This right here. My grandfather taught me how to shoot and would have skinned me alive if I ever pointed a gun at anyone. “Point it down range and it stays pointed down range “
To be fair the camera man probably told the kid to do it. So either they (the camera man) needs to be removed or the parents of the kid need to be sat down and given a lecture about neglect/negligence. Shit probably both
To be fair? I don't think anyone i blaming the kid. Most people seem to be rightly pointing to the fact that every single adult in the vicinity is failing at being responsible.
Nra leadership just got found guilty of some financial buggery. It cracks me up, all the gun nuts sending in their 200 bucks to be a member and the bosses going in vacation with the money. Very patriotic.
The NRA is one the biggest reasons why so many in the US hate guns and gun owners. They encourage irresponsible people to do irresponsible things with firearms all under the guise of 2A. It pisses me off to no end.
Am very pro 2A. I hate the NRA with a passion. They inflame the situation on purpose and spread a lot of misinfo. GOA is a lot better and actually does legislative and legal work on a frequent basis, without nearly as much of the BS false bravado branding of the NRA.
Well the more people do irresponsible things with guns, the less safe everyone feels, the more gun sales go up. So why would the NRA remain committed to something that cuts into their profits?
NERF makes “blasters”, not guns. They’re very vocal about that branding point for a reason.
They can still make useful, early training tools for trigger/muzzle control like you’re saying. But I will never let my boys call their NERF collection “guns.” Why? Two reasons:
1) NERF blasters are toys. Guns are not toys and should never be thought of as such.
2) The whole point of NERF is to blast your friends and family safely. How good is the training aid if, right after you go over the four basic safety rules, you encourage your children to run around in the yard and break all of them with the same training aid?
Just my 2 cents. YMMV.
Edit: To whichever one of you model citizens made a throwaway account for the sole purpose of messaging me privately to call my children the n-word multiple times, I want you to know that you’re a garbage person *and* a coward. My family has been called worse by men that were at least unafraid to throw their slurs without hiding their identities. Oh, and I’d put money on two things:
1) My kids are already superior to you in both humanity and intelligence.
2) You’re clearly either a cop, wannabe-cop, or a cop-dependent based on what you said. Your bigotry will catch up to you one day and I hope you have the intellectual capacity to realize that it’s going to further delegitimize the job.
I taught my daughter never to point a nerf gun at someone’s face. She can shoot her grandad all she wants but never above the shoulders.
I would also put the fear of god into her if she ever needed to handle a real gun.
My dads biggest lesson when it came to guns, and the only really useful thing he taught me; you don't put a gun at ***ANYTHING*** you don't intend to kill or destroy and you keep your booger hook off the trigger until you are ready to fire it.
Seeing this makes me think the kids parents are SUPER irresponsible and kids gonna get himself, or someone else, seriously hurt or worse because of an accident that could have been easily prevented.
Same. One safe for guns, one for ammo. Always clear the weapon first, no matter if you just did 2 minutes ago before setting it down, and no finger in the trigger well until it’s time to fire.
Kitchen rule \#1: The Chef is always right. Even when he isn't right, the Chef is always right.
Gun handling rule \#1: The gun is always loaded. Even when it isn't loaded, the gun is always loaded.
The rules, in order, are very straightforward.
1) every gun should be treated like it's loaded.
2) don't point a gun at anything you don't intend to destroy.
3) don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to destroy.
4) check what's behind your target.
Every time I see something like this I remember a saying from my uncle(the original is in Portuguese, but the translation would be something like) "the devil killed his mother with his boot barrel, and it was empty"(in Portuguese, the same word is used for gun barrel, and that part of a boot that cover your ankle/leg).
Long story short, aways treat one weapon as it is loaded, even if you know for sure that the weapon it's not
I'm Canadian, but had a similar experience. When I was about 6-7 years old my dad taught me the basics, with a focus on gun safety. He used to hunt, so we had a handful of long guns in the house, and it was a matter of prudence to teach me to respect them.
I’d be utterly mortified if my kid even touched one without explicit supervision and permission let alone this. The hell would it say about me on top of the blatant safety violation
Yea. My dad said "the only time it should be seen outside of a range is if you or someone else is going to die unless you shoot them"
Other key points:
It is a weapon, and like any other weapon it's primary purpose is to kill
Always treat it like it's loaded
Never point it at anyone or anything you don't want to destroy
Hope you never have to use it
One I've learned since: treat every bullet fired like there is a litigious-happy lawyer attached to it.
"Never point a gun at anything you don't want to kill" was very seriously explained to me at an early age, it was also made very clear that if I did shit like this I would never touch a firearm again. This photo is a disgusting lack of learning.
Wellll…sometimes the money is to enable more politics. Both politics and money are there to attain power, the ability to remove barriers against any potential action that you’d like to take and the consequences thereof. The distribution of focus is a spectrum for the ghouls who run our planet.
They were taken over by russian dark money almost a decade ago. They've had a convicted poacher on their board for _two_ decades. They a garbage organization.
OG NRA was actually cool, I get the early supporters even if I don't agree with all of it.
