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Do you trust OTHER people W/ guns?

9K views 147 replies 99 participants last post by  Cold Warrior 
#1 ·
Do you trust other people W/ guns?

Frequently I see threads here about gun shops that restrict carry or gun shows or the NRA convention. It reminds me of a Pastor at a church I used to attend that used to ask “Do you hate sin?” and everyone would raise their hand then he’d ask “Do you hate your sin?’ not quite as enthusiast a response.

Anyway I thought I’d throw this out; In general do you trust other people, people that you don’t know or people that do things that, while legal, you disagree with , with a gun?

How would you feel if the entire country did away W/ permits and just allowed Vermont carry? Would you feel more or less safe?
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#60 ·
I keep an eye on people at the range even after I observe their safe handling.

My son-in-law recently bought handgun and planned to go to the range as soon as he could. My daughter was anxious about going with him, because she did not know how safe he would be. Her only experience was shooting with me. Turned out well, he was safe and they had fun.

Like many of the post have said we earn the trust of others by our actions.

Be safe shoot straight
 
#62 ·
Do you trust other people W/ guns?

How would you feel if the entire country did away W/ permits and just allowed Vermont carry? Would you feel more or less safe?
I can and do in several different ways.

If the entire country did away with permits and allowed them to carry just because of the Second Amendment, I would feel exactly as safe as I do now.
 
#67 ·
Honestly I did not used to feel this way, not even a few years ago.

But right now today as I sit typing this my gut and un-emotional left brain both concur with your view.
We already have morons running around with guns on their person well within the letter of the law. And some times but not always as a rule they screw up.
As well we have very many sane and sensible people who have right in their state to carry without even requiring a permit/license at all and yet they choose to not do so for personal reasons and there is no rampant issue of gun crime and moron maneuvering among those areas (NH, AK, VT etc).

Also as noted by others practically anybody can get a drivers license as long as they are able to draw breath and be of an age greater than 15 minimum.
Same goes for persons to bear and 'raise' (influence) children.
Far more challenging and wrought with potential danger than any mechanical device held at hand.

It's taken me some time to get there and as by a winding road of life, learning and un-emotional clarity of view.
But I now agree with you, 100%.

- Janq

P.S. - Criminals and persons who will act criminally by specific purposeful choice do, have and will always have access to arms regardless of any law by letter or spirit.
Proof of this dates back to our countries founding fathers and their choice to rise up and defy as well as disobey their then English king.
Revolutionaries to some, guerrillas to others and rabblerousers in general. They all though as by proclamation of the king and by that then law of the land were criminals by acts and view.
Which might make one think, and re-think.
 
#63 ·
Do you trust other people W/ guns?

_

Do I trust other people driving their cars? Nope. So I just suck it up and drive defensively. The same applies to gun carriers, few of whom I notice. (except if really looking for that)
 
#68 ·
No, I don't.

Then again, to everyone else, I am one of those other people.

So, I guess the only option is to trust. Given the statistics, people are generally trustworthy with firearms.
 
#70 ·
I don't trust anybody and everybody. No, I don't. I suspect no one else does without some additional knowledge of their character or mental stability.

Would anyone here trust a habitual wife beater, or child molester? What about a person who had been in and out of various mental type rehabs? What about a person who had a history of criminal activities, and especially violent actions?
Not me.

I would not trust workmen at my home carrying unless I knew something about them.

But, yes I would and do trust folks to carry at gunshows if they have the proper license.

Regards,
Jerry
 
#72 ·
Originally posted by SIXTO Then again, to everyone else, I am one of those other people.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner
 
#73 ·
I had some doubts and still do as I expressed those views with the Wyoming debate. It's been pointed out though and I must see the logic in some responses that trust is a earned value in this society and while everyone who earns the right either by permit or law can carry a gun, do I have to trust them no, will I respect their right to carry one, heck yah, I spent 20 years defending their rights to do just that.
 
#75 ·
I only read the OP and didn't bother reading all the replys. For me, it's very simple.

I don't trust anyone with anything. If someone wants my trust or if I decide to give it, it has to be earned. For me, trust and respect kinda go hand in hand. I don't offer either of them easily. If someone is worth it and proves it so, they'll get it in spades. I've been burned and have seen MANY others burned by trusting someone and getting it shoved right down their throats. In some cases, literally.

No thanks. I treat everyone equally. No one gets a free ride.

Great quote... "Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

It's as simple and as difficult as that really.
 
#103 ·
Much agreed. :congrats:
While I don't trust people as far as I can throw em, but Bad Guys will and DO carry guns illegally, drive without license, and use illegal drugs. I was only 14yrs old when the Brady bill was inacted but I do remember the debates even at that young age. Did that stop criminals from owning guns? How many busineses have been robbed while proudly posting their "Rob me" sticker?
Even if all states did away with licenses only a handfull of people would start carrying. It's not like every Dick Jane and Harry would be "Pack'n".
Need I remind you of Second Ammendment?!
 
