you know what my pet peeve is?

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avs11054

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When some idiot's wife is pointing an AR-15 at you while you are at Cabelas because she wants to look down the sights...and then the idiot repeats his wife's moves.

Off my soapbox.
 
You should go over and say something to them about it. They'll never learn safety and courtesy unless a few people speak up.
 
I know. I was just so shocked at the time that I didnt even think to do that.
 
Shouting at them loudly and so it drew attention across the store to not point a gun at you would have helped them learn real quick.
 
If Cabelas scares you, I'd say never go to a gun show. Somewhere in life we have to realize everybody isnt out to kill us. At least to me personally, there is safety on a range and there is safety in a store where the odds are million to one of it being loaded. Embarassing a new person does nothing to support the cause, but risks alienating someone on the fence.
 
where the odds are million to one of it being loaded.*

I tend to agree with most of your post, but plenty of people have been shot with an 'unloaded' gun. I also put it on the store employees too. Not just at cabelas, but ive seen it happen at other gun stores and gun shows too. They are not helping us either by not correcting this behavior when it happens.
 
Why don't gun shops, and gun shows just hang a large replica target high up on a far wall to give people something to "site in" on ? They could even include a sign saying "Aim Here" for everyones safety.
 
While I agree that what they did is bad etiquette, I also agree that the likely hood of something bad happening is exceedingly remote. My carry gun IS loaded and it is always pointed at something I'm not prepared to destroy anytime it is holstered IWB.
 
I don't blame the OP for being upset at being covered by a customer.
I have handled many weapons at gunstores, most lately an M1A rifle I bought. I always make a very deliberate point of sighting it UPWARD at a point I know there will no people who can be covered by my firearm's muzzle.
Also the first thing I do is check the weapons breech. I also notice that the store employee also is very good at checking the breech where I shop.
 
Also the first thing I do is check the weapons breech. I also notice that the store employee also is very good at checking the breech where I shop.

Another good habit to have. The employee made sure the glock that I looked at today was cleared before hanf8ng it to me. He gave it to me with the slide forward. First thing I did was locked the slide back and made sure the gun was unloaded.

I understand that the odds of something bad happening are slim to none, but not following the four rules every single time leads to complacency, and that is when people start getting hurt.
 
Habit for me is to clear a gun as soon as it is handed to me. Handguns that I may possibly take a closer look at, I cover the end of the barrel with my hand or finger. Being human, an area that was clear when the gun was handed to me may not be by the time I am finished inspecting it. Also never place my finger on the trigger, but on the trigger guard, yes. Bet your butt I am not going to shoot someone thru my hand/finger.
 
Pointing a weapon at someone is NOT just "bad etiquette".
It's down right not intelligent! I'd like to say something stronger, but this is "the high road"
I certainly would've said something.

Why don't gun shops, and gun shows just hang a large replica target high up on a far wall to give people something to "site in" on ? They could even include a sign saying "Aim Here" for everyones safety.

That right there is GREAT idea.
Please speak up at gun stores. If we all ask, they'll listen.
 
The target idea is a good one.

But I am always able to find something to aim at that does not point a firearm at person.
 
Most guns are Always pointed at people at every gun show I've attended (over twenty). The majority are horizontal on tables.

When they are help upright in a gun rack, I make a sincere effort to Keep them pointed towards the ceiling, and if it's a bolt action, use the ceiling light to immed. get an idea about the bore shine and rifling.

But most people seem not to bother, maybe because it seems awkward to keep the muzzle pointed upwards?
 
Most guns are Always pointed at people at every gun show I've attended (over twenty). The majority are horizontal on tables.

Right but there is not some clown with their finger on the trigger and sighting down the barrel.

I would prefer to not walk across the bore of an unattended rifle, but not as much a concern as when somebody is sweeping it across the crowd.

I would prefer the vendor to have the guns positioned with the butt to the aisle, not the muzzle.
 
One in a million odds aren't really very good. There are, according to one report, 130,000 gun stores in America. If only 8 people a day point a rifle at someone, that's more than a million times PER DAY. Wonder which one of those will be loaded and pointed at me???
 
....yea, I'm a bit concerned that the latest gun buying craze has put some high cap weapons in the hands of some ppl that really don't have a clue !!??

As opposed to single shot rifles which are so much less dangerous when handled with safety violations?

What the hell does magazine capacity, action type, or any other factor have to do with it?

30 round magazine in an AR15 or AK47, or 1 round in a muzzle loader, doesn't matter. Dead is dead, and I'd rather not have my head perforated by some idiot regardless of the iron in their hands at the time.

Someone sweeps me, anywhere, and they're going to get an earful. I expect others to do the same to me if I get careless or casual with guns.

