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Trey Veston
Member
To the contrary, I find THR one of the most polite and well moderated firearms forums I've seen.
Why are gun forums so vitriolic?
- Thread starter Trey Veston
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To the contrary, I find THR one of the most polite and well moderated firearms forums I've seen.
LiveLife
Member
Amen and why I came here from other forums. Compared to many other forums, moderators on THR do an awesome job, as a group. Nice folks too.
Great moderators, staff and administrator!
herrwalther
Member
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- 8,117
I have accounts on a few others. Marlin shooters, Walther forums, Savage and maybe one more. This is the gun board I visit the most purely because THR lives up to its name. Vast majority of the time.
Good Ol' Boy
Member
In regards to guns it can be easily sidetracked by politics, which tend to get heated.
As someone else mentioned though, car forums can be just as bad. Ford versus Chevy is almost as tense as left versus right.
As someone else mentioned though, car forums can be just as bad. Ford versus Chevy is almost as tense as left versus right.
I think you misinterpret this compared to other topics. 99% of the time here when people get out of line (Vitriolic even) it is because they have gone off topic. You see jackasses in every walk of life in every group.
DustyGmt
Member
Yes, I have noticed this on occasion. I can think of 1 or 2 knife forums that are quite intolerant and have pretty touchy members. Basically anything goes on jerzeedevil.
I like that THR fosters a more polite and civil atmosphere but I have to say on a few occasions I have been disappointed to see a good thread shut down because pretty mild and tame disagreement between members had ensued. A little too sensitive I would say..... sometimes.
I like that THR fosters a more polite and civil atmosphere but I have to say on a few occasions I have been disappointed to see a good thread shut down because pretty mild and tame disagreement between members had ensued. A little too sensitive I would say..... sometimes.
LiveLife
Member
But ... But ... you gotta hand it to posts like, "I just bought a gun. What did I buy and how good is it?"Nobody wants to be told they made a bad choice on a gun, caliber, shooting ability, scope, or that they paid too much.........its a PRIDE thing.
cheygriz
member
IMHO, this forum is not contentious at all. On the contrary, it's so "politically correct" that most robust debate is stifled immediatly.
DustyGmt
Member
That too. Sometimes it's like "oh this is getting a lil interesting, maybe a lil bit of a touchy subject, maybe I'll interject because I too feel strongly about....." BAM! Not open for further replies.
earlthegoat2
Member
I will at the very least, consider what everyone on here posts. It would be quite flattering if all do the same for me. You don’t have to take anyone’s advice or even like what they are saying but if you consider it first before acceptance or rejection, then you will at least be the slightest bit more enlightened.
Elkins45
Member
The correct answer is Yamaha, and anything other than post-bailout GM or Chrysler.You should see Evinrude vs Mercury arguments on iboat forum, my other hobby after reloading (Beats Chevy vs Ford argument any day)
Oh, and Chevy vs Ford arguments get UGLY (Lifelong Chevy family here and for retirement bought Ram Truck with EcoDiesel and traded Buick for Pacifica Touring S
Seriously, gun people are odd. In some ways they are the salt of the earth, but I will frankly tell you that I don’t enjoy spending much time with most people who share my hobby. I love guns and I’m really pretty much the stereotypical gun owner (white male Christian conservative Republican with a beard and a belly) but some of the talk I hear at gun shows and the range sounds like it would be more at home at an Alex Jones fan club meeting. And as a former physics teacher I practically have to bite my tongue off whenever people start “explaining” ballistics and mechanics to me.
Old Dog
Member
Uh, yeah, uh, Trey … you haven't been on any motorcycle, 4-wheeler or JEEP (I'm a Land Rover owner for the past two decades, BTW) forums, have you? Or even boat forums …
Gun forums are highly civilized, in my opinion. Vitriolic? Any internet-based discussion typically devolves into stupidity, but aside from Glock or AR-15 specific forums, most gun forums are some of the most civilized internet discussions you'll find.
Gun forums are highly civilized, in my opinion. Vitriolic? Any internet-based discussion typically devolves into stupidity, but aside from Glock or AR-15 specific forums, most gun forums are some of the most civilized internet discussions you'll find.
RedlegRick
Member
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Because deep down people are jerks? Even otherwise good and decent folks sometimes let something they see on the internet get under their skin. Add a heaping dose of anonymity and a highly charged subject and it's easy to see threads go off the rails and explode like a Michael Bay film.
And let's face it, there are just some people who aren't happy unless they're unhappy and drag everyone down with them. I like it here, I feel the moderation is fair enough and they don't let small problems turn into big ones.
I say this because I very briefly moderated on another forum, the topic of which I won't get into. A couple threads went so far south people were doxxing other people and law enforcement got involved between two posters over what was said. Never again.
This is a civil and sane place in my opinion and I'd like it to stay that way, thank you very much.
