Do you ever get silly requests from non-gun owners?

[TallPine]

OTOH, I have on a couple of occasions actually offered my help - "if you ever have a problem, call me since I'm right next door and the sheriff is 25 miles away"

The first was to our dear former neighbors - he worked as a truck driver and she was home alone a lot (and we used to have another neighbor who was a problem ).

The other offer was to the 85 year old WW2 marine vet who moved in about a year ago. He reciprocated the offer Honestly, he might be a lot slower than me, but he is a lot bigger and tougher

 

[armoredman]

When I did amored trucking, I used to get some stupid comments, usually mostly money related, (Hey, my truck is right there! Need help carrying that?), but once in a while a gun related one. One kid told me to my face that he KNEW we weren't allowed to carry loaded guns. I showed him one of the spare magazines, and he hushed right up. Another lady had seen me come in for weeks before she noticed, (talk about LACK of observation skills!), that I was carrying my Witness 40 in a duty rig. She almost screamed, "You'v'e got a gun?" My jaw dropped, and I looked at her, and asked, "You expect me to do this job unarmed?" Naturally she had no answer to that...
The worst was when I was a warehouse manager for a medical supplies company, and the owner was 2A friendly, so we carried at work, no problem. At a tuesday morning meeting, the owner's son's girlfriend, employed in some fluff position, asked me, with a straight face, and serious tone, (why, yes, she is a blonde, why do you ask?), "When you go postal, would you please not shoot me?" I assured her I had no intentions of "going postal". I left that place not to long afterwards...

 

[Ryder]

Only one strange request that I can recall. A freind asked to borrow my shotgun as protection for breaking into his parent's home. Said he wanted to retreive something that belonged to him. I didn't loan him my shotgun but I did attend his funeral a few days later.

 

[orionengnr]

maybe this thread should be a "stickie"

as evidence of the on-going stupidity of the average non-gun owner.

 

[gunsmith]

I was giving a friend a ride home

When a woman in a SUV with CA plates gave me the finger for having to get into the right hand lane to pass her because she was doing 30 in a 45.
I waved hello and smiled after her salute, my "friend" (a D anti gun Gore/Kerry guy) wanted me to point my Glock model 22 @ her!:banghead:

 

[Kurt S.]

Fairly similar experiences here. I have a relative (by marriage) who owns a few guns, a bubba-zed Enfield, a Winchester 1200, a bolt .22, and a S&W M10, all from his dad. He doesn't carry, as a matter of fact doesn't even shoot or hunt, but seems to think that my Texas CHL is a bodyguard license. (I don't broadcast the fact that I have one but I don't evade or hide it either, YMMV. Whatever works for you.)

And I have had a few joking (yeah, real funny ) requests to either shoot somebody, borrow a gun to shoot somebody, or brandish at a road rager. And guess what? Every swingin' time it was from an anti gun type- and they're on both sides of the political spectrum, my good folks.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

You are the company that you keep and I prefer not to keep that kind of company. If I am shooting at a range only pro-gunners know. If I got guns only pro-gunners know, it's that simple.

 

[ewb45acp]

Sometimes being the "gun guy" is fun.

I'm the "gun guy" where I work. One day a woman from another dept. came to my office.

Her: "So, they tell me your into guns"

Me: "yeah, I guess so. What's up?"

Her: "Can I show you something I found?"

Me: "Sure. What have you got?"

She had found two handguns in a shoe box, housecleaning after the death of an old relative. She didn't now what they were or what to do with them. What she had was a Colt vest pocket .25, and a Sauer model 38H .32. The Colt was in rough shape but still serviceable. The Sauer was nearly perfect. It turned out to be a police issued piece from Nazi Germany. It looked like it had never been fired. I got to take them for a couple of days, disassemble, clean, oil, reassemble, research, and generally just play with them.

 

[Double Maduro]

Agreeing to help with protection would all depend on who it was and how good a friend they are. My family or other good friends I think I would go ahead and help out. I think some ground rules would be in order outside my family though.

I tend to be more of a free range sheepdog. If someone asks for help or for protection I will, more often than not, give it.

