Stuff overheard at the range or local gun shop

[ddd-shooter]

Yea seriously, didn’t realize how many here are anti open carry. Must be adult onset hunters who grew up in a safe gun free zone. Bozeangeles types/transplants for sure.


I don’t open carry but many do around here. Judging one’s ability to handle a weapon based off looks is lame. The backwoods hippie scary looking people in my town all they do is shoot every single week in their backyards. Sure they look funny but they’re harmless. I’ve yet to see a news story of a Montana/Idaho man open carrying being an issue. But guns are so scary.

Most times I see open carry, the dude strikes me as Billy Bob Thornton from tombstone.

 

[KsRancher]

Yea seriously, didn’t realize how many here are anti open carry. Must be adult onset hunters who grew up in a safe gun free zone. Bozeangeles types/transplants for sure.


I don’t open carry but many do around here. Judging one’s ability to handle a weapon based off looks is lame. The backwoods hippie scary looking people in my town all they do is shoot every single week in their backyards. Sure they look funny but they’re harmless. I’ve yet to see a news story of a Montana/Idaho man open carrying being an issue. But guns are so scary.

Absolutely nothing wrong with open carry. It's in the manner in which they do it in. They want to make sure you see it. The way they act is just not normal. Yes, it harmless. But also tasteless.

 

[nobody]

If I hear one more gun store salesman reccomend a 338 Lapua to someone for getting into1 mile elk hunting I'm going to squeal.

Also then general fuddlore and mythology around the 338 Lapua is worse than the 6.5 Creed.

You spelled it wrong. Every gun counter cowboy fudd knows it’s spelled “338 Loopa”

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Absolutely nothing wrong with open carry. It's in the manner in which they do it in. They want to make sure you see it. The way they act is just not normal. Yes, it harmless. But also tasteless.

Maybe. Or maybe thats just your perception of the situation. Protecting oneself and their family while being tasteful to all the different minds out there isnt rational thinking. Open carry means everyone is going to see your weapon, or else it would be concealed carry lol.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Most times I see open carry, the dude strikes me as Billy Bob Thornton from tombstone.

Haha yea. There's a dude I see once in a while at the local grocery store open carrying a 1911 that looks like David Allen Coe playing a character in a Quentin Tarantino movie. I love it, and I love that it makes people feel uncomfortable for some reason.

 

[CorbLand]

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.(*)(**)"

*Only if done in a way that seems tasteful, unseen and displays your competency in the use of said arms.
**Cannot be coupled with any form of blade, especially if its a bowie style knife and/or Hi-Point branded pistol.

 

[Thinkingman]

Yea seriously, didn’t realize how many here are anti open carry. Must be adult onset hunters who grew up in a safe gun free zone. Bozeangeles types/transplants for sure.


I don’t open carry but many do around here. Judging one’s ability to handle a weapon based off looks is lame. The backwoods hippie scary looking people in my town all they do is shoot every single week in their backyards. Sure they look funny but they’re harmless. I’ve yet to see a news story of a Montana/Idaho man open carrying being an issue. But guns are so scary.

For the record, I have owned firearms and been involved in sport shooting and hunting since I was 5...55 years.
It's not so much that people choose to open carry, it's the circumstances under which they do and also, having walked this earth for 60 years, I have learned to read people for cues as to what behavior they may exhibit.
There are people walking around that are just a little too eager to show off their stuff and that has every possibility to lead to issues.

 

[Thinkingman]

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.*"

*Only if done in a way that seems tasteful, unseen and displays your competency in the use of said arms.

Reminds me of the sketchy kids driving driving around in ratty Tacomas with a giant GLOCK PERFECTION decal in the rear window.
I was brought up in a culture where people would say 'If you have to advertise....?'

 

[RockAndSage]

One thing that's hard to argue with on the open carry thing, is that...everybody is damn polite to them, tasteless behavior or no.

And Jefferson did say that "An armed society is a polite society", so there's that.

 

[ORJoe]

Reminds me of the sketchy kids driving driving around in ratty Tacomas with a giant GLOCK PERFECTION decal in the rear window.

Ooh, that takes me back...

 

[Taudisio]

It’s the ones at Walmart with a drop leg holster carrying a hi-point. The other side is usually a Bowie knife. He doesn’t bother me except his awareness of his surroundings. I’ve walked right up on him to get something off a shelf and he only looked at me while I had my hand about 3 feet from his head grabbing my item. I’d love to see the same dude at the range and see what he can do with it on paper and how he handles the firearm, but we are just strangers and he is exercising his right and safely enough.

