Tired of "Tacticool / Mall Ninja"?

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elChupacabra!

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Ok, I'm going to phrase this as carefully as I can. I can feel the flames already, so PLEASE read carefully...

I'm getting tired of hearing the terms "tacticool" or "mall ninja."

Now I can see you now - imagining - "YOU must BE one!!! :fire:"

That's why I don't like it. That's where you immediately went with it, isn't it? Admit it - I don't blame you. It's like saying "I'm getting tired of constantly hearing people being called 'racist'." Well then, "YOU must BE one!!!" Right?

I don't think so. Let me explain.

I'm a young guy. I own an AR-15. I've got a quad free-float rail mounted on the forearm. I've got a QD tac light for it (that usually stays off the rifle when shooting), a QD bipod for it (that only goes on when I'm shooting prone supported groups at tiny scaled targets at 100m, the longest range I have available to shoot at). Heck, I've got a QD single-point sling for it.

I take my gear to the range in a coyote double rifle drag bag. I own a 1911 with a rail and open carry my HKP2000 and an extra mag when I'm at the range in a Don Hume belt slide holster.

I even wear old, worn-out combat boots when I shoot.

Let's have a silent poll - how many of you think I'm a "mall ninja" or would call my gear "tacticool" now? I bet there are more than a handful.

But here's the thing - that AR that I shoot - I work hard - really hard - to get good with it. Based on advice many of you gave in a previous thread I posted, I've acquired a loop sling and used it quite a bit over the last couple months to improve my marksmanship. I almost never fire more than 5-round strings anymore. I focus - HARD - on my accuracy, my form, from Standing, Kneeling, Sitting, and Prone positions. I occasionally do faster, more realistic drills, but I spend most of my time improving my marksmanship - and mostly with the scope DETACHED, iron sights only. I set high goals and standards for myself and work until I attain them, and I'm still working.

I use the coyote double-rifle drag bag because it's very convenient - can carry 2 long guns, mags, ammo, knee pads, multitool, notepad, eye and hearing proteciton etc. to the range in one (kinda heavy) bag. I don't think I'm a sniper or operator because of it. I never drag it anywhere.

My 1911 has a rail because it is my HD pistol, and I believe any HD weapon should have a dedicated white light unit attached.

I wear my P2000 while shooting because, although I shoot at a private club, I don't know everyone there, and it seems like a prudent thing to do. This was my first handgun, I'm better with it than any of my other guns, I'm very confident in it and I like it.

I wear combat boots because they are more than 10 years old, are comfy to slide into (I don't even tie them anymore - years ago I just tied a square not into the loose laces at the top and slip into them. I pull my pants legs OUTSIDE the boots, I DO NOT blouse my pants into them). I don't mind getting them muddy, and they protect my feet when I march down to the rough end of the range from anything sharp, venomous, etc. when I post targets. I try if at all possible to avoid wearing any camo at all when I go to the range. I try to stick to khaki cargo pants (for staple guns, targets, extra staples, etc.) and a comfy polo shirt or hoodie.

So silent poll again - am I still a mall ninja?

I don't think so. But I hate the stigma - the initial, knee-jerk reaction - that many of us have come to associate with owning a railed AR-15, carrying an HK pistol, or even wearing combat boots.

I've read the Gecko45 thread in its entirety, and I think it's absolutely hilarious. I don't mind the jokes, I think they're funny... but I'm getting tired of the insinuation that ARs are only for the "tacticool" crowd, and any serious shooter shoots nothing but a wood-stocked M1A or, even better, a Garand. To be honest, it stinks of elitism - that those of us who have different taste in firearms are somehow inferior to the older, more refined choices. But times are changing, and tastes change, too.

What I'm getting at is that, as a young guy, I represent the future of our rights, of our sport, of our collective passions. Next time you consider throwing out a generic flame about "tacticool gear" or the "mall ninjas" 3 lanes down on your last trip to the range, please consider how your words are going to be received by someone who may take the art of marksmanship very seriously, even if they - superficially - fit into part of the now very broad stereotype.

Thanks for listening guys.
 
I think it just sticks around because it's humorous.
For instance, I certainly wouldn't mind owning a glock, I hear they are dead reliable. And my main range gun is a semi-auto, but I certainly don't spray and pray. I'll even wager that a lot of people who say "mall ninja" own a black, fiberglass or polymer gun. It's just for fun.
 
I know it's usually for fun, and it can be REALLY funny, indeed. But sometimes it just comes across as a little more mean-spirited. It seems to me that just about every description of a day at the range will have "three lanes over was this mall ninja... :fire:" (and it usually has either the fire smiley, the shoutey smiley, the bang-head-against-brick-wall smiley, or some combination of all three) followed by a generic description that could very well be me or many other of the younger members here - regardless of our focus and dedication to learning to actually SHOOT, care for our weapons, reload quality ammo for them, etc.

I guess that's what I really hate seeing.
 
I think if someone here walked on to a military range without noticing, they would start a thread about "all the mall ninjas there". It can be a bit mean-spirited, but it never seems to appear in serious ar-15 or glock threads.
 