And let's face it, there are just some people who aren't happy unless they're unhappy and drag everyone down with them. I like it here, I feel the moderation is fair enough and they don't let small problems turn into big ones.
I say this because I very briefly moderated on another forum, the topic of which I won't get into. A couple threads went so far south people were doxxing other people and law enforcement got involved between two posters over what was said. Never again.
This is a civil and sane place in my opinion and I'd like it to stay that way, thank you very much.
^This^
Guns are political these days. If we were arguing about whether .270 Win or 30-06 was the better deer load I don’t think you’d see many heated arguments.
When some are willing to give up essential liberties for temporary safety ... well, you get the point.
.308 Norma
Member
That's only because anyone with a lick of common sense knows a 30-06 is better than a 270.
he..hehehe....hehehehe
sorry gotta tell a story.
sitting around drinking with some buddies. They were arguing about Ford vs Dodge (Chevy's don't even have a cheering section with that group). We were all drunk as skunks, and had gotten to the point of tossing out acronym/brand insults.
One guy finally yells "WELL....DEN......CAUSE...uh........Ford Owners Real Dumb!" and promptly fell off the cooler.
He still drives an f350 with a 9" lift...........
I still drive MOBIS made vehicles, and I enjoy poking those guys also.
does that have anything to do with this thread?
kinda, I've noticed folks like arguing so much so that they will sometimes do what my buddy did and just pick a side without really thinking about it.
Some thoughts. This isn't an exhaustive list of why things can get nasty on gun forums.
1. A lot of what people believe is obvious fact about firearm is in reality, very difficult to demonstrate in the real world. This results in people who think they know the truth but really are just stating opinions. When people disagree, it's hard to be civil when you "know" that the person arguing with you is contradicting "obvious facts"--just as it is to be civil when you know that the person arguing with you is making statements that can't be proven and is only repeating nonsense they heard elsewhere.
2. The physics behind firearms is not well understood by many, and its significance is therefore commonly either over- or under-stated and it is commonly misinterpreted. This results in people who think they know the truth but are really just stating opinions. On one side of the debate you have people who are angry because their perception is that they're being called ignorant/uneducated and on the other side you have people who are frustrated because they understand the science and yet they can't make any headway in explaining it to people who don't/won't understand. And there's a whole spectrum of people in between who get parts of it but not other parts.
3. Weapons have, historically been thought of as extensions of the warrior. The people who wielded them used to commonly ascribed magical properties to them. Although we are far more enlightened these days, the same desire to offload responsibility to the weapon still exists, especially when scientific basis for firearms performance isn't well understood, creates dogmatic/fanatic beliefs about the superiority of certain weapons/calibers/brands. We won't come straight out and say that they're magic any more, or that they were given to us by a deity, but when it comes right down to it, there's still some of the desire to "mythologize" our favorite guns. Comments we perceive as attacking those firearms/calibers/brands are often taken as heresy, in almost a literal sense. Also, in the same way that negative comments about our religious beliefs are taken as personal attacks, negative comments about our weapons tend to be taken as personal attacks. On the other side, there's frustration about those who hold strong beliefs that aren't factually based.
4. There are a lot of traditions about guns and a lot of "history" handed down from previous generations and those who we respect. When people don't agree with our opinions about firearms, we often see those comments as attacking the people who helped us form our opinions. On the other side there's frustration with those who won't/can't accept that not all the information handed down was factual.
5. Humans are extremely susceptible to various biases and, to make it worse, are often unaware of their biases. In addition, humans are extremely good at rationalizing their actions--to the point that they may believe their own rationalizations even when those rationalizations aren't really based in fact. So, the gun I bought is the best choice, not just a gun that looked really cool to me, or one like my dad owned, or one like the actor used in my favorite action movie or TV show, or the one I could afford, or one I saw in a magazine when I was first getting interested in guns, or the latest one I bought that I really, really like a lot right now, etc. It's hard to stay civil when the facts being argued aren't really the facts that mattered. Factor in #3 and #4 and things get even touchier.
6. People tend to have a hard time understanding the limitations of experience. Common fallacies based on experience are: "It's never happened to me so it can't be an issue even if other people or statistics say it's pretty common." or "It's happened to me so it must be an issue even if other people or statistics say it's actually pretty rare." Plus, personal experience is, well, personal. It's hard to be objective when someone makes comments about something that is personal.
1. A lot of what people believe is obvious fact about firearm is in reality, very difficult to demonstrate in the real world. This results in people who think they know the truth but really are just stating opinions. When people disagree, it's hard to be civil when you "know" that the person arguing with you is contradicting "obvious facts"--just as it is to be civil when you know that the person arguing with you is making statements that can't be proven and is only repeating nonsense they heard elsewhere.
