So I’m sure y’all have had interactions with non-gun people that made you laugh - share your stories? here’s mine:
I was in Southern California at a gas station filling up my old truck. The fellow on the other side of the pump was super chatty, asked how my day was going, commented on the weather, told me about his plans for the weekend. Clearly a friendly outgoing guy. At one point, he asked me about the sticker in my truck window - it says “SWPL” surrounded by palm trees and a sunset.
Him: “What does SWPL stand for?”
Me: “South-West Pistol League”
He literally JUMPED back three feet, stuck his arms straight out like he was holding back a crowd, and yelled “GUN PEOPLE!”
He looked like this —>> I about bust out laughing but managed to keep my calm friendly demeanor and just kept chatting like nothing had happened…
Me: “It’s a lot of fun, very safe group too. We have families who come out and bring their kids. we roast hotdogs and practice safe shooting and… < blah blah > …”
By the time he was done pumping I’d talked him in back in about half of that 3 feet.
but OMGosh seriously. He jumped three whole feet straight back!
I was at a social event that guns were permitted and got into a discussion with a man that said he would never go anywhere near a firearm. I kept baiting him with questions like , how close it too close to be to a firearm, if he was able to tell if someone had one (he said he always knew who carried) this went on for about an hour all the while I kept him on my strong side so my firearm was as close as possible to him. (I would normally never do that but I had to see how good his radar was) eventually I purposely dropped something and picked it up so that the gun would print. He was not thrilled at all, I just smirked raised my glass and walked away.
I was in a small town pawn shop (no guns for sale) and was talking with the guy at the counter when he noticed my mostly concealed carry.
He told me that he thought all hand guns should be against the law because you cant use them for anything but killing people.
I explained my first hand gun I ever purchased was done for the purpose of deer hunting (which he ignored).
He still said they really serve no useful purpose other than for people to use while committing a crime. If we pass a law making all hand guns illegal then within 4 years there will be no hand guns left on the streets other than the ones carried by the police.
He also thought we should make ALL (recreational) drugs legal so there would be no need for crime because anyone could get whatever they needed.
You should’ve asked the pawn shop owner for his home address. When he asked why, you could’ve told him you wanted to see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and the unicorns prancing about, as they surely must be there.
Of course with his comment about legalizing all recreational drugs, maybe he thinks they really are there!
I had a similar experience. Went to party, ok to carry. Met a gentleman who went on for about an hour railing against carrying, and those who do. I kept the conversation very neutral. My wife was laughing, because I kept the strong side within three feet of him. I decided not to reveal, knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. Plus it would have really aggravated my host, which was my larger concern.
I have no words, @DBrogue! Would the guns already on the street just disappear or stop working in 4 years? And how in the heck would making ALL recreational drugs make there be no need for crime? Does he want us to give them away for free?
I would have had to walk away - or I would have gotten myself in trouble with my facial expressions. Some day eye rolling may get me in serious trouble!
I was at a women only week long camp a couple of years ago. My mom goes every year. I’m swimming in the lake with a bunch of the women and they’re talking about guns and how terrible guns are. They don’t know my background … That was their first mistake.
One says only military should have automatic rifles. I chimed in, only the military can have automatic rifles unless you get a special (expensive) permit. She was surprised.
Another says semi-automatic handguns should be banned completely. I asked why? She said that no one needs to the ability to continually fire… I explained how a semi-auto handgun fires. She was surprised as well.
Another says, I don’t care that it’s only one round per trigger pull, no one needs a semi-auto handgun. I asked how someone is supposed to defend themselves against criminals who have a gun? “Well, they can get a Glock to defend themselves.” I remember that line vividly. I said a Glock is a semi-auto handgun. “No it’s not, it’s a Glock.”
After about 5 minutes of explaining that a Glock is a semi-auto handgun brand similar to how a Toyota or a Ford is a brand of vehicle, it finally sunk in. They couldn’t decide if we should have guns at all or not.