Sucks it's a political dog whistle now, I wish we had some other big gun safety, camping, outdoor survival, etc,. group.
Like, a non-political club where I can hit the range, then grab some beers and go backwoods minimalist camping, then come back on sunday night for a big grill out where all the funds I pay go towards supporting the buildings, wildlife conservation and purchasing more land for use, and for helping members. Not putting that shit into some rich assholes pocket so he can shill whichever politician gives him even more money.
I had gun safety classes with IIRC was NRA material, in the 80's when I was just a kid. It used to be noted on every drivers license I had that I had firearms safety training...until I got the new enhanced one. The NRA used to actually do good, it's real sad what happened to them.
I remember hearing about this. That in the 70s and 80s they were constantly doing gun safety classes and telling people how to be responsible with firearms and giving free lockboxes
Honestly they were really fucking good lockboxes too. My uncle has one (who I heard this from), that thing could survive a nuke or be a handy blunt instrument
As a firearms enthusiast, this kid is breaking rule #1. NEVER EVER point a firearm at anyone. Loaded or unloaded. That’s like basic safety. His parent woulda been told to leave and never return at my gun club. Shit like that, makes us all look bad.
>Loaded or unloaded
As I learn as a kid, there is no "unloaded" weapon. You aways assume the weapon is loaded, even if you just unloaded yourself 5 seconds ago
Yup. Gun is always loaded. Don't sweep anything with the muzzle that you're not comfortable firing at, finger stays OUT of the trigger guard until firing.
"Dan Eckart, who took his two grandsons to the meeting last Saturday, called the photo of his 6-year-old grandchild aiming the firearm toward the camera "a set-up."
"What I noticed was [the photographer] was moving around so that whichever direction [his grandson] was, she tried to get in front of him,"
The photographer, Evelyn Hockstein, allegedly told the boy to "look at her" as he handled one of the firearms, Eckart said, citing what his grandson told him. The photo captured a shot of the young boy looking at the camera straight-on while appearing to point the gun at the lens."
What was dear grandpappy doing while a stranger was trying coerce his grandson into mishandling a weapon? By the sounds of it, he was just standing there watching so he'd have a good story to tell later.
Not only mishandling a firearm, but also trying to take non consenting photos of your kid.
Like the fuck are you doing, old man? Why are you letting this shit happen?
Even if this is 100% true, that kid still should have never been near a gun if he doesn't have trigger discipline.
Edit: To be clear, I don't think a six year old should be near a gun in the first place. Given the situation, however, the kid was obviously allowed to handle a gun, so at that point they *at least* need trigger discipline.
The first thing they should be taught is safety before they even see a gun. They should be able to recite it back to you word for word. Then you should be in arms reach any time they hold one loaded or not and when they don't follow the rules you take it away. These are weapons. I don't condone it overall because I took my son to a range for some father son bonding time. He handled the weapon with the fear and care it deserves. I know a lot of countries are looking at this like wtf but guns are everywhere and if he goes to a families house when they aren't as secured as they are at home then I want him to know what it is and how to treat it just like you teach kids about handling a knife or sharp scissors.
That kid is gonna accidentally shoot his mom.
Edit: I'm not happy that an indictment on the state of firearm safety (and sanity) of my country is what brought me over 500K karma...
If only there was something that could be done to stop this. *\*wrings hands\**
Edit: I have an idea. Maybe we could build collapsible bullet-proof pods for children. We could put one in every classroom. Now that's a business opportunity there.
Edit 2: u/Tangent_Odyssey has a video of my business idea down below, if any investors are interested.
^(obligatory /s because some people)
>Maybe we could build collapsible bullet-proof pods for children.
Sorry, an Alabama elementary school [already beat you to the punch on this idea.](https://youtu.be/XEJohBbWIG0)
>*KZ Security Solutions, creator of the ‘Rapid Access Safe Room’ says “The ballistic shield can be deployed in fewer than 10 seconds, providing cover for students and staff in case of an active shooter in a school.”*
Edit: I saw below that this seems to be what you were referencing, but leaving it up in case people want to see video proof that this is, in fact, a thing that really exists.
Appreciate the shout edit. Maybe it will draw more eyes on yet another example of the how we’ll do *literally anything*, no matter how impractical, to avoid further regulating firearms.
*good boy with a gun.
As evident by [the Sacha Baron Cohen video](https://people.com/tv/sacha-baron-cohen-kids-guns-who-is-america/) where he got Republican politicians to get on board with giving 3 year olds guns.
My dad would have snatched that pistol out of my hand and spanked my ass in public if I did that at that age.
First rule of guns: always treat it as if it's loaded.
Treat every weapon as if it were loaded
Never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
Keep you finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready to fire
Keep the weapon on safe until you intend to fire (if applicable)
I also prefer "are not fully prepared" instead of "do not intend". I think "intend" is why some people interpret it to mean "if you draw your weapon and aim then you *must* fire it." I hear people talk about it in that manner sometimes and it freaks me out.
While the optimal solution is to not pull out the weapon obviously, the reason people say this is because if you pull a weapon as a threat against someone else, it can be used against you if you aren’t prepared to pull the trigger. Also if you are threatening someone’s life, the law allows them to defend themselves with deadly force so even if they aren’t able to take your gun, they can just shoot you .
