[FatPat]

Originally Posted by therewolf

Yes. There were a few cases in the recent past here in Florida where

judges were cracking down on "brandishing" weapons, such as cases

of road rage where people were displaying guns.


A few instances where unloaded, and nonfunctional weapons were

displayed had people brought up on charges.

The real issue here is, if you merely show someone a gun to influence

an argument, they will likely lie, and claim you pointed it at them, which

is a third degree felony.

Ok, that's a little different than what I was thinking you meant.

[Cpt_Sunchips]

I may be new to handling real firearms, but a 5 year veteran in airsoft.

I've seen missing teeth, near blindness, pain, and ALOT of mess started over guess what?

Point a gun without clearing the round.. err BB is just as bad as loading a magazine and point of it


In short, never ever never ever never EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO IT

[Korey]

More to add to this thread, My ar 15 has been giving me problems. Last night I ended up getting a double feed and had one round in the chamber while it ejected one. The only reason I noticed it is because I always look down the chamber before I put it away. I've had this gun for maybe 5-6 years and even then I still was put in a situation that poor handling habits would have gotten some one killed. I have some what become a grumpy old man (even though I'm 22) when ever I see some one waving a gun around like their head is up their ass. Moral of the story: If you don't want to be shot, DO NOT put other people in line of fire loaded or not loaded.

[Thadeuce]

Practice makes permanent. If you practice pointing weapons at people, it will become a habit. That's not a habit you want to have.

[winds-of-change]

I try to never point an unloaded gun at people. And if someone catches me doing it, I hope to heck they correct me. Because the theory I've been taught is 'every gun is a loaded gun'.

[Tackleberry1]

In a properly controlled training environment, YES, there is a good reason for drills like this.

The Infantry spend's a lot of time loading soldiers w/blank ammo and the "MILES" laser engagement system for mock battle training. I can attest that this is an absolute requirement to get people over there natural aversion to shooting human beings.

Anyone who's ever killed a deer or other large game knows what I'm talking about. Shooting for blood is absolutely nothing like shooting at paper. If your not mentally prepared to do it, you will hesitate, miss, or both.

TACK

[Tackleberry1]

To expand on my previous point, "this is only done in controlled training environments", and in no way an excuse for poor gun handling or use of people who are not engaged in training with you.

TACK

[therewolf]

Originally Posted by Tackleberry1

To expand on my previous point, "this is only done in controlled training environments", and in no way an excuse for poor gun handling or use of people who are not engaged in training with you.

TACK

Unloading and checking EVERY gun, EVERY time you pick it up, merely has

to become "muscle memory" style habit.

[Iam99x]

Originally Posted by robocop10mm

I went to a class that had us pointing unloaded guns at each other and dropping the hammers. Talk about an eye opener! The instructor had all ammo out of the area. User, instructor and all other participants checked EVERY weapon several times until EVERYONE was satisfied that ALL guns were unloaded. Each gun had a chamber flag installed so you could see that the gun was unloaded and could not possibly be loaded.

We practiced drawing, aquiring a sight picture and snapping the hammer/striker at each other. I could not do it at first. Years of training had told me to not do such a thing. Shooting a bad guy requires violating this basic tennant. It was an eye opening exercise for me. I felt emothionally drained as a result of the exercise. It was so far off what I had been trained, my mind was exhausted. After a few days of reflection, I realized the message. You may have to violate the basic rules to survive. I know you don't point a gun at anything you do not intend to destroy. No rational, caring person WANTS to take a life. You may be FORCED to take a life. He who hesitates is lost. You may have to react quickly and not REALLY give it alot of conscious thought. If you hesitate for a moment, you may be the one on the Coroners slab. If you react too quickly, you may be the one standing trial for Murder.

IF the training can be done in an absolutely controlled setting, it will tell you alot about your self.

I have taught dozens of others using this method. They all report having similar reactions. It can be a very introspective exercise.

It is one thing to shoot a target, even a color target or 3-D target but another thing entirely to shoot a person. If you are strict in your safety practices, you may hestitate in a real deal.

This is a great practice. I wouldn't hesitate to send anyone to a training course like this. My son will be taking a safety course when he is old enough, for sure.

Originally Posted by Jay

Please don't think I'm trying to stir the pot, but what kind of handguns allowed the triggers to be pulled, and/or the hammers to fall with a chamber flag in place?

Would the chamber flags you were using allow the gun to come into battery?

We use chamber flags in the Sterling Type II's we build for Century Arms to show that they have been test fired and are ready to ship. The trigger can be pulled as long as you pull the bolt back and let it spring back into position. I can't vouch for other guns, though. With the chamber flag in place in the Sterlings, it is 100% impossible for a round to be fired.

[Lindenwood]

One time I was at the range with a new shooter. At the beginning, I was basically just loading up the magazines and such for her to shoot. She was shooting my .22 handgun and I was loading up my revolver for her to shoot again. I had the weapon in my hand, with the cylinder out and my left hand cradlign the frame with my fingers through the frame holding the cylinder. I was dropping rounds into the cylinder by feel as I was watching her shoot. She leaned over to ask me something, and I absentmindedly turned to face her directly and had the muzzle of my revolver pointing toward her legs. Obviously, the my hand wasn't on the grip, the cylinder wasn't closed, and my fingers were through the frame. But, still, I was quite embarassed at myself.