The first time.

I make it plain to them that they must do something to resolve the problem, (leave, divorce, police, move to a new place, etc.) before I will get involved a second time. Most of us need help from time to time.

DM

 

[Zundfolge]

- "Don't make Joe mad - he might shoot someone" followed by
nervous laughter.

I get that one occasionally too ... frankly it pisses me off.

I usually respond with something like "So I'm a gun owner and that makes me a murderer? So if I was Black would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll bust a cap in ya' or if I was Latino would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll cut you!' or if I was Lebanese or something would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll blow up the place!"?


Bigots annoy me.

When introducing newbies for the first time, I always let them shoot my ammo for free.

So Justin, I-uh-I never-uh-never shot a gun before... uh, yeah, thats it ... never shot a gun before. So could you-uh-take me out to the range?

 

[Lupinus]

I get um all the time

Mainly "why don't you get rid of those damn things before you kill somebody!"

 

[mmike87]

When introducing newbies for the first time, I always let them shoot my ammo for free.

Let me clarify - if I ask someone to the range it's one thing. I've brought people before as a sort of gift or "thank you" for something, or just to show my appreciation for their hard work. Or if I really think I can convert them ...

If someone asks me if they can come along to the range, I think it's tacky and in poor taste to expect your host to foot the entire bill.

"Hey Bubba, can you drive me to Richmond? And pay for all the gas? And buy me lunch, too?"

I want to introduce new folks to shooting - but not those kind of folks. The anti's can keep them.

 

[mmike87]

I'm a known "gun guy" at work. People come to me for buying advice, etc. I try and help as much as my experience allows.

However, sometimes people joke and say things like "The company will never fire you, they'd be afraid you'd come in here with your 'machine guns' and shoot everyone."

First of all, it's not a machine gun, they are semi-automatic rifles. Second of all, how can people not see what an insult that is?

"Bob, I can't let my kid come over to your place because I know you take karate classes and I'm afraid you'd kick the crap out of my kid for fun. Ha ha!"

Some people just have no class whatsoever.

 

[Mr Kablammo]

I once had an aquaintance from church call and leave a message that he is having relatives visiting from out-of-town and that he would like to borrow (NOT 'come shoot with us') two handguns for a week. Since the details involved loaning two deadly weapons equal in value to $1,000 the proper response was to promptly erase the message. This really put me off of church for a period of time.

A lot of non-owners have impaired sense of responsibility and power. Yes, they suffer from stunted development and unrealistic thinking.

 

[Snap]

Never gotten any odd requests, even when carrying. Then again, most of my buddies own at least one and in most cases several guns themselves. I am, however, known as the "gun nut" of the group and have gotten a few of the "Watch it, he'll go nuts..." comments, mostly in lighthearted jest. Not a real big deal, I tend to take it in stride.

 

[sacp81170a]

Try being the computer guy, the gun guy, and a part time LEO. I get all kinds of stupid requests.

Can you write so-and-so a ticket, just as a joke? (No, they're numbered and I am accountable for each and every one in the book. The state auditors would *not* be amused.)

Can you help me get out of a ticket? (No.)

Can you shoot someone for me? (My reply is usually something like, "you gotta be joking to solicit murder from a cop, right?")

Can you come along with me so I'll feel safer? (Depends on the circumstances, but if it's someplace the person doesn't have to go, then I usually decline.)

Can you put my home computer together for me? (Sure, my normal fee is $150 an hour, but for you I'll do it for $125.)

On the other hand, I get lots of good questions, too. Like, "how do I get a CCW?", "what kind of gun do you recommend for home defense". I'd far rather answer those questions politely and to the best of my knowledge than the dumb ones.

 

[10 Ring Tao]

A childhood friend who I've known for 15+ years, broke his neck a few years ago, and is now a low functioning paraplegic. He was a certified moonbat, going to school for philosophy when he broke his neck, and we'd butted heads over the gun issue. About a year and a half after the accident, he asked me if I would shoot him.

He was absolutely serious.

