A reminder of the idiots in our lives

[Jaguar]

Okay, I don't want to use the term "idiot" here, but a related story.

The other day, my 19 year old daughter, who is well versed in the gun rules from a young age, came by with her boyfriend. I showed off my new holster to her and then she said she wanted to see my pistol. I dropped the magazine, removed the round in the chamber and lock it open then hand it to her. She looked in the chamber and magazine well, then proceeds to point it at her boyfriend.

I jumped her butt, "HEY!!! What is rule #1?"

She says, "Every gun is loaded... but I checked it."

I said, "I don't remember an 'I checked it' provision in the rule. What is rule #2?"

This is where she gets real sheepish and says, "Don't point the gun at anything you don't want to destroy." Her boyfriend just looks at her and says, "wow". I know he is not very familiar with firearms, but his wow was more about her wanting to "destroy" him.

Then she says, "My finger wasn't on the trigger." I just look at her.

I explained that the rules are not based on a passing grade, a 75% is not passing (even though she just scored a 50%,) you have to have 100% all the time, every time. I also tell her that in accidental shootings are almost always done with an "unloaded" gun. It doesn't matter what the circumstances you ALWAYS follow ALL the rules, it is the ONLY way to ensure no one is hurt and your life isn't changed forever.

Like I said, she is well versed in the rules, but had a momentary lapse of reason. I am glad I could correct it right then and there, and I hope it sunk in to her young brain. I feel I made a big enough deal about it that it did sink in, and not such a big deal that it was blown off as dad overreacting.

[glbedd53]

You always hear, "firearms and alcohol don't mix". To me "firearms and horseplay don't mix" is even bigger.

[WildBill]

Like I said, she is well versed in the rules, but had a momentary lapse of reason. I am glad I could correct it right then and there, and I hope it sunk in to her young brain. I feel I made a big enough deal about it that it did sink in, and not such a big deal that it was blown off as dad overreacting.

Well done. I hope that this lesson sticks.

You can bet the BF will remember it for a long time.

[TexasCajun]

You can bet the BF will remember it for a long time.

Or is he now the EX boyfriend????

[Jaguar]

You can bet the BF will remember it for a long time.

Or is he now the EX boyfriend????

No, still boyfriend. He didn't seem too up set with it, but seemed to be taking in the conversation.

[OldCurlyWolf]

Exbellicus, thanks for sharing this as a reminder not to be complacent or assume that people have even the slightest amount of common sense. I can appreciate that you take responsibility for the firearm being accessible, However, I can't assign any fault to you. If we were dealing with a child that would be different but this is presumably an adult with at least some experience around firearms. Nevermind that you do not simply just handle someone's firearm without asking any more than would handle his wife. The level of idiocy required to just pick up any gun and especially someone else's with the intention of putting it to your head and pulling the trigger is incomprehensible to me. That is like taking a nap in the highway.

I would hand him a plastic knife at Thanksgiving and tell him it is because he isn't responsible enough for a real one.

[TexasCajun]

I remember situations similar to Jaguar's from when I was in high school. Except it was usually the girl's dad (or dad & brothers, or dad & uncles) that made a show of gun cleaning when I would show up for a date. I guess like everything else, times are changing....

[The Annoyed Man]

It's not just those who have had no training or exposure to guns that do stupid things.

Some will remember the story of the young man here in San Diego last February who put the pistol to his head, trying to impress a new acquaintance of the female persuasion, and pulled the trigger after assuring said new acquaintance that it was unloaded, or "safe." The young man had graduated earlier that week from SEAL training, was a newly badged SEAL. It seems safe to say that he had been given firearms training at a level that few of us have ever, or will ever experience.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57354566/navy-seal-dies-after-accidentally-shooting-self/

I remember that news story.

Two or three years ago, a coworker of my son's wanted to give her husband a range day for a birthday present, and asked my son if he could take them to the range and teach them to shoot. My son asked me if we could all go to DPC together, where I have a membership, and use some of my guns. Both the husband and wife are immigrants, her from Mexico and him from El Salvador. Nice people, but they just didn't know a thing about guns and wanted to learn. You could see that she was serious about having a gun in the home for self-protection. You could just as easily see that he wanted a gun so as to augment the size of his undercarriage.....so to speak....so I kind of watched him like a hawk during the proceedings.

My son, who is also NRA certified, and I gave them an abbreviated version of the NRA basic pistol class before I allowed them to handle any of my guns, and we both gave them close supervision in loading and shooting, constantly drilling the safety rules into them, until they began to get the hang of it. As usual, we started them off with .22 caliber pistols, and moved up the caliber food chain as their shooting skills improved.

She was a very good and conscientious student (and, no surprise, a better shot than her husband because of it). Several times he forgot some part of the 4 rules and had to be reminded. The last time it happened, he was holding my loaded Model 29 .44 magnum in his hand, with the hammer cocked. I was standing maybe 10 ft behind the firing line and 15 or 20 ft off to one side. He turned to grin at his wife because he was holding a "Dirty Harry Gun," and he swept my midsection with that cocked .44 WITH HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER!!!!!. In fact, he swept EVERYBODY, not just me! That gun has about a 1.5 lb letoff on single action, and it was loaded with 240 JHPs stepping out at 1200 fps. I practically dove out of the way and started to sternly reprimand him about keeping the muzzle pointed downrange. He said, "it's Ok, man, I wasn't pulling the trigger yet." I didn't try to take the gun away from him, because it was still loaded and because I was acutely aware that he thought he was being macho in front of his woman, but as soon as that cylinder was empty, I called a halt to the proceedings and said that the club was closing soon and it was time to go. We had already been there 2 or 3 hours by then anyway. His wife was equally as acutely aware of what a jackass her husband was, and she later apologized profusely to me to me at another social occasion. I would gladly teach her more about shooting anytime, but it will be a cold day in Hades before her husband gets anywhere near any of my guns again. You just can't fix stupid. Sometimes, it has to fix itself.