I said I own a few guns and left the lake. I think their mouths were gaping as I left. I did hear from my mom later that they asked why I knew so much (in their opinion) about guns. I had to laugh…
So I don’t know if this counts, but today in class when we were going over setting up a landing page for an advertisement our instructor says “bullets are your friend” and I just blurted out “yeah they are” probably just a little too loud.
Living in a state that is predominantly “gun people”, it’s actually very rare to run into a “non”. However, there are quite a few southern transplants in our one “big city” and their ranks seem to include a few of those anti-gun people.
So, I stopped in said city (I have to travel through it a lot, but don’t stop very often) one evening and gassed up at a station that was in the parking lot of a grocery store. After fuel, I ran into the store to grab some road food. I went to the checkout with a small handful of items, but it was early evening so there were lines everywhere. When I finally got up to “next” in line and had my items setting on the belt, I reached for my wallet so I could pay quickly and keep the line moving. As I’m extracting my wallet, I caught the edge of my jacket on the wallet and lifted the back up much higher than I wanted. I typically carry a S&W Shield directly on my belt just behind the hip when it’s jacket weather. Anyway, I knew I had inadvertently raised the jacket too high, so after straightening things back out, I made a casual 90 turn to the left and then glanced back at the line of people behind me. The lady who was immediately behind me with a cart full of groceries is standing there with a white-knuckle grip on the shopping cart handle and eyes the size of saucers starting at me with what looked like some level of mortal fear. I just gave her a quick, friendly smile and turned back toward the register hoping her adrenaline response would be “flight” and she wasn’t about to ram me with her cart. Never so much as gave that lady another direct look (but kept her in the periphery) as I struck up a friendly chat with the girl at the register, paid, and then walked out of the store. But I later wondered if the lady was able to power through her phobia, or if she spent the evening medicating with her friends over her “near death” experience. You just never know.
I carry openly a lot and when I do conceal honestly most of the time it isn’t really concealed because we’re an OC state and you’ll rarely find a location where OC is posted but CC is not (30.06 and 30.07 signage) More often than not when people obviously notice I’m carrying I get little more than eye contact and an acknowledgement, on rare occasions a scowl or smirk from an obvious anti gun nut.
Only once have I seen anyone the least bit panicky and that was a woman known to be a reapeat offender who ushered the her kids and the kids I was babysitting away from me. I just told her that the gun was perfectly safe as long as it was holstered and she need not fear it magically jumping off of my hip and slaughtering everyone.
Frequently I get the “Hey, nice looking gun, what are you carrying” comment.
Last week while I was in the city though I stopped for gas and something to eat and a guy in line asked me if he could see it.
I laughed said no, sorry, I can’t draw it in public unless I’m using it for SD. He was amazed and so I explained the law to him.
He showed more interest in getting his carry permit so I gave him a card and told him to give me a shout.
Several other customers were obviously paying attention to the interaction so I passed out cards to them as well.
Just another good opportunity to educate the public.
As a teacher, it is rather obvious that I don’t have a firearm at work. However, several people know I go shooting on a regular basis. About the only comment I get is from people who want to go shooting “for the first time.”
I keep thinking that at some point, I should get trained to do a proper “intro to firearms and safety” for people who want to go shooting.
Training to help others is very useful as you don’t want to teach them bad habits. I’d suggest checking out the instructor e-learning we offer. It’s awesome and really helps break down the components in bite-size pieces so they’re easier to understand and teach.
For me it depends on which of my carry guns I’m carrying that day. If I carry my 1911 it is always OC. And if it is my LC9s I have holsters where I can either OC or CC. and both are outside of my waist band. and I’ve Never had anyone complain about my gun. I have had people ask what type, why do I carry, or ask about carrying gun laws. I once had a person tell me that 1911 was cocked. And I told him that the way to carry a 1911 is cocked and locked with safety on. And no other issues.
I about bust out laughing but managed to keep my calm friendly demeanor and just kept chatting like nothing had happened…