#79 ·
Let’s take the permit question out of the mix for a second.
One of the best examples I can think of it this most gun shows don’t allow loaded weapons inside, every time the topic comes up someone (and sometimes it’s me) says that they ignore the rule for themselves but understand why it’s in place it applies to those other idiots who don’t know not to draw their CCW to check a holster
 
#81 ·
I'll take a stab at it. Going about normal daily life...I dont see people's guns and they arent using them or even thinking about them for the most part. The guns are 'not in play.'

When I go to the range, I am often concerned when I see how people are handling their guns...often not according to the 4 rules for instance. With many guns being handled all the time, the odds of an accident go up proportionally, just like the difference between driving along a side street and trying to negotiate rush hour traffic when many fools are zipping in and out of lanes.

I see a gun show as similar if people are carrying. Lots of chatting, showing off guns, trying holsters, bringing them out, putting them away, and very few 'safe' directions in which to point a gun when you bring it out to drop the magazine, etc. (Just for a few examples). Lots of distractions, lots of opportunities to forget if a gun is loaded or unloaded. Lots of guns in play, so the odds of accidents goes up. If loaded guns were allowed, I would need to seriously consider how often I attended.

Another questionable venue for me is sporting events and stadiums. People have too often demonstrated severely poor judgement and restraint in such environs. I think it's perfectly fine for a venue to decide to search people and forbid guns if they choose. And this would give me the choice of attending such an event.

So for me....I'm all for no permits, but believe that there are reasonable instances where restricting guns (or loaded guns) exists.

btw....try comparing a 'fender bender' to a 'negligent discharge' and an injury accident with being shot. How many of us have experienced those vehicle incidents in our lifetimes?
 
#80 ·
Treo, for some of us guns are banned at shows per state law, charge admission, public building, take your pick. But then I don't shop at gun shows. I shop at local stores that let me carry. And clear a weapon to check a holster or anything else. I would not spend my money at a gun shop that denied my right to carry. I'm in more danger driving there than any idiot at a store will put me in. And if they make me that nervous I can just walk out. I don't have to be present while they take advantage of their right in a reckless manner.
 
#82 ·
Ok, here the thing, I trust everyone. I trust everyone with the basics. I trust that person wont run me off the road, even though sometimes that person may be drunk and just might try and kill me. Or the stranger standing in line behind me at the bank, I dont know if he is going to pull out a sawed-off shotgun out of his long trench coat and try and rob the place. But I trust that he wont, he is a normal everyday, run of the mill guy just like me.

However, throw in firearms. Now this trust gets a bit leery. Its a judgment call. If someone enters my home with a firearm, and I see it, I am probably going to say something and my alert level just went up. I wont make him disarm or anything. My friends all carry, now I trust them, but I dont know their friends who they bring out shooting with us. I trust the fact they know what they are doing, but I am more aware of what exactly that is. I watch them, and I am ready. However, when we go shooting, since I am the senior instructor at my place of work, I am the range SO and I take charge of everyone.

If I am walking down the street or in the mall or something and someone looses control of his firearm, probably due to a bad holsters set up or something, and his firearm drops to the ground. I wont pick it up, but I would say something like "you might want to get that set-up fixed. Here is my card, come to my class." and move on. People carry, I trust them. I trust the would be BG to use proper firearm handling techniques when he is robbing the gas station. But as soon as he puts my life or my familys lives in danger, or anyone else puts them or I in danger.... boom. Trust issue over.
 
#85 ·
O.K. here is one to think about.......Just say that Defensivecarry Members are having a national meeting so everyone can meet and greet fellow members, say at a convention center here in Georgia.....but wait, no GUNS, Cause we want the public to trust us with guns even though we cant trust ourselves. I would trust all of yall with a gun around me until u prove you cant be trusted....If we want our government to trust us we need to trust each other.

A government that does not trust it's law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is itself unworthy of trust. -- James Madison
 
#86 ·
I'm going to a 'ladies carry fashion show' next weekend. I asked Pax and women will be able to carry. There may be some rules, including no guns handled at all during the gathering. (Blue guns only for instance). But I am still going (& carrying unless I hear differently) and feel comfortable doing so.

If I see differently when I'm there, that's a different story. But knowing Pax, things will be handled appropriately.
 
#87 ·
I trust everyone else to own firearms until they prove to be untrustworthy. I then avoid those particular knuckleheads as if they carried the plague.

Why shouldn't we trust others to possess firearms? I'm certainly not an anti with a subversive agenda, or one of those "Just dial 911 and let us protect you" LEOs who overtly praises our Second Amendment right to bear arms for the sole purpose of hunting game animals, (Say, what?) but actually think private citizens should be denied their true Second Amendment right to bear arms to protect themselves from human predators, and a government gone bad to make them feel safer while performing the duties they chose to do.
 