2. The physics behind firearms is not well understood by many, and its significance is therefore commonly either over- or under-stated and it is commonly misinterpreted. This results in people who think they know the truth but are really just stating opinions. On one side of the debate you have people who are angry because their perception is that they're being called ignorant/uneducated and on the other side you have people who are frustrated because they understand the science and yet they can't make any headway in explaining it to people who don't/won't understand. And there's a whole spectrum of people in between who get parts of it but not other parts.
3. Weapons have, historically been thought of as extensions of the warrior. The people who wielded them used to commonly ascribed magical properties to them. Although we are far more enlightened these days, the same desire to offload responsibility to the weapon still exists, especially when scientific basis for firearms performance isn't well understood, creates dogmatic/fanatic beliefs about the superiority of certain weapons/calibers/brands. We won't come straight out and say that they're magic any more, or that they were given to us by a deity, but when it comes right down to it, there's still some of the desire to "mythologize" our favorite guns. Comments we perceive as attacking those firearms/calibers/brands are often taken as heresy, in almost a literal sense. Also, in the same way that negative comments about our religious beliefs are taken as personal attacks, negative comments about our weapons tend to be taken as personal attacks. On the other side, there's frustration about those who hold strong beliefs that aren't factually based.
4. There are a lot of traditions about guns and a lot of "history" handed down from previous generations and those who we respect. When people don't agree with our opinions about firearms, we often see those comments as attacking the people who helped us form our opinions. On the other side there's frustration with those who won't/can't accept that not all the information handed down was factual.
5. Humans are extremely susceptible to various biases and, to make it worse, are often unaware of their biases. In addition, humans are extremely good at rationalizing their actions--to the point that they may believe their own rationalizations even when those rationalizations aren't really based in fact. So, the gun I bought is the best choice, not just a gun that looked really cool to me, or one like my dad owned, or one like the actor used in my favorite action movie or TV show, or the one I could afford, or one I saw in a magazine when I was first getting interested in guns, or the latest one I bought that I really, really like a lot right now, etc. It's hard to stay civil when the facts being argued aren't really the facts that mattered. Factor in #3 and #4 and things get even touchier.
6. People tend to have a hard time understanding the limitations of experience. Common fallacies based on experience are: "It's never happened to me so it can't be an issue even if other people or statistics say it's pretty common." or "It's happened to me so it must be an issue even if other people or statistics say it's actually pretty rare." Plus, personal experience is, well, personal. It's hard to be objective when someone makes comments about something that is personal.
Ignition Override
Member
Cslinger: Quite true.
I suspect that many people whose favorite gun is attached to one’s identity are too young to know how to separate one’s brittle ego from a chunk of metal and plastic/wood.
Their courage is derived from hiding behind a computer screen.
And they are too dumb to realize that if everybody preferred the same gun type, it would cost Much more.
I count my blessings that most people avoid older Sigs, metal CZs , commercial Makarovs and imported AKs!
.
I suspect that many people whose favorite gun is attached to one’s identity are too young to know how to separate one’s brittle ego from a chunk of metal and plastic/wood.
Their courage is derived from hiding behind a computer screen.
And they are too dumb to realize that if everybody preferred the same gun type, it would cost Much more.
I count my blessings that most people avoid older Sigs, metal CZs , commercial Makarovs and imported AKs!
.
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Mowgli Terry
Member
I see sniping going on in topics not related to firearms. Of late our moderators have pulled the plug on some ugly crap. While getting over this UTI It's been catching up on X Files. I see some worst offender having a relatively low post counts. I can run with the ball with this one.
The odds of getting a civil answer is very good in most threads. Among my first post there was a warning of clean but inappropriate comment. Of course we are subject to fake news and divisive stuff nationally. There is a traveling soap box in most forums. In two instances, large forums have taken measures to ban some topics after several skirmishes. One example was the Walker trigger. This was in another forum. Let's not drift into that one!.
The odds of getting a civil answer is very good in most threads. Among my first post there was a warning of clean but inappropriate comment. Of course we are subject to fake news and divisive stuff nationally. There is a traveling soap box in most forums. In two instances, large forums have taken measures to ban some topics after several skirmishes. One example was the Walker trigger. This was in another forum. Let's not drift into that one!.
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Ironicaintit
Member
Have you ever been to Pirate4x4?
The rest of the internet is downright civil, and this site (THR) is near angelic.
I think the crude and rude responses on the 'net is just something you get when people are posting with a degree of anonymity
The rest of the internet is downright civil, and this site (THR) is near angelic.
I think the crude and rude responses on the 'net is just something you get when people are posting with a degree of anonymity
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Trey Veston
Member
Yeah, I forgot about my brief experience on Jeep Forums... Never again...
BlueHeelerFl
Member
Many forums have members that are only there to troll, no matter what the topic
P5 Guy
Member
Any old time members here remember "The Round Table" forum?
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