I’ve carried in so many positions and outfits to know that anyone can be carrying, at anytime, so you should always be polite.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I see at least one person who is open carrying every couple of days. Some are a lil more "look at me" than others. I have yet to see anybody actually give a shit about them or what their training/skills are.

These threads crack me up

 

[NMJM]

I support everyone's right to open carry, however you might as well be carrying around a sign that says "shoot me first"

 

[Thinkingman]

One thing that's hard to argue with on the open carry thing, is that...everybody is damn polite to them, tasteless behavior or no.

And Jefferson did say that "An armed society is a polite society", so there's that.

Not necessarily.
Just like the Harley crowd with their costumes and loud exhaust.
They are going out trying to provoke a response and that attempt at intimidation doesn't always go the way they hoped it would.

 

[rcb2000]

Thread derailed in 3……2……..

 

[Steve300xcw]

They are going out trying to provoke a response and that attempt at intimidation doesn't always go the way they hoped it would.

I have not seen that. Most the folk I see are just going about their day.

 

[LeftyWilbury]

An armed society is a polite society

not to derail this train, but that quotation is from a work of fiction, and definitely not a Mr. Jefferson.

“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”​

― Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

as for stuff overheard in gun stores, i do my best not to be in the retail section of our store for too long. my job is to get the product in the store, I let other people get it into their hands.

my most glaring memories are of broken old men limping into the store from their beat up truck to see the one brick of 22LR we'd have left on the shelf after Obama took all our guns and everyone started hoarding. "well I already have over 50,000 rounds of .22 but i'm gonna grab this." really grandpa? there's some dad who is going to come in the store friday and ask us for one box of 22 to take his kid to the range and all i can tell him is "keep an eye out for estate sales in the next few years..."

bonus points to the two women who came in and were going camping and wanted a bear gun. they saw the LWRC 45 ACP SMG on the wall and that was it. "we'll take that!" like, OK. GAME ON LADIES. where ya camping? I'll bring the ammo.

 

[RockAndSage]

not to derail this train, but that quotation is from a work of fiction, and definitely not a Mr. Jefferson.

That definitely qualifies as the biggest surprise of my week so far. I'm used to Churchill getting falsely attributed quotes, but hadn't ever thought this one was misattributed. And...of course, it would be a Heinlein quote...

 

[SWOHTR]

Absolutely nothing wrong with open carry. It's in the manner in which they do it in. They want to make sure you see it. The way they act is just not normal. Yes, it harmless. But also tasteless.

Agree with you here. Open carry is fine, great, and all. I've done it. Lines are crossed when the open carry is used as a tool to instigate a situation.


Anyways, back to our scheduled programming here. I stopped hanging around pro shops and counters a while ago for the reasons everyone has stated in this thread.

 

[NVUplandHunter]

Worked at a gun counter for a large national chain for awhile. Hiring standards were essentially “do they have a pulse” and “do you know how to spell your own name,” we had some real loser mouth breathers there for awhile.

The worst was a self-proclaimed former military Rambo type named Grant. I am grateful for anyone who served in the armed forces, but just because you were in the military doesn’t mean you know ANYTHING about firearms. This guy was the cream of the crop for those stereotypes. Apparently he was part of a super secret squirrel type operation that saved Seal Team 6 multiple times when they lost most of their guys to gunfire, goes into active combat annually on request by the president, and he was also a team member for the Army’s PRS team where he shoots a RPR in 338 Loopa (his words, not mine). He was awesome, just ask him.

Anyways, he was famous for telling everyone that the “multi cal” on the side of an AR lower meant it would shoot 223 or 556, and as long as it said that on the side you were good to shoot either one. Multiple dozens of us told him over and over that “multi cal” means the receiver is good for any cartridge in that length configuration, but the chambering of the rifle was determined by the chamber itself, and that customers should always check the barrel stamp to determine chambering since cartridges like 300BO were also stamped multi cal. He argued vehemently against us, no matter what, and oftentimes went all “drill Sargent” on us, yelling at all of us to “fall in line” and to “respect our superiors”. The dude was an idiot, and was eventually forced out by corporate for other issues and complaints made by customers, but we all braced for the day when he ended up getting someone hurt.

Thank you to all military members for your service, but please be humble enough to realize that just because you were in the military, it doesn’t mean you know anything about firearms. Drives me nuts.

as a USMC vet i can tell you they teach you very very little about firearms and certainly not about the verbiage on the receivers. Heck they hardly teach you how to even shoot.

This also goes for survival. the amount of people i see saying they can survive "x" because they were in the military is so gross. it seems every time i turn on a survival show theres some "former military" guy on there and hes the biggest wimp and has zero survival skills.