[ecbaatz]

Hi, yes I am new the board and this is probably my first post. However I have a question to ask but then I am not sure why I even need to ask it.

Why are there so many avitars of people pointing guns at the camera (I am assuming the picture was taking on the time delay setting and no one was holding it)?

To me it seems that we are violating our rules for safety. Maybe it is just me and I am sure I will get a lot of flaming for pointing this out. Personally I don't care for it even if it is just a picture. What are we to tell our young children when they see the picture? Oh, it is ok Sammi, it is only a picture. I always thought you should teach/lead by example and this IMHO is not an an example I want my children to see.

If you want yourself on the avitar then put it there, just like the excellent one of Betty, but please leave the pointing gun elsewhere.

Thanks for letting me rant and I welcome all responses.

Eric

 

[Euclidean]

Eric I used to wonder the same thing, but it's just a photography trick.

My initial perception was "Who is holding the camera and having a gun pointed at them?"

The short answer is no one. People use the timers and put the camera on a tripod or set it on top of something else. On top of that they aim it in a safe direction, but you can't tell that from the photograph.

Remember these people are pointing a gun at an inanimate object, and as long as they're willing to destroy that object it's okay.

 

[P95Carry]

Eric - guilty as charged. Sorry!

Indeed the pic is as Euc mentions, on tripod, timer delay, gun empty etc ... and all clear behind.

I guess it could be taken the wrong way by some but in this environment (well, my take and you'll probably disagree) - I regard it as an expression of freedom geared toward the bad guys - it is they who are being ''pointed at''. A reminder if you will that there ARE those of us who carry the means to defend self, in extremis.

If it bothers you badly and others agree, I will happily make a new avatar - it is not my wish to upset anyone intentionally.

 

[FortyFive]

Eric has a good point and its been explained. Our forum is not PC but a family of people interested in firearms and everything that goes along with it. I believe we are a board that expects members to be over a certain age but not really sure of that. Members try not to place others in bad light or standing nor inquire about things personal that may offend other members. We are much like our founding forefathers with respect for each other. P95Carry has been through the mill in his lifetime I am sure and has earned the respect of his fellow forum members, I for one would never enquire or hint about anothers firearm or personal effect, it is their buisness. :smile:

 

[Prospector]

Ha lee wood..ta ta tatata Ha lee wood. Sorry, just couldn't resist....avatars are kind of a personal thing....I kinda like being able to look down the bore of a "picture gun"....don't want to see the real thing.....I'll bet if you were to see the "full shot" of Betty.....you'd be staring not only down a bore, but see the brilliant shine from a newly sharpened "pointy thing" !! :tongue:

 

[The Tourist]

Well, then you should love mine. Yes, that's a chromed Harley, and yes, I own a chromed Harley, that one on the avatar is not mine.

Now before you go to thinkin' that bikers have become namby-pamby and just a bunch of old guys that own little white dogs (down, Sasha--Neko, let go of that), let me assure you that we still put our pants on just like you--over our heads.

Like all scooter enthusiasts raised in the 1960's when men were men and sheep backed out of a room, I stole the avatar.

It was laying around, no one was using it, no one was looking...

 

[Phil Elmore]

When I take pictures like this, the camera is on "delay." Nobody's in any danger (except the camera itself).

Some things just aren't worth getting worked up over, if you ask me.

 

[Scunyon]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"It's an Agent!!!!!! Run, Neo!!

 

[rfurtkamp]

It's a photo. No one was harmed, safety precautions were taken, end of story.

There comes a point at which I have to wonder whether the safety soup nazis of gundom do far more harm than good - don't we have something better to do than going after our own for taking photos that they like?

 

[Euclidean]

rfurtkamp:

I consider myself a recovering Safety Nazi.

From a very early age I was taught gun safety in a lot of the wrong ways. As a small child I was not allowed to point toy guns at people.

"But mom it's just a piece of plastic." I guess for a child I had a pretty strong concept of what was real and what was make believe.

But it didn't matter.

And for a lot of years I grew up believing that there was no good reason to keep a gun loaded, I believed that you shouldn't just carry around a gun just in case, that most people would just have a gun taken away from them in a real fight, etc. etc.

Looking back on it, a lot of it was my mother's influence. My mom's not anti gun, she was just worried I'd hurt myself. I am the only one of my siblings who expressed much interest in firearms beyond the .22 caliber rifle.

It wasn't until maybe 3 or 4 years ago, a very short time, I started reading forums like this one, and picking up books, and talking to people who were expert shooters.

I've come an awful long way in a hurry. But I'm still a safety Nazi. It's like that clearing the pistol issue. I want the magazine removed and then the chamber cleared and the action open even though that's not strictly necessary.

I still own some cable locks, one for each gun. I don't use them very often. I've learned it's better to simply remove the slide, or the receiver, or the bolt, etc. etc. A little education has done a lot for me. I've realized that a lot of what people call gun safety is really political anti second amendment proganda, and lot of it is folklore.

I'm not afraid to let a falling gun fall. I cannot convince my immediate family that such is the best course of action. When I'm at home I keep a loaded revolver in a small safe ready to go, and I keep another one on my person as I dart about my residence. Five years ago I'd have made myself nervous. Now I get nervous thinking about the stuff I believed five years ago.

How many other people in this country had a similar upbringing? I'm glad I sought some to aquire useful expertise and gun handling skill or I'd be so safe I'd still be trying to save me from myself.

That's just my experience. I have to admit when I first started driving I wasn't a very good driver and I was too cautious. But I got over it. Same with firearms. It's just that I started with my very own car when I was 16 and I couldn't really buy guns until I was in my 20s.