As far as 'high cap weapons in the hands of people who don't have a clue', that's just ridiculous. People have a right to buy and use whatever they choose to. That's why it's called a RIGHT. You don't have to beg permission to exercise a RIGHT.

It's thinking like that, which will end up costing us everything.

Because someday they're going to figure out the most dangerous guns are not the 'high capacity' ones, but rather, single shot bolt action guns capable of taking a human out at a mile away. Several cartridges are still supersonic at that distance, and quite accurate.

Or, from a criminal forensics perspective, perhaps we should look at shotguns. A breech or pump loaded 12 gauge magnum with 00 buck damages the human body with the equivalent wound tracks of 15 9mm rounds (how's that for high cap??), but even better, leaves no shell casing behind, has no rifling to trace, and is impossible to link forensically to any given smoothbore shotgun. It's the perfect weapon for criminals.

So don't be so quick to throw 'high capacity' guns under the bus, once those are gone, and the precedent set, the rest of the 'old hunting guns' will follow in short order, because quite frankly, there are better tools for the job. The crooks are dumb, but won't be for long. Their tactics will change with the availability of arms.

Remember the recent first-responder ambush in NY where the grandmother-killing recidivistic suicidal firebug felon was done with a standard capacity rifle.
 
cfullgraf: Maybe most people aim gun show rifles down at the floor, but I never notice other people only aiming them upwards at the ceiling,
to avoid a 'sweep'.
As the gun bug never 'bit me' until age 52, typical gun guys who have many more years of solid experience seem to feel that they can't make any mistakes. My technique could appear overcautious.
 
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Let's not forget that we see lots of newbies working the gun counters in the big box stores these days. I couldn't count the times I've walked into a Walmart or Dick's and talked to someone behind the gun counter who probably didn't know which end the bullets came out. Yes that's a stretch but not as much as some might think. There are certainly people working behind those counters who don't know the basic safety rules. You'd think they would want to avoid handing a loaded gun to someone who might use it to rob their store but it seems they think it's just another object like a loaf of bread and it doesn't matter than it might blow your head off.

I've been so mad at people in gun shops, even LGS's where the salesmen know better, that I couldn't count those times either. I don't like having someone point a gun at me that wasn't even checked to see if it was loaded by the person doing the pointing.

Heck I had a kid at a flea market shoot a pellet into a puddle at just the right angle to make it ricochet and I was exactly in line to be shot by it. I told him not to do it again and dang if he didn't do it on purpose again. I called 911 immediately and told them some lunatic kid was shooting a gun in the parking lot of the flea market. His dad showed up a few seconds later and found out from his kid what was going on and they flew out of there like their truck was on fire. I imagine the seat of that kid's pants were on fire shortly after that ordeal.

But the dang LEO's never did show up. People die from being shot by pellet guns all the time. Some shoot harder than .22's. And I didn't even tell the cops it was a pellet gun. What a world.

Here's what happens when pellet guns are used to shoot people:

Second child killed in pellet gun accident

Here's a quote from that article:

"The gun can be pumped up to 10 times to produce enough pressure to shoot a pellet at the same velocity as a .22-caliber handgun, they said."
 
When some idiot's wife is pointing an AR-15 at you while you are at Cabelas because she wants to look down the sights...and then the idiot repeats his wife's moves.

How else are you supposed to check the sights?


"Hey honey what am I supposed to aim at?"

"Sweetie.. point it at that man sized target right down there."

"Right down there?"

"Yup.. that that one."

[SOLD] :D
 
Why don't gun shops, and gun shows just hang a large replica target high up on a far wall to give people something to "site in" on ? They could even include a sign saying "Aim Here" for everyones safety.
Probably because buildings have high walls and ceilings.
 
Another muzzling thread?

I've been muzzled many times at gun shows and LGSs, and will undoubtedly be again, and I have probably at some point given another person the thought that I was muzzling him. I dare say that is true for anyone reading this thread.

Some people consider themselves incapable of sweeping anyone because their gun etiquette is really just that perfect; however, everyone who has handled guns extensively at gun shows, retail shops, and the like has at some time or other given someone else the impression that he just got muzzled. Realistically, how can one handle a gun at such a venue without doing that? What is the safe point of aim at a gun show? No matter where you point the muzzle you either sweep people getting it to what you consider a safe point of aim or point it a hard surface that could cause shrapnel or a ricochet if the gun discharged. I don't recall ever seeing a single clearing barrel at a gun show.

We all stand a greater chance of being poisoned via shoddy food handling or getting run over by a poor driver than shot via poor gun handling.

Yes, this is a gun forum, not a food safety or defensive driving forum. But it bears noting from time to time that we are imperfect gun handlers, and it is the one who thinks he can never screw up that is most likely to screw up.
 
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