Why would they be stupid?
Because shooters tend to be a conservative (... let's be honest, a
reactionary) lot. If it wasn't this way when we were coming up, it shouldn't be this way now. If we learned to deal with the rigid way things were when we were fresh, young, and adaptable, the new generation should have to overcome the same hurdles we ... more or less ... overcame.
There are guns that are iconic, classic, beautiful, and which
were the most effective solution anyone had come up with when they were introduced -- and often for many decades thereafter. Those guns set the standard for 'perfection,' as the shooters in the teaching/telling generation understand it. A 1911, a S&W or Colt revolver, a Winchester M70, an M1 Garand (maybe now an M14), or a solid wood & iron pump shotgun -- if those don't work just perfectly for you, you need to "get right with God" until they
do.
And each subsequent sub-generation looks at all new technology the same way.
Why do I need a plastic gun? If you were shooting in the '80s you must remember the outcry of disapproval. (It still echos here occasionally.)
What kind of an idiot would carry a gun without a safety lever? (Well, on a handgun, anyway. No idiot would WANT a safety on a lever rifle!)
Who needs an optical sight on a military rifle? Whats the matter? You can hit bullseyes on the qualifying range all day with a good set of irons!
Why would I want an "intermediate" cartridge in my military rifle? I ain't shooting
poodles!
What does an honest man need with more than six or seven rounds in a handgun anyway?
And ... aren't interchangeable backstraps stupid?
I'm sure our great, great, grandchildren will be deriding the newest high-wattage plasma rifles as stupid 'cause the old reliable man-portable rail guns
they carried in basic were just
fine!