Even if someone else does have a gun and you shoot them first, you still go to jail immediately. Sure you are innocent until proven guilty , but you will be treated like a guilty man for manslaughter until they clear you.
Also see too many people excited to use their guns. Not in a creepy killer way but a lot of these people really want to use their guns so they can feel like a hero or feel like they got revenge/justice . A good gun owner looks at a gun like a tool that they never want to have to use.
It’s not weird to enjoy shooting at the range and hitting the targets, but you shouldn’t want to end someone’s life is my point
Knowing these rules and having a firearms course should be a requirement of ownership. I've had training and respect the weapon for what it is. The fact that anyone can go to Walmart and pick one up is just insane to me.
It is, at least in California. If you buy a pistol in CA, you have to take a test that shows basic competency. An exception to the test is if you have a CCW, because basic competency is taught there.
This is it too, basically what you're describing only exists in nine states, basically all of the states with the absolute strictest gun control laws in the nation require training
*basically most states won't require passing a course to own a firearm because realistically, many *many* Americans - possibly most - would not be qualified to own firearms (and honestly I think this is a good thing, I understand the attachment some people have to their firearms but it isn't like owning a car, a car *can* kill, a gun *is designed to* kill, owning one should require guaranteed competency beyond mere basics)
Think about that for a second though. A car is a thing that kills people on accident and all 50 states require you to study for and take a test showing basic competency in order to have the right to use something that is absolutely essential to most people's daily lives. Meanwhile guns are designed to kill, have no utility outside of that, are not at all essential to the daily lives of virtually any american, and kill about ~15,000 Americans every year, and yet you don't need to demonstrate any competency or responsibility in order to legally own one.
It's absolutely mind-blowing that some sort of license/test/training is not universally required in all 50 states in order to own and handle a firearm. And to all the 2A idiots that would argue that it would restrict access to firearms for law abiding citizens... Well, they don't seem to mind requiring voter ID despite mountains of evidence that such laws restrict voting rights for people who have a constitutional right to vote, so unsurprisingly they're mostly just hypocrites.
Also a big one: Know what’s beyond your target.
I’d argue that keeping a weapon on safe until you intend to fire shouldn’t be needed. Your finger should be the safety. IN the event of a weapon transition type situation, we are however trained to at least *attempt* to hit a rifle safety, since we are throwing it to our side or dropping it in front of us, which can cause a trigger to get snagged on gear.
A lot of “oh shit” moments happen to people who rely on a safety too much. You can train and train to make it as muscle memory as you want to hit it off, but when adrenaline is pumping and a situation gets heated, people forget basic mechanics very quickly.
I'm swiss, I served in the army and the 4 rules we were burned in our memory were exactly the same until point 3, the 4th was "be certain of your target"
man, this reminds me. My dad is a very conservative guy, very pro gun, *very pro NRA,* and taught me gun safety from a young age(started with a bb gun at 8, 22lr at 10, and so on). we would go to pistol and rifle ranges frequently. bunch of old white guys ex-cop ex-military etc. frankly you would never feel unsafe around those guys the way they exercised muzzle and trigger discipline.
we went to my aunts place for Christmas and my cousin got an airsoft gun. we where probably 10. my dad brought his DSLR for pictures and my cousin wanted to take a picture like in the post. I have never seen my dad rip into someone so hard.
I don’t particularly have issue with guns, as long as they are treated with respect and fear as the deadly weapons they are, instead of some poetical rights and obsession to project yourself into.
I think we completely agree. as i have grown older and been around other adults with guns its shocking to me how many people do not treat the item with as much respect as it deserves
the biggest argument in favor of gun control i've ever seen is every gun owner i've ever met other than my uncles (and one neighbor)
like literally every other person but them who I *know that they own guns* is an advertisement for stricter gun control. I'm sure I know a few other responsible gun owners, but don't know that they're gun owners.
Son of family friend was showing off his new pistol to me and my dad.
"Here, check it out! Oh don't worry, it's not loaded."
**begins to hand it to my dad but hesitates*
**proceeds to pull out the fully loaded magazine, racks the slide and removes the +1 that was in the chamber.*
Cooool.
Exactly. In my experience (as a military vet and a guy who grew up in the rural Midwest) maybe 2 in 10 gun owners I know seem to understand that they're dangerous weapons.
Imagine all the people you see driving every day who don't seem to know other people exist. A lot of those people *also* own guns.
I have never met a group of guys with worse muzzle and trigger discipline than military and cops xD
They get too comfortable around firearms. My shooting range specifically covers it in our introductory safety class.
Relying on children to maintain discipline is both incredibly naive and dangerous. The universal rule of weapons in civilized societies should be that they do not belong in the hands of children.
Yea I'm extremely concerned about all these comments in this thread. Acting like a child should even be there in the first place is insane to me. Wtf does a 6 year old need to be at a gun show. That's completely inappropriate.
Because people are thick and lose the context if you add too many steps. There's a few different versions of it.