 

[White Horseradish]

I get that one occasionally too ... frankly it pisses me off.

I usually respond with something like "So I'm a gun owner and that makes me a murderer? So if I was Black would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll bust a cap in ya' or if I was Latino would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll cut you!' or if I was Lebanese or something would you say 'Don't make Zundy mad, he'll blow up the place!"?


Bigots annoy me.

A good friend of mine had a girl friend (not girlfriend) that would do that to me constantly. Not about guns, we lived in NYC and were 18, but about knives. I have always carried a knife, and everyone knew it because I was the guy to open a box or cut what needs cutting. She'd keep talking about how everyone needs to behave or <me> would cut them up...

Drove me up the wall...

 

[Olys45]

Quote:
I had a young, very attractive girl ask me to "come over to her place to make her feel safe," one night. Story was she went on a second or third date with a guy and she ended it early because he made her feel uncomfortable. She wanted me to come over for a while just in case he stopped back.

I stopped over.

It was a farce.


She was horny, and he turned out to be a dork of a date.


I think I read that same story in a certain magazine....

Now that is funny!

 

[dogngun]

I'm a member of several different gun-related forums. Last November I noticed several forums had similar posts from a new guy wanting to find a range or gun club that had a shooting range that duplicated the conditions of
the JFK assassination. I emailed one of guys who had replied to this moron, turned out he was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who thought he could get a story about "gun nuts" who were imitating Lee Oswald out of hero worship or some such thing.

The ignorant perceptions most non-gun people have are sometimes a little scary and sometimes insulting.

Mark

 

[Nanook]

"How many do you own"?

The only answer I give to this idiotic question is:

"More than I need, but not as many as I want."

Usually a puzzled look, followed by a repeat of the question is what I get for my trouble.

I blame television, too much Scooby Do, not enough Nova.

 

[Sinsaba]

When a nutcase recently went to a nearby police station (Chantilly, VA) and started shooting at police, the report got out that a) he might not have been alone, and/or b) he had left and was on the run in our area.

As soon as one of my co-workers heard this (we work not far away) he said "quick go out to your car and get your gun".

I'm not really sure how to take that...

I can see that in 3 ways it would be a real bad idea, in 1 way it might have been a not so bad idea, how they came to the conclusion that I happened to have one (a number of people know I go shooting at lunch time but that is no reason to assume that I always have one), and lastly, why I would want to have a G17 against someone going around with an AK47 (as reported).

 

[DougW]

Many years ago, a neighbor homeowner young lady came to the front door and asked if I had a gun. I said "aaaa....yes". She said "can I borrow it? I think someone has broken into my house." I said "no, let's call the police".

She came in and we called 911, then I retrieved my revolver, and we waited in the entry way of my house for the police to show up. When the troops arrived, she went to talk to them, and I secured my revolver and followed her outside too. One officer stayed with us at the cars while 5 or 6 cleared the house. The officer with us asked if I was armed, and I said I was until they got there. He said "good" with a nod.

BTW, nobody in the house. A screen had fallen off a partially opened window so she thought someone must have broken in. False alarm, but the cops got some practice.

 

[Kharn]

I'm called "Sniper", "Killer" or "Ranger" by my office since I showed up for deer hunting at a coworker's farm with my Rem700P in .308 with SuperSniper 10x42 scope. I had just started there 6 months prior and it was the only deer-caliber rifle I had at my apartment. I dont really worry about it, our senior leaders show up to work everyday in the same green clothes and almost everyone in the office goes deer-hunting.

This year, I may be show up with my AK and a 5rd mag, it'd be better suited to the terrain on the farm anyway.

Kharn

 

[GunnySkox]

Once, a girl who lived in the same dorm as me (the HONORS dorm, mind) asked me if I was in the KKK, because I had a bunch of guns. I was completely dumbstruck, and I stared at her for a little while, managed a "No..." and left.

The same girl asked my roommate if the fraternity he was joining (Kappa Kappa Psi) had anything to do with the KKK because it had two Ks in it.

>.>
<.<
I'm sort of glad I got thrown out of Honors.

~GnSx