Secretive about guns, ammo, etc.?

I don't advertise to anyone. But my neighbors see me practicing with my daughters pink CO2 pistol regularly in our back yard.

Waveski said:

There was your mistake. Your second was not coming up with a better response to the neighbor's "Car parts?" inquiry. I would have gone with something like "No , just metal stock for my work bench." See how nice that is? Not even a lie. Better yet - "Parts for my vice." Get it ? Some people drink , some gamble , some reload.

Click to expand...

I hope my UPS guy's back gets better.

I don't discuss it. I usually take the car parked out on the driveway for a range run so if I take a long gun, I check that my neighbors are not out. With the small stuff it looks like my usual photo gear so it doesn't seem out of normal to see black bags going into the trunk.

The ORM labeled stuff when we got shipment, I was home. If not I have my UPS drivers cell number so I would text or call him to hold it. He knows my hours anyhow so he'd do a drop late in the day.

I don't have a lot of interaction with my neighbors although I chat with the nearest couple. I'm not secretive per se but I don't advertise at all. Occasionally I'll wear an Aimpoint hat but you'd have to be somewhat into guns to know what that is. However, once about a year ago I was returning from a trip really late in the evening, and my then-neighbor stepped out onto the porch just as I walked by with a cased 12ga in one hand and a naked CZ Scorpion in the other.


EDIT: "hat" not "had".

Gumby0961 said:

I live in a court in the middle of the Silicon Valley, 4 of 5 of my neighbors are of foreign origin. Not the exactly what you would call gun friendly good ole boys. I kinda keep it private.

Click to expand...

Maybe if they knew you, knew what a great guy you are and knew you were a gun owner they could put 2 & 2 together....

I would like to say, as many of you have said, that I don't hide it but I don't flaunt it either... but I'm afraid that's not true. I hide it. Even though I live on 15 acres, I don't shoot because I don't want the neighbors to know that there are guns present on the property. Shortly after I moved here, a couple of bad guys managed to steal about 35k in ammunition, optics, and other gun stuff from one of the barns. They tried to get into one of the safes, but only managed to bang it up pretty good. A few years before that I had gotten a job in a library as a way of honoring my late wife who was a librarian. After I time, unfortunately, I let it slip on one patron that I was a "gun guy." The next thing I knew, it seemed people were coming out of the woodwork with questions about firearms, shooting, reloading, etc. There were even folks, both men and women, bringing guns into the library in order to ask questions even though there were those little signs on the doors indicating that firearms were prohibited. The management already hated me, but now they hated me even more. It was only with great reluctance that they had hired me after more than 20 applications, and several members of management hated me even then, but now they turned up their "Hirt" program -- humiliate, insult, ridicule, threaten -- even more. I managed to put up with it for a few more years, but when they found a manager who was willing to attack me physically as well as verbally and emotionally and then transferred me to her branch, I gave up in a couple of weeks. I still have to walk sort of bent over. So, yeah, I'm a little selective about letting folks know of my interests. Please don't tell anyone!

The UPS guy knows quite a bit about the people on his route. As generic as some shipments are, he knows what is inside most the time. As the CA cutoff for online ammo was coming to an end, he dropped about 100#'s off for me and we talked. He said the past weeks he'd seen plenty in this sized box with the ORM and was curious what was going on? I told him and he said he's not active in the hobby but does have some, he'd better buy ammo as well. I order cameras and lenses time to time and he text's me that he's on the way. In a similar vein, I don't like the advertising on the boxes some companies use. They follow Amazon and while that's great to advertise, some companies this is not a good means for the receivers. This is an obvious display sitting on a porch-entryway. With porch pirates that alerts them to what may be potential pickings if they become more assertive. Glad that UPS and Amazon now have off site drop points.

I have a freaking YouTube channel and run a gun forum...not exactly low key. However, correspondence to the forum or me goes through a PO Box. People know what city I live in, but not where, nor do I put what I drive on line. My neighbors know that i own at least one gun - it's in my holster when I walk out in uniform. So far the only one who asks questions is the land lord and he is one of the most awesome landlords I have ever had, good guy.

I have only read the OP ...

RockRat64 said:

Do you keep your hobby private? I feel like I've run into too many anti gun people who say there are "gun nuts" out there and are quick to judge. So I feel like I keep it semi private. ...

Click to expand...