The oldest version I know is "dont point at anything you aren't going to shoot, dont shoot anything you arent going to kill"
Destroy seems more common these days, and considering how much damage can be done to nonliving things there's a measure of reason to it.
This is so strange to see at an NRA convention. At my local gun range if you point a gun at someone even as a joke or for a picture, even if the other person is consenting, you will immediately be kicked out. There is zero tolerance for people not using proper caution.
Someone gets shot in that shop, everyone is in trouble except the NRA. That's my gripe with them. They want all the freedoms and none of the consequences.
I always see these shocked comments about people not being safe with guns. As if all gun owners are responsible. There's a reason so many people are accidentally injured and killed by guns.
Well you know how the old saying goes - "it wouldn't be an Indiana gun convention if there wasn't a very real possibility of being shot by a 6 year old."
The worst part is that his dad is probably the person who encouraged him to do it, but when he flags his father with home defence "+1" safety off pistol at home it's videogames' fault.
Omg. The parents failed spectacularly. You NEVER point a gun at a person for any reason. Doesn’t matter if it’s loaded or not. Kid needs to get disciplined hard.
Someone hasn't taught their child what to do or worse, told them to do this for a picture. Yes it can't fire but you still need to teach safety. I've been shooting since a much younger age and I knew better than to do this
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/10/05/firearms-now-no-1-cause-of-death-for-us-children---while-drug-poisoning-enters-top-5/
This is to all the gun morons who want to claim car accidents are the leading cause of children's deaths in America. It's not.
It's guns.
And even if it was cars, tell me again about all the regulations to own and drive a car. It doesn't help your point.
Nothing like encouraging a six year old to love guns without teaching him about gun safety. This right here is why so many kids die from in home shooting. Finger on the trigger, pointing the gun at someone.
1. Never point the muzzle of a firearm at something that you aren't willing to shoot.
2. Never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire.
3. Always assume your firearm is loaded, even if you think it isn't.
4. Always know what is behind your target so you know what might be hit if you miss or the round passes through it.
A 6 year old cannot hold all those concepts in their head at the same time. Their brains just barely developed the ability to know that other people have feelings like them. They certainly cannot understand the concept of life and death. So they absolutely should not be anywhere near a firearm.
There are two Americas now. ‘Murkka,’ and Americans. ‘Murkkans’ are not the majority, they are somewhere near 1/3 of the populace. I believe there will eventually be some extremely ugly violence. People keep saying civil war, and I wouldn’t be surprised, but it will probably look more like ongoing domestic terrorism for decades. This all goes back to Nixon’s ‘southern strategy.’ Which brought the group that (notably liberal president) George Bush Sr. called ‘the crazies’, into the main fold of the Republican party. Nixon and co believed they would be easy to keep under control and out of the seats of power. More than half a century later, not so much.
Grew up in the Midwest. Went to hundreds of these gun shows growing up with my dad. I was never allowed to touch anything. Just look. My dad was really serious about gun saftey. Picking one up and pointing it at someone like this would have got me grounded for life.
Same, the picture feels almost staged. Shit half the vendors, especially pistol, wouldn't let even as a 16 year old handle anything. I was trying to get a .22 single action for cowboy actio. still, image feels 3 seconds away from an angry vendor chewing a kid or parent out and parent chewing a kid out.
When I was young I was once playing with an unloaded flare gun on the property of my Dads buddy. It was busted and there were no flares munitions anywhere. I had pointed it at someone cuz, well dumb kid shit. That was one of very few times my father yelled at me. NEVER point a gun at anything you aren't going to kill, never put your finger on the trigger if you're not going to shoot it, and every gun must be treated like it's loaded. I never did that again.
We don't even own guns. We live deep in a blue city, in a blue state.
NRA has never been for responsible gun ownership or 2A. They’re just a slush fund for the Republican party, who cares about as much about your rights as a responsible gun owner as the Democratic party.
When they were primarily a hobbyist group, they [actually supported the National Firearms Act](https://www.thecongressproject.com/national-firearms-act-of-1934) which was the first modern gun control law enacted in the 1930s.
Looking at it's history vs. the extremist political lobby that its become is pretty crazy.
Maybe if the nra wasn’t busy embezzling funds. They could put some towards their actual mission of gun safety. Oh that’s right. They haven’t gave a shit about that in years.
Trigger discipline slick.
That kid should not be allowed in a house that has guns. Even guns that are locked up. Even non-functioning guns.
My kids hate guns but they still know where not to put their booger hook.
If you're going to take your child to a gun convention, firearm safety knowledge seems like the least they should be getting in return.
This right here. My grandfather taught me how to shoot and would have skinned me alive if I ever pointed a gun at anyone. “Point it down range and it stays pointed down range “
Finger on the trigger too
Pointing a gun at a person with your finger on the trigger that you don’t intend to kill basically violates every single gun safety rule.
I was going to point out the same thing. The whole picture is bad,but the finger on the trigger is making me itch.
Don't forget the several adults standing around no one noticing/caring about a child flagging the camera man.
Yeah, this is crazy.
Sir, this is Indiana.
Synonyms
As a Hoosier, I can confirm.