I think if someone here walked on to a military range without noticing, they would start a thread about "all the mall ninjas there". It can be a bit mean-spirited, but it never seems to appear in serious ar-15 or glock threads.
Click to expand...

I think you're absolutely right. Maybe its the different demographic that this particular board attracts?

Don't get me wrong, I love this board. I just hate feeling (occasionally) condescended to. Not enough to defect to AR15.com or glocktalk, tho, and I've only got time in my life for one board ;)
 
I've been classified as a Mall Ninja as well,as the owner of a M&P on my waist and a Sabre Defence M4, though my only goal at the range is to improve my accuracy, whether my rifle is black or not shouldn't matter. What should be important is that I am shooting, not what I am shooting, but the act itself is most important.

As firearm affectionatos we all have enough enemies, so why make fun of our own kind?
I wonder how advanced this sport of ours would be if you took away all the money spent on AR's and tacticool firearm based items, the same money spent for R&D by the big companies? It would be a lame industry if the only thing available was wood stocked deer rifles. Instead of mocking these shooters and turning them off the sport, we should be thanking them for advancing it.

Now I'm off to tinker with my SmithWesson M&P.
 
Young: Check
Pic-light: Check
Rails: Check
Bipod: Check
Single-Point Sling: Check
OC @ Range: Check
Over-packed range bag: Check
Combat boots: Check
Tactical Wheelbarrow: Negative
Trauma Plates: Negative
Felony Record: Negative

Sorry, you don't have a tactical wheelbarrow, trauma plates, or a felony record. Therefore you are not a Mall Ninja.
 
you must be young if you think saying "stop calling me names" is going to result in anything other than people calling you names even more than they did before.
 
you must be young if you think saying "stop calling me names" is going to result in anything other than people calling you names even more than they did before.
Click to expand...

Nobody's ever called me a mall ninja (that I'm aware of). I just don't like how the stereotype has grown so all-inclusive that, unless you're shooting a deer rifle off a bench, you're probably a "mall ninja" now.

That's at least what it seems like it's come to lately.
 
there is more to it thrn just owning the equipment. Mall ninjas have a particular mind set. In their mind it may be tacticool but in my mind they are tactifool
 
Sorry, you don't have a tactical wheelbarrow, trauma plates, or a felony record. Therefore you are not a Mall Ninja.
Click to expand...
Gunkid wasn't a Mall Ninja, he was an idiot (now in federal prison). Gunkid's lunacy had nothing to do with Gecko45 or any of the Mall Ninja joke threads.
 
You aren't a Mall Ninja -- and with this attitude you will never become one!

PM me for sites that have good deals on trauma plates and tactical wheelbarrows, we will get you there yet!
 
"Mall Ninja" is a state of being. It is not about the equipment you use. I witnessed a true mall ninja at my local indoor range not long ago and it was all that I could do to keep a straight face. He walked in with an AR that had every tacticool piece of equipment that one could possibly find bolted to it. Some of the folks were 'ooing' over it and somebody asked him what he did for a living. He said, "I'm in law enforcement with the Sheriff's department. At least I hope to be after the elections in November." What a dork.
 
I laugh inside everytime i see that kind of person "Tacticool/mall ninja" but i also get the same kind of hatred from my own people (Gun owners) cause i come to the range with a machinegun and they have a bolt gun and no one needs a MG. So its a viscious circle.
 
Mall ninjas are "Hey, everybody! Look at me" - types. If you walk around in HK hats and AR15 t-shirts, you look like a goober trying to attract attention to himself. If you trick out your AR Blackwater-style and you're a manager at Safeway, you're probably desperate for attention or really need a girlfriend.

The mall ninja types I've met (including a good friend) are usually insecure about some aspect of their lives and have never been in the military or law enforcement and often have never even been hunting. They try to compensate by talking like Delta Force pistol instructors at gun shops and wearing goofy clothes.

But if you just happen to like tacticool stuff, there's nothing wrong with that. Rock on with it.
 
waitaminnit!

Tacticool is BAD?!?

Heck, My dad was likely the first mall ninja (before Malls or Ninjas). Back in the '60s he had a sporterised M1 Garand and a nickle M1911 with custom grips and a pinned grip safety- and a (o!theshame!) Shoulder holster! (though he claimed the shoulder rig was because he was too fat for a waist carry)...

Ramone
 
All in good fun. Don't let it bug ya. It all probably was started by the REAL DEAL operators who poked fun at the "wannabe" black-ops kids. Egos are wayyyyyy up there, but I suppose they have to be to do the job properly.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

The "mallninja" is the guy who could never make it as a real cop but was too stubborn to admit failure and try a new profession.
 
Thank God! I was getting kinda worried about the growing collection of 5.11 pants in my closet. No AR yet, but my SD gun(Walther P99) has a rail. I AM young and like the EBR stuff. I also have an Enfield #4 Mk1. kills THAT stereotype, don't it?
 
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