First off, I don't think that I could possibly care less about what anti-gun people think about me, even if they are my neighbors ... but ... thinking of some of the places that I have lived in my life (especially urban), I can certainly imagine a situation where that might be wise.

I make no effort to actively keep my hobby secret (I do have handgun & 100m ranges setup in my backyard), but I also do not talk it up among strangers. None of their business.

O'course, some of the people (UPS, FedEx, USPS) who deliver firearms, ammunition, reloading components and accessories to my house are bound to know.

Nice thing is that the rural area where I live is, apparently, filled with like-minded people. On weekends, especially, one can hear periodic target-shooting gunfire from all points of the compass.

I live on a wooded 3 acre lot up on a bluff-like setting - neighbors 75 yards away - when trees are leafy, cannot even see the neighbors so no need to conceal anything. I don’t flaunt, brag, discuss, etc with any neighbors about much of anything - I am cordial and I wave but I am not part of the clique. I would say that my neighbors know little about me. I CCW all of the time and no one knows (except my wife) - I would like my CCW condition to be a surprise, like a woman jumping out of a cake. It is just better for me (and everyone) that way - why invoke questionable attention. The neighbors are people that happened to buy the house next door, just like me and millions of other people who have purchased homes - just happenstance.

i don't attempt to hide anything from the neighbors. There's an NRA sticker on the truck along with stickers from two colleges i graduated from. The neighbors often see my old truck going behind the privacy fence with a hog or deer hanging from hoist. Neighbors observe me putting guns into the truck for hunting or a trip to the range. No one cares.

Jim Watson said:

I'm not secretive but I don't have vehicle decals or wear logo gear off the range.

Click to expand...

Same..my gun hobby is nobody's business but mine. Advertise to the wrong people and you buy a break-in when you aren't home.

My coworkers know I am a gun guy.
My neighbors may know, I don’t really care.
I do not have any decals on my truck and my gun cases look like plastic equipment cases and my gun bags look like backpacks.

Coop45 said:

I hope my UPS guy's back gets better.

Click to expand...

I hunt and shoot with my,(now retired), UPS driver.

Everybody I know knows I shoot trap and deer hunt. "So, how many guns do you have"? "Three, my trap gun, my deer gun and a little old revolver in a box."

RockRat64 said:

Do you keep your hobby private? I feel like I've run into too many anti gun people who say there are "gun nuts" out there and are quick to judge. So I feel like I keep it semi private.

So I went out to my mailbox to grab 3,600 9mm bullets packed into a small box and ran into my neighbor. I commented (and was surprised) how heavy it was. He asked (car parts?) And I just said "no, not car parts!" And went inside. My wife says that is awkward and suspicious and I say oh well!

Click to expand...

I share gun stuff with close and trusted friends.

IMHO it just draws too much curiosity. Not hiding, but not advertising, no logos, stickers, hats, shirts, or any gear that is firearm related. Even in conversation when firearms come up - depending on how it is being discussed, I'm happy enough to get into a conversation, but usually I can tell most conversations are either about, some concern with mass shootings, or people wondering in a time of stress if they should have a firearms, and I really back away from either of those conversations, and they are the majority of times firearms come up that I've seen.

Welll you post here so the world knows you are a gun owner.

All my neighbors, most not really close as I am in the sticks, all own and shoot all the time on their own land as do I. I moved away from people on purpose.

It's all about security.
I don't advertise that I have a firearm with decals or t-shirts.
I keep my firearm cased in a nondescript case when going out to the range.
I will discuss shooting with others though, even offering to take non-shooters to the range.
It is vital to the sport and 2A to be a good ambassador

Do you keep your hobby private?

Click to expand...

Not if you can read this.

I don’t have a problem with people knowing I’m into guns. I do have a couple gun manufacturer t-shirts that I’ll wear. No bumper stickers or anything like that though. I’ve always found them to be super tacky. If asked how many guns I own I lie to just about anyone though. I keep my answer at one or two no matter what the actual number is at that given time. I don’t own an insanely high amount of guns but I also don’t want to increase my chances of being burglarized by saying seven or eight.

i keep it quiet myself, don't have any clothing to wear or stickers on my car windows. only close acquaintances know about what i am doing, and we share information. like right now, this man and wife are considering to do this as well, and i am explaining what i am going thru, as well costs associated with this new hobby.

I don’t have any guns

...if we were really trying to be secretive, would we really be here posting on a public forum?