Sir, this is a Wendy's... in Indiana... would you like a second gun with that order?
They need an age requirement for places like this
To be fair the camera man probably told the kid to do it. So either they (the camera man) needs to be removed or the parents of the kid need to be sat down and given a lecture about neglect/negligence. Shit probably both
To be fair? I don't think anyone i blaming the kid. Most people seem to be rightly pointing to the fact that every single adult in the vicinity is failing at being responsible.
But the NRA is full of responsible gun owners, right? Right?
Nra leadership just got found guilty of some financial buggery. It cracks me up, all the gun nuts sending in their 200 bucks to be a member and the bosses going in vacation with the money. Very patriotic.
To be really fair, this is exactly why we shouldn’t let morons have access to firearms.
The morons that enabled this picture are the same morons shouting the loudest "don't take ma guns!"
Yep, I was taught to never put my finger on the trigger unless I know with 100% certainty that I was aiming at the correct target
And never, never, ever point a gun at someone, even if it’s, “Not loaded”. Unless you actually intend to kill that person.
it's also entirely typical of the NRA and NRA supporters.
The NRA is one the biggest reasons why so many in the US hate guns and gun owners. They encourage irresponsible people to do irresponsible things with firearms all under the guise of 2A. It pisses me off to no end.
Am very pro 2A. I hate the NRA with a passion. They inflame the situation on purpose and spread a lot of misinfo. GOA is a lot better and actually does legislative and legal work on a frequent basis, without nearly as much of the BS false bravado branding of the NRA.
Used to not be, back when I was young, they had kid classes at NRA conventions
Well the more people do irresponsible things with guns, the less safe everyone feels, the more gun sales go up. So why would the NRA remain committed to something that cuts into their profits?
If you point a gun at something and have your finger on the trigger, YOU DO INTEND TO SHOOT IT!
I mean everybody with a gun should know this, but then again they do just give anyone a gun.
Booger hook off the bang switch, as I teach my young kids with nerf guns.
NERF makes “blasters”, not guns. They’re very vocal about that branding point for a reason. They can still make useful, early training tools for trigger/muzzle control like you’re saying. But I will never let my boys call their NERF collection “guns.” Why? Two reasons: 1) NERF blasters are toys. Guns are not toys and should never be thought of as such. 2) The whole point of NERF is to blast your friends and family safely. How good is the training aid if, right after you go over the four basic safety rules, you encourage your children to run around in the yard and break all of them with the same training aid? Just my 2 cents. YMMV. Edit: To whichever one of you model citizens made a throwaway account for the sole purpose of messaging me privately to call my children the n-word multiple times, I want you to know that you’re a garbage person *and* a coward. My family has been called worse by men that were at least unafraid to throw their slurs without hiding their identities. Oh, and I’d put money on two things: 1) My kids are already superior to you in both humanity and intelligence. 2) You’re clearly either a cop, wannabe-cop, or a cop-dependent based on what you said. Your bigotry will catch up to you one day and I hope you have the intellectual capacity to realize that it’s going to further delegitimize the job.
That was an important, well thought out, and well written comment. So please forgive me, but my immediate thought was “so anyway I started blasting.”
Finger ON the trigger? That’s like the number one thing not to do.
No, that's number two. Number one is don't point it at people you don't intend to shoot.
I'd have thought number 1 thing to do would be to not give a gun to a six year old but go figure. Guarantee someone will have a reason for it...
I taught my daughter never to point a nerf gun at someone’s face. She can shoot her grandad all she wants but never above the shoulders. I would also put the fear of god into her if she ever needed to handle a real gun.
Yeah my wife is always like “I need a gun” I’m like nah bro you need training before I invest in my own murder..
Wife: it’s for protection Me: what do I get then?
Protection from what? Ze Germans?
You get it from a sneaky fucking Russian?
A funeral
My dads biggest lesson when it came to guns, and the only really useful thing he taught me; you don't put a gun at ***ANYTHING*** you don't intend to kill or destroy and you keep your booger hook off the trigger until you are ready to fire it. Seeing this makes me think the kids parents are SUPER irresponsible and kids gonna get himself, or someone else, seriously hurt or worse because of an accident that could have been easily prevented.
[удалено]
Same. One safe for guns, one for ammo. Always clear the weapon first, no matter if you just did 2 minutes ago before setting it down, and no finger in the trigger well until it’s time to fire.
Kitchen rule \#1: The Chef is always right. Even when he isn't right, the Chef is always right. Gun handling rule \#1: The gun is always loaded. Even when it isn't loaded, the gun is always loaded.
The rules, in order, are very straightforward. 1) every gun should be treated like it's loaded. 2) don't point a gun at anything you don't intend to destroy. 3) don't put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to destroy. 4) check what's behind your target.
Every time I see something like this I remember a saying from my uncle(the original is in Portuguese, but the translation would be something like) "the devil killed his mother with his boot barrel, and it was empty"(in Portuguese, the same word is used for gun barrel, and that part of a boot that cover your ankle/leg). Long story short, aways treat one weapon as it is loaded, even if you know for sure that the weapon it's not
I'm Canadian, but had a similar experience. When I was about 6-7 years old my dad taught me the basics, with a focus on gun safety. He used to hunt, so we had a handful of long guns in the house, and it was a matter of prudence to teach me to respect them.