[sjfcontrol]

:shock: Better not give him the good steak knives at Thanksgiving. He may not realize they are actually sharp.

Not to change the subject, but...

If you need the good steak knives at Thanksgiving, you are cooking the turkey wrong!

[grim-bob]

What does he say? 'Wow! I was about to point it at my head and pull the trigger as a joke!'

Natural selection...

I'm going to say something controversial and only half way tongue in cheek.... No ill will intended and obviously I don't wish the guy had shot himself.... he's probably a great guy in all other aspects and this was hopefully a good learning experience for him and us.

But that is exactly what I was thinking when I read it. Unfortunately we save way to many people from themselves... I think that is how we got to the election results we just had.... maybe we should let natural selection takes its own course more of the time

If people had to start learning from real consequences on their own shoulders we wouldn't have half the societal issues we have today.

[Dragonfighter]

When I was a teenager my dad displayed his replica Kentucky Rifle and 1863 Sheriff's Model; both in percussion and over the fireplace. As a "precaution" he kept primer caps on the nipples to protect them from dry fires. I had three friends over, two brothers and another. The friend who was not a brother casually walked over to the mantle, pulled the Colt aimed and fired at one of the brothers' back. He froze in spot and through his shoulders back when he heard the report (which is pretty loud in a living room). We all had that moment of extreme nausea while we took stock and realized no one was hurt. The shock on the friends face with the ND was unbelievable and I thought he was going to hurl. I walked over, calmly took the gun from him and once I had it in hand, gave him a chewing he probably still remembers. My twin buddies were just about ready for blood so I sent the other home.

I'm still friends with all three though we don't talk very often (separate lives and all that) but to this day, if I mention the one friend's name in the presence of the other two they still get mad....don't really blame them.

My dad has long passed and I have both of the weapons. They are still displayed but I can bet all here can guess what's NOT on the nipples.

[03Lightningrocks]

Well today, my gun was sitting next to me on my desk. This is where I typically keep it while at home working at my computer and not wearing shorts/pants with a belt. (No kids, wife is well gun educated.)

So my brother and sister in law came over today.. In the past, he's mentioned interest in purchasing a firearm for home defense, shooting, etc. I've showed him my guns a couple times in the past. As always, I unload and verify it's clear before I hand it to ANYONE. He's also been to the range with another family member. So I'm sitting here at my desk and the BIL walks over from behind me and picks up my gun. I stop him, take the gun back, drop the mag and clear the chamber, rack the slide a couple times, and hand it back to him. In astonishment he says, 'oh was it loaded?' My response....'yes, of course.' He says 'and the safety wasn't on?' I say 'no, it doesn't have one.'

What does he say? 'Wow! I was about to point it at my head and pull the trigger as a joke!'

No joke. My brother in law was a few seconds away from blowing his head off in front of my wife and his wife.

Just a quick reminder there's some real MORONS hanging around! Definitely some lessons learned on my end about keeping a better watch on my firearm and not making assumptions about common sense gun safety.

I see this is a two month old story and that there is a novels worth of responses I have yet to read but, just reading this sent chills up my spine! That would have been a gawd awful thing to live with. Glad it turned out the way it did.

Several years ago when my son in law was first dating my daughter, he came over for dinner. I had placed a small 380 on my counter as I had just come in. Timing being close, he walked in from the front within minutes and I was wrapped up in saying howdy so forgot the gun was sitting on the counter. At the time, his exposure to firearms was little to none. He sees the gun and like a little kid starts moving towards it as he shouts, "oh, look at the little gun". Before I knew what was happening he was reaching out and almost had his hand on it. My daughter shouts, "don't touch it" loud enough that she caused us all to lock up. She has been around guns all her life and would never grab up a weapon off the counter like that, but she was quick enough to see her boy friend headed toward a huge problem. I had to hear her lecture me about firearms safety! I was proud and embarrassed for my mistake at the same instant.

I live alone and i am not accustomed to visitors. I have to make a conscious effort to put up weapons before anyone comes over. I have them in drawers all over the place. Mostly for home invasion purposes.

[RHenriksen]

Several times he forgot some part of the 4 rules and had to be reminded. The last time it happened, he was holding my loaded Model 29 .44 magnum in his hand, with the hammer cocked. I was standing maybe 10 ft behind the firing line and 15 or 20 ft off to one side. He turned to grin at his wife because he was holding a "Dirty Harry Gun," and he swept my midsection with that cocked .44 WITH HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER!!!!!. In fact, he swept EVERYBODY, not just me! That gun has about a 1.5 lb letoff on single action, and it was loaded with 240 JHPs stepping out at 1200 fps. I practically dove out of the way and started to sternly reprimand him about keeping the muzzle pointed downrange. He said, "it's Ok, man, I wasn't pulling the trigger yet."

This kind of story reinforces to me why I like doing pistol training on a strictly volunteer basis - not for pay, and definitely not for anyone my spidey sense is tingling about.

When I put give someone access to a loaded pistol for their first time to the range, I like to stay close enough to them that I can reach out and palm block any muzzle sweeps before they are pointing at Important Things. This story is a good reminder for me to keep doing what I've been doing!