#88 ·
If Vermont or Alaska suddenly have high rates of people shooting at each other, I'll change my mind. But for now, I would be just as comfortable as I am now NOT knowing if the guy beside me is carrying.
 
#90 ·
I would feel much safer if the entire country went with Vermont style carry. I distrust the criminals far more than any law-abiding gun owner; even if that owner is incompetent they don't have malicious intent. And there is the larger issue of the government failing to trust its people, then demanding their trust and violating it at every turn. More people carrying is a good thing. I haven't heard anything about the high murder/crime rate in Vermont ever, but you get stories about that out of LA, NY, DC, etc all the time. Gun control is what makes the people unsafe, not the reverse.
 
#92 ·
No. I generally distrust other people handling guns around me. Being at relatives homes being showed their new guns, I've been sweeped with a gun. If I tell them to treat the gun as it always loaded and never point it at something you don't want to destroy, they just say it's not loaded. At the gun shop I see customers handling guns even more poorly. At the range I sometimes wish they had a military sergeant yelling at people to put their gun down and step away from the line when I see them doing things unsafe. For the most part, people in my opinion are poorly trained to handle guns safely and tend to cause accidents with "unloaded" guns. People having guns is generally good imo, but I don't want them handling their weapons around me.
 
#94 ·
yes and no. I believe that every one around me, except for those who have jumped through the hoops of getting themselves convicted of a violent felony, has the god given right to protect themselves. I do not however trust anyone handling firearms around me until they have proven to me that they are to be trusted - what that means is that any time any one I dont know is found to be packing heat, I watch them like a hawk until they prove themselves responsible or not.
 
#95 ·
To add to that... For me the issue of trusting people has more to do with how I need to act around them than if they should be carrying at all. I think AK and Vermont are headed in the right direction - but there really shouldn't be as many restrictions on carrying as there are.
 
#97 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronny
People having guns is generally good imo, but I don't want them handling their weapons around me.

Originally posted by Deuce130
Not sure what to think about this statement. I think it sums up what alot of people seem to think. Guns for me, but not for thee. I think we need to check our elitism at the door. IMO.

I dont think anyone has said "guns for me, but not for thee". I used my knife example earlier but I will use a gun one for this illustration.

Lets say you go to a gun exhibition. You see there is a trick shooter there and he is doing a damn fine job shooting things out of the air, splitting cards, ect. Now he has come to his final act. He wants a volunteer. He is going to shoot an apple off the top of the volunteers head. Would you volunteer?
Do you trust this man enough to put your life in his hands?
Isnt this the same as not trusting the guy next to you at the range?
Did anyone say they didnt want the guy in my example to have a gun?
Has anyone here stated they dont want other people to have the right to have a gun?
I would expect you to not trust me and my weapon upon first meeting me as I wouldnt trust you on our first encounter.
 
#98 ·
As difficult a question to answer as it is to frame. Blind trust of strangers is Condition White. Trusting a stranger's gun handling skills without proof is, I think, an act of faith - a faith I do not share.

I think there is a minimal expectation we extend to strangers around us, that everyone will do the right thing, as we go about our public business. We expect people to stop at stop lights, and that people will not pick our pockets as we walk down the sidewalk in close proximity, that cashiers will be honest in making change. This social expectation is not the same as trust. I still watch to be certain that everyone actually stops at the intersection. I take measures to thwart pickpockets. I count my change. You might characterize it as benign skepticism. It isn't suspicious distrust, and it isn't paranoia, but it also isn't unwarranted trust.

There is an expectation that anyone carrying a gun will act responsibly, but do I trust that they will? No, just as I doubt anyone else trusts me without knowing me from Adam.

For me, trust is earned, not assumed. We practice drawing, SA, shot placement, etc., precisely because we want to be prepared for that unexpected moment when someone violates that social expectation. Carry is a right, and whether I think someone should or should not be carrying is irrelevant. My job is to take the necessary steps to safeguard myself and my family.
 
#99 ·
I understand the thought behind what you ask, but I think you have at least three questions in there:

First, and not necessarily in order, you ask "Do you trust other people?". Well, I believe society as a whole is inherently sane, so yes I trust other people. BUT, you have your bad cells; this is why all of us in this forum CC for self defense
purposes.

Second, you ask, "Do you trust other people with guns?". Don't know if you call it "trust" but I am comfortable knowing others around me are armed and ready to defend me should I become incapacitated for some reason. Which leads to the last question:

"Do you trust people that do things you disagree with, with a gun?". Simple answer: NO!! Displaying a weapon publicly when it is not necesary is totally irresponsible and shoud not be tolerated by anyone....
 
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