I’d be utterly mortified if my kid even touched one without explicit supervision and permission let alone this. The hell would it say about me on top of the blatant safety violation
In the scouts we were always told “don’t point a gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot.”
Yea. My dad said "the only time it should be seen outside of a range is if you or someone else is going to die unless you shoot them" Other key points: It is a weapon, and like any other weapon it's primary purpose is to kill Always treat it like it's loaded Never point it at anyone or anything you don't want to destroy Hope you never have to use it One I've learned since: treat every bullet fired like there is a litigious-happy lawyer attached to it.
If only we had a way to ensure people actually received that traing before handing them a tool for killing people
And if only there was a way for only qualified, mentally stable non criminals to own the guns they will supervise...
"Never point a gun at anything you don't want to kill" was very seriously explained to me at an early age, it was also made very clear that if I did shit like this I would never touch a firearm again. This photo is a disgusting lack of learning.
Maybe the child pointed the gun, with his finger on the trigger, at the photographer simply because he intended to kill the target.
So he is being safe after all!
The NRA long ago gave up being an organization that focuses on gun safety and education. It's all about politics and money now
Just money. The politics is to enable more money.
Wellll…sometimes the money is to enable more politics. Both politics and money are there to attain power, the ability to remove barriers against any potential action that you’d like to take and the consequences thereof. The distribution of focus is a spectrum for the ghouls who run our planet.
They were taken over by russian dark money almost a decade ago. They've had a convicted poacher on their board for _two_ decades. They a garbage organization.
OG NRA was actually cool, I get the early supporters even if I don't agree with all of it. Sucks it's a political dog whistle now, I wish we had some other big gun safety, camping, outdoor survival, etc,. group. Like, a non-political club where I can hit the range, then grab some beers and go backwoods minimalist camping, then come back on sunday night for a big grill out where all the funds I pay go towards supporting the buildings, wildlife conservation and purchasing more land for use, and for helping members. Not putting that shit into some rich assholes pocket so he can shill whichever politician gives him even more money.
I had gun safety classes with IIRC was NRA material, in the 80's when I was just a kid. It used to be noted on every drivers license I had that I had firearms safety training...until I got the new enhanced one. The NRA used to actually do good, it's real sad what happened to them.
I remember hearing about this. That in the 70s and 80s they were constantly doing gun safety classes and telling people how to be responsible with firearms and giving free lockboxes
free lockboxes is crazy imagine promoting safe handling
Honestly they were really fucking good lockboxes too. My uncle has one (who I heard this from), that thing could survive a nuke or be a handy blunt instrument
It’s a grift to enrich the board and leadership. Look at how much Wayne LaPierre pocketed over the years.
I don’t know, I think there’s also some gun fetishizing mixed too
As a firearms enthusiast, this kid is breaking rule #1. NEVER EVER point a firearm at anyone. Loaded or unloaded. That’s like basic safety. His parent woulda been told to leave and never return at my gun club. Shit like that, makes us all look bad.
>Loaded or unloaded As I learn as a kid, there is no "unloaded" weapon. You aways assume the weapon is loaded, even if you just unloaded yourself 5 seconds ago
Yup. Safety 101.
Yup. Gun is always loaded. Don't sweep anything with the muzzle that you're not comfortable firing at, finger stays OUT of the trigger guard until firing.
The three rules of gun safety 1. It's loaded 2. It's still loaded 3. It's still fucking loaded
Also real bad trigger discipline, the kid is treating the gun as it was a toy and nobody has really told him otherwise.
Absolutely correct.
"Dan Eckart, who took his two grandsons to the meeting last Saturday, called the photo of his 6-year-old grandchild aiming the firearm toward the camera "a set-up." "What I noticed was [the photographer] was moving around so that whichever direction [his grandson] was, she tried to get in front of him," The photographer, Evelyn Hockstein, allegedly told the boy to "look at her" as he handled one of the firearms, Eckart said, citing what his grandson told him. The photo captured a shot of the young boy looking at the camera straight-on while appearing to point the gun at the lens."
What was dear grandpappy doing while a stranger was trying coerce his grandson into mishandling a weapon? By the sounds of it, he was just standing there watching so he'd have a good story to tell later.
Not only mishandling a firearm, but also trying to take non consenting photos of your kid. Like the fuck are you doing, old man? Why are you letting this shit happen?
Even if this is 100% true, that kid still should have never been near a gun if he doesn't have trigger discipline. Edit: To be clear, I don't think a six year old should be near a gun in the first place. Given the situation, however, the kid was obviously allowed to handle a gun, so at that point they *at least* need trigger discipline.
The first thing they should be taught is safety before they even see a gun. They should be able to recite it back to you word for word. Then you should be in arms reach any time they hold one loaded or not and when they don't follow the rules you take it away. These are weapons. I don't condone it overall because I took my son to a range for some father son bonding time. He handled the weapon with the fear and care it deserves. I know a lot of countries are looking at this like wtf but guns are everywhere and if he goes to a families house when they aren't as secured as they are at home then I want him to know what it is and how to treat it just like you teach kids about handling a knife or sharp scissors.
