Good job on your guide. It's great seeing someone put the effort into providing this to people they shoot with.
I appreciate the motivation, thanks.
You can understand the advice to make the safety rules first since the consequences of an accident are catastrophic with a firearm. If you're sending this to them beforehand to read then a good "hook" to get them into reading the guide through is sound reasoning, but if you're handing it to them at the range before going to the line, safety and responsible firearms handling should be right up front. Emphasize that there are catastrophic consequences and that it deserves the 100% respect of the new shooter because of the irreparable harm that can take place.
I absolutely understand and agree with this. I intend to use this before they ever get near a loaded firearm, and point the main safety rules as pertinent during conversation, and then the whole structured safety section once they are in a predisposition to pay attention. But at this point I'm pretty inclined to bump it up to the front if it makes everyone happier.
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These types of weapons are effectively illegal to the average citizen in the USA."This is incorrect and needs to be changed. The average citizen may legally purchase selective fire and fully automatic firearms on the NFA registry since the average citizen can pass the background check required for the transfer. This is myth should be countered at every opportunity.
I think I'll have to reword that part. It kind of depends on what myth your debunking. If someone thinks that almost every gun there is fully automatic and most crimes are committed with them, then the argument is that effectively, they are illegal to the average citizen since the barrier to entry is unreasonably high. But if they think that no civilian can own a machine gun, then of course that's when you point how they are perfectly legal for most law abiding people provided they are willing to pay the near obscene market prices. For better or worse that part was worded like a conversation, since those points are really just talking points for the drive to the shooting range or something like that. But yeah, I think it probably is worth rewording it.
It might be beneficial in Stance to show what you mean when you're cautioning against "the lean". The "picture worth 1,000 words" adage illustrating this most common error may help people avoid it.
I would have loved to, however it would have broken the formatting more than I would have liked. And that issue is common to almost every suggestion to expand a bit on any point for better clarification. On most pages the word count was used up to the last word, making a few characters more overflow to the next page. As it is, most subjects are either one page, or two contiguous pages that can be open simultaneously. Adding a single page breaks the formatting of most of the document. So if I expand on some of the subjects mentioned, then I'd have to reduce somewhere else and that would be the next complaint. I did play with the margins at the end so perhaps I have space for a single line more, but that's about it. As is I think it's borderline too long, and ideally I'd be alongside whoevers learning to point those little details out.
You show proper and improper grip and discuss it a bit. You might expand there with more details of why and how to fit the handgun to be able to get the proper grip. The Cornered Cat has an excellent explanation on this and we've discussed it repeatedly here in THR. It makes for greater initial accuracy and comfort for the new shooter to fit the firearm to them instead of trying to handle something that fits me, but doesn't fit their hand
Cornered Cat is actually one of the cited sources, but I don't think I saw the post you mention specifically. If I understood you right, I'd probably consider that more something that the person providing the guns should take into account to decide which guns to bring along. I typically bring some variation of 3-4 different sized handguns and 1-2 rifles depending on the person, time and situation. But once on the range I tend to start with what's easiest, see how they fair, and if possible just let them choose so they enjoy themselves. Most tend to gravitate what they shoot best so it might be unconciously taken into account. I'll definitely check that post and see what I think afterwards.
In Rifle you can make your point clearer by changing the text to read "For the most part, shooting a rifle in .22lr or a carbine or pistol caliber is easier and has less recoil to manage than a handgun. This is why intermediate cartridge carbines like the AR are the primary choice of most shooters and for professionals who require a weapon."
Yup, absolutely true. In retrospect I inserted my bias in there. My AR's are in .22lr, .223 and 300 BLK. And in general I'd dare say that .22lr and .223 are probably the most common rifle calibers out there, specially for the ubiquitous AR plataform. But I've always thought that a 9mm AR is the perfect granny weapon so I tend to think along those lines, it's just not a very typical weapon for the average casual gun owner I'd think (as in the type that doesn't go on forums in their spare time hehe). At some point you kinda have to reach the conclusion that if you write it for gun people, or write it for gun amateurs, the result would be a completely different worded book. In any case having pointed it out, it makes perfect sense so I'll go over it.
In Safety you could move your 14 bullet in Etiquette to a 10th rule in Safety to caution to keep all food and drink out of the shooting area and washing up after shooting before eating or drinking. Minimizing lead exposures isn't like the catastrophic hazard of a gunshot wound, but is more safety than etiquette. You could also move the "no gun unattended" to Safety since the object is to prevent someone from mishandling the firearm. I don't want to dilute the prevention of a gunshot wound with those two points so it may be beneficial to have a section on "Other Safety Points" and leave not shooting someone else or yourself as the principal Safety topic.
I hadn't done it yet, but this meshes with what I was intending to do. The 4 basic safety rules feel too little to me if no other safety rules are taught, so that's why my safety list ended up longer (which is just a compilation of other lists). I'm pending putting the 4 main rules at the top of the page, and a second header below it with "complementary or other safety rules" where I can feel free to expand a bit. It was good thinking to point out the food and drink part, but I bet you must be lucky enough to have a really nice range for that to be a remote possibility. I would have never even thought of it! haha. Though I must admit that shooting at an exterior range with Yerba Maté off the firing line is a nice way to pass the ceasefires
. Now whether I put things like those in Etiquette or Safety has more to do with formatting like I mentioned before than where they should actually go (given that arguably they can go in either).
to read "No one other than a Federal Firearms License holder can purchase a firearm and have that firearm shipped to them legally. If you pay an online retailer for a firearm it is shipped to a local FFL you selected and you must undergo a background check, and pay whatever fee for service, before you may have the firearm. There is NO "gunshow loophole". " You should consider rewording,
I'll review it. Thing is that I've always considered that to be a bit too broad of a statement, since you can buy guns online or in person from a person who is also in your same state legally, and have it shipped straight to your home without an FFL (at least in Florida the last time I checked). It feels risky to the point that most probably use an FFL anyway just because it feels better, but it is legal. Even though the anti's make a poor job pointing it out, that could be called a loophole of sorts. I'd say that bullet point is consciously ambiguous simply because I wouldn't want to risk feeling intellectually dishonest knowing that if I was an anti, I could counter the claim.
. Perhaps, "there are many examples where CC has stopped a crime, but these instances either go unreported in the news or are only locally reported and have to be searched for instead of the national reporting that a shooting gets".
I remember that when writing that, it wouldn't fit without spilling onto the next page. Since there is a line or two of space now, I'll check if it fits since that is in line with what I would have wanted to say.
Anyway, thanks HSO! That was absolutely the most helpful posts I've received, and will certainly be implemented in some way or another. I have to admit that I thought the little doc is getting more time put in than I expected, but oh well, it certainly is nice to have and costs a lot less than building another rifle or slinging lead downrange. Hopefully it will be of use in the future. Thanks!
. That section is purposely more relaxed and casual. I think it's important to keep in mind that this isn't a commercial guide, it's just something some random dude posted on the internet. Making it not boring is important, too.