To me the use of a firearm is like driving, cooking, knowing how to do your laundry, or knowing how to find the equation of a given circle. It's just another skill a person needs to know to get along in this world, and it's one that comes in time with consistent dedicated practice and education. But you have to start somewhere.

now to drift off topic...

Good heavens man I supervise large groups of minors that I only have 8 or 9 years on age wise. Other than some work in the public schools, a college degree, and a teaching certification I picked up in continuing education classes I didn't have much to qualify me for the job when I started. To think they let a person like that, just some every day guy, just take on such a huge responsibility.

And you know who gave me this start? A man with 3 decades of experience who knew how little I really knew.

You just have to trust people to not screw up most of the time or you'll die from anxiety. Firearms ownership is a solemn responsibility, but you have to let people get started even if they're not as far along as you are.

 

[Bumper]

I completely disagree and don't see that it's a big deal at all. It is a photograph, nothing more. I am reminded of the little boy that got thrown out of school for bringing a 1" plastic toy gun that was part of an action figure or the kid that was expelled for wearing a necklace that was a small representation of a sword. There are many more examples of political correctness run amok, it's just not worth the time to find them. In the above cases I think the teacher/principal that expelled these kids should be be flogged and fired. Over reaction to such things just don't compute with me....

 

[Bumper]

If it bothers you badly and others agree, I will happily make a new avatar - it is not my wish to upset anyone intentionally.

No need to change your avatar, P95, I think most people enjoy it for what it is..... :wink:

 

[Euclidean]

I completely disagree and don't see that it's a big deal at all. It is a photograph, nothing more. I am reminded of the little boy that got thrown out of school for bringing a 1" plastic toy gun that was part of an action figure or the kid that was expelled for wearing a necklace that was a small representation of a sword. There are many more examples of political correctness run amok, it's just not worth the time to find them. In the above cases I think the teacher/principal that expelled these kids should be be flogged and fired. Over reaction to such things just don't compute with me....

Bumper you do realize odds are excellent he was simply enforcing a zero tolerance weapons policy the school board passed?

We have a policy that students are not allowed to view weapons related content at school. If a history teacher caught some student viewing a website on the M1 Garand, the letter of the law so to speak is to write a discipline referral.

That's not to say there's not some wiggle room in most cases, but odds are significant he had no choice.

 

[Bumper]

Quite frankly I would ignore it. Take the little bugger aside and tell him, "Hey, look I know you are an innocent child but you need to educate yourself on what liberal gun grabbers are shoving up all of our backsides. If I were to do what they have told me to do, I would have to expel you, so put that in your pocket until you get home and don't bring it back to school. If you do, I will make you suffer through a week in Mr Euclidean's math class."

I bet he would never bring it back to school. Seriously, as a teacher or principle I would not enforce it. As a taxpayer in that school district I would make the biggest stink they had seen in a long time. Zero tolerance? BS. I would pack up and go to work for a charter school....

 

[Q-ball]

When I take pictures like this, the camera is on "delay." Nobody's in any danger (except the camera itself).

Some things just aren't worth getting worked up over, if you ask me.

I'm more concerned about Phil's eyebrow! :tongue:

 

[Euclidean]

Quite frankly I would ignore it. Take the little bugger aside and tell him, "Hey, look I know you are an innocent child but you need to educate yourself on what liberal gun grabbers are shoving up all of our backsides. If I were to do what they have told me to do, I would have to expel you, so put that in your pocket until you get home and don't bring it back to school. If you do, I will make you suffer through a week in Mr Euclidean's math class."

I bet he would never bring it back to school. Seriously, as a teacher or principle I would not enforce it. As a taxpayer in that school district I would make the biggest stink they had seen in a long time. Zero tolerance? BS. I would pack up and go to work for a charter school....

That can typically happen Bumper.

But then the little sod goes and rats you out to your administrator that you let it go. You are then promptly dismissed.

Then a week later the same thing happens to someone else and they know good and well what happened to you.

Either that or a parent finds out that a student had such an item on campus and the policy was not enforced. They file a law suit against you, against the school, against the district, etc. You are promptly dismissed, and then ordered to pay 1.5 million in court.

Now where I work it's not like that. As a matter of fact I just had a very similar incident with a wooden toothpick shaped like a knife with similar results. I also am aware it could mean the end of my employment for doing so but I did it anyway because it'd be stupid to do anything more.

Odds are pretty good that in that incident someone could have just used a little judgment before it got that out of hand. But I wasn't there so I don't know that.

 

[jdsumner]

Bro, if you've ever seen me shoot; you'd know the safest place to be is in front of me!

Dan

 

[Bumper]

That can typically happen Bumper.

But then the little sod goes and rats you out to your administrator that you let it go. You are then promptly dismissed.

Not likely he would rat you out for giving him a break, but regardless, I'd still do it. And if they fired me I would say good ridance to them. I'd find a line of work that I didn't have to work with such ignorant people. No wonder our schools are so screwed up. I guarantee you that if a school did that to one of my kids I would tear the place up. Period. That kinda crap has no place in an institution that I PAY FOR with my taxes....

 

[Team American]

I'm more concerned about Phil's eyebrow! :tongue:

Yep! Phil's got that Spock look down cold :biggrin:

 

[The Tourist]

Bumper,

I know that these guys probably do it for humor, after all, we are among our own kind.

Yeah, it's kind of like "hey, lookie I'm wearing big boy underwear" but usually we know the guy. We know when the guy's got ego issues and when someone like Betty is swinging for the cheap seats to make us laugh, like she successfully does.

If that's what a guy's got to do to shore up his reproductive issues, fine, it's no big deal. We know the guy. Snicker, and then carry on. Sooner or later everything filters through their prose.

For example, in your experience, how many extra 'Rs' have you seen in the word 'patridge.' Does the hero pointing the gun at the camera evey know what they are?