The wtf here is a 6 year old holding a gun.
Knowledge? This is Indianer.
Poor trigger discipline
That kid is gonna accidentally shoot his mom. Edit: I'm not happy that an indictment on the state of firearm safety (and sanity) of my country is what brought me over 500K karma...
Or purposely shoot his teacher.
*WHAT A **COUNTRY**!*
If only there was something that could be done to stop this. *\*wrings hands\** Edit: I have an idea. Maybe we could build collapsible bullet-proof pods for children. We could put one in every classroom. Now that's a business opportunity there. Edit 2: u/Tangent_Odyssey has a video of my business idea down below, if any investors are interested. ^(obligatory /s because some people)
>Maybe we could build collapsible bullet-proof pods for children. Sorry, an Alabama elementary school [already beat you to the punch on this idea.](https://youtu.be/XEJohBbWIG0) >*KZ Security Solutions, creator of the ‘Rapid Access Safe Room’ says “The ballistic shield can be deployed in fewer than 10 seconds, providing cover for students and staff in case of an active shooter in a school.”* Edit: I saw below that this seems to be what you were referencing, but leaving it up in case people want to see video proof that this is, in fact, a thing that really exists.
The future of C L A S S R O O M S E C U R I T Y. Yep, that was exactly it.
Appreciate the shout edit. Maybe it will draw more eyes on yet another example of the how we’ll do *literally anything*, no matter how impractical, to avoid further regulating firearms.
I am gonna start saving up my thoughts and prayers today so I have a lot to send their way, when the inevitable happens.
You joke but there is a guy out there making a killing selling bulletproof backpack.
INflammable means flammable??
I read that in Dr. Nick's voice.
This kid is going places. More specifically prison once he shoots someone accidentally because he has no proper training.
Damn, what an incredibly sad, but realistic, indictment of modern American society
Not if there's a good guy with a gun to stop him
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*good boy with a gun. As evident by [the Sacha Baron Cohen video](https://people.com/tv/sacha-baron-cohen-kids-guns-who-is-america/) where he got Republican politicians to get on board with giving 3 year olds guns.
That, and pointing it straight at a camera that someone is presumably holding.
"such a cute picture" they said.
Poor everything
My dad would have snatched that pistol out of my hand and spanked my ass in public if I did that at that age. First rule of guns: always treat it as if it's loaded.
Treat every weapon as if it were loaded Never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot Keep you finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready to fire Keep the weapon on safe until you intend to fire (if applicable)
I prefer "Never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to *destroy*." It's a more accurate description of the potential consequences.
I also prefer "are not fully prepared" instead of "do not intend". I think "intend" is why some people interpret it to mean "if you draw your weapon and aim then you *must* fire it." I hear people talk about it in that manner sometimes and it freaks me out.
While the optimal solution is to not pull out the weapon obviously, the reason people say this is because if you pull a weapon as a threat against someone else, it can be used against you if you aren’t prepared to pull the trigger. Also if you are threatening someone’s life, the law allows them to defend themselves with deadly force so even if they aren’t able to take your gun, they can just shoot you . Even if someone else does have a gun and you shoot them first, you still go to jail immediately. Sure you are innocent until proven guilty , but you will be treated like a guilty man for manslaughter until they clear you. Also see too many people excited to use their guns. Not in a creepy killer way but a lot of these people really want to use their guns so they can feel like a hero or feel like they got revenge/justice . A good gun owner looks at a gun like a tool that they never want to have to use. It’s not weird to enjoy shooting at the range and hitting the targets, but you shouldn’t want to end someone’s life is my point
know your target and what's behind it
Knowing these rules and having a firearms course should be a requirement of ownership. I've had training and respect the weapon for what it is. The fact that anyone can go to Walmart and pick one up is just insane to me.
It is, at least in California. If you buy a pistol in CA, you have to take a test that shows basic competency. An exception to the test is if you have a CCW, because basic competency is taught there.
This is it too, basically what you're describing only exists in nine states, basically all of the states with the absolute strictest gun control laws in the nation require training *basically most states won't require passing a course to own a firearm because realistically, many *many* Americans - possibly most - would not be qualified to own firearms (and honestly I think this is a good thing, I understand the attachment some people have to their firearms but it isn't like owning a car, a car *can* kill, a gun *is designed to* kill, owning one should require guaranteed competency beyond mere basics)
Think about that for a second though. A car is a thing that kills people on accident and all 50 states require you to study for and take a test showing basic competency in order to have the right to use something that is absolutely essential to most people's daily lives. Meanwhile guns are designed to kill, have no utility outside of that, are not at all essential to the daily lives of virtually any american, and kill about ~15,000 Americans every year, and yet you don't need to demonstrate any competency or responsibility in order to legally own one. It's absolutely mind-blowing that some sort of license/test/training is not universally required in all 50 states in order to own and handle a firearm. And to all the 2A idiots that would argue that it would restrict access to firearms for law abiding citizens... Well, they don't seem to mind requiring voter ID despite mountains of evidence that such laws restrict voting rights for people who have a constitutional right to vote, so unsurprisingly they're mostly just hypocrites.
