had two women at the range, new shooters, guy gave them a 357Mag snubbie, because that's what they asked for... found out later, that's all they have ever heard of as far as guns!!

They couldn't get the cylinder open (didn't know how) and I was horrified that they were about to shoot a snubbie 357 as their first time outs!

So.. you can guess who spent the next hour teaching them how to hold a gun, how a gun works etc... That's why I ALWAYS bring a .22LR to the range with me, regardless if I'm going to shoot it. Because if there's a newbie, this is the gun you want in their hands...

Then I have friends, who hand 45's to newbies.... who then become deathly afraid of guns

SAFETY FIRST. Ol' daddy war stories are ok, but not if safety is involved...

 

[cheygriz]

So.. you can guess who spent the next hour teaching them how to hold a gun, how a gun works etc... That's why I ALWAYS bring a .22LR to the range with me, regardless if I'm going to shoot it. Because if there's a newbie, this is the gun you want in their hands...

Twoblink,

You are doing the right thing! We should ALL be doing what you're doing.

How about it guys? Let's all copy Twoblinks' tactics. We CAN make a difference.