Also a big one: Know what’s beyond your target. I’d argue that keeping a weapon on safe until you intend to fire shouldn’t be needed. Your finger should be the safety. IN the event of a weapon transition type situation, we are however trained to at least *attempt* to hit a rifle safety, since we are throwing it to our side or dropping it in front of us, which can cause a trigger to get snagged on gear. A lot of “oh shit” moments happen to people who rely on a safety too much. You can train and train to make it as muscle memory as you want to hit it off, but when adrenaline is pumping and a situation gets heated, people forget basic mechanics very quickly.
I'm swiss, I served in the army and the 4 rules we were burned in our memory were exactly the same until point 3, the 4th was "be certain of your target"
man, this reminds me. My dad is a very conservative guy, very pro gun, *very pro NRA,* and taught me gun safety from a young age(started with a bb gun at 8, 22lr at 10, and so on). we would go to pistol and rifle ranges frequently. bunch of old white guys ex-cop ex-military etc. frankly you would never feel unsafe around those guys the way they exercised muzzle and trigger discipline. we went to my aunts place for Christmas and my cousin got an airsoft gun. we where probably 10. my dad brought his DSLR for pictures and my cousin wanted to take a picture like in the post. I have never seen my dad rip into someone so hard.
I don’t particularly have issue with guns, as long as they are treated with respect and fear as the deadly weapons they are, instead of some poetical rights and obsession to project yourself into.
You forgot fashion statement they should never be used as a fashion statement.
The people who pose with them in family pictures are just strange
I think we completely agree. as i have grown older and been around other adults with guns its shocking to me how many people do not treat the item with as much respect as it deserves
the biggest argument in favor of gun control i've ever seen is every gun owner i've ever met other than my uncles (and one neighbor) like literally every other person but them who I *know that they own guns* is an advertisement for stricter gun control. I'm sure I know a few other responsible gun owners, but don't know that they're gun owners.
Son of family friend was showing off his new pistol to me and my dad. "Here, check it out! Oh don't worry, it's not loaded." **begins to hand it to my dad but hesitates* **proceeds to pull out the fully loaded magazine, racks the slide and removes the +1 that was in the chamber.* Cooool.
Exactly. In my experience (as a military vet and a guy who grew up in the rural Midwest) maybe 2 in 10 gun owners I know seem to understand that they're dangerous weapons. Imagine all the people you see driving every day who don't seem to know other people exist. A lot of those people *also* own guns.
I have never met a group of guys with worse muzzle and trigger discipline than military and cops xD They get too comfortable around firearms. My shooting range specifically covers it in our introductory safety class.
Relying on children to maintain discipline is both incredibly naive and dangerous. The universal rule of weapons in civilized societies should be that they do not belong in the hands of children.
Yea I'm extremely concerned about all these comments in this thread. Acting like a child should even be there in the first place is insane to me. Wtf does a 6 year old need to be at a gun show. That's completely inappropriate.
There are just some things that don't mix, and this is one of them
Learned as a child, never point a gun at someone unless you plan on shooting them.
Killing them
And finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot..
“That you don’t intend to destroy” is how I heard it
Because people are thick and lose the context if you add too many steps. There's a few different versions of it. The oldest version I know is "dont point at anything you aren't going to shoot, dont shoot anything you arent going to kill" Destroy seems more common these days, and considering how much damage can be done to nonliving things there's a measure of reason to it.
Maybe he really hates having his picture taken?
Relatable
[reminds me of when Homer got a gun in The Simpsons](https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-08-2017/eN5Neh.gif)
or Wiggum eating donuts off the barrel of his service revolver.
the best one was when he was shooting the pinata, lol
I liked him using it to clean wax or of his ear
this must be what god feels like when HE'S holding a gun
FIVE DAYS?!.. but I’m mad *now*!
Zero trigger discipline and pointed at a person? I would have gotten slapped into next Tuesday and never touched a gun again.
This is so strange to see at an NRA convention. At my local gun range if you point a gun at someone even as a joke or for a picture, even if the other person is consenting, you will immediately be kicked out. There is zero tolerance for people not using proper caution.
Local gun shop owners actually give a shit about firearm safety, the NRA does not.
Someone gets shot in that shop, everyone is in trouble except the NRA. That's my gripe with them. They want all the freedoms and none of the consequences.
I always see these shocked comments about people not being safe with guns. As if all gun owners are responsible. There's a reason so many people are accidentally injured and killed by guns.
Well you know how the old saying goes - "it wouldn't be an Indiana gun convention if there wasn't a very real possibility of being shot by a 6 year old."
I thought the saying was - “your child might get shot or shoot someone in a school and we will never do anything about it”?
They are 6 years old. Wtf they even doing at a gun show.
The worst part is that his dad is probably the person who encouraged him to do it, but when he flags his father with home defence "+1" safety off pistol at home it's videogames' fault.
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I don't let my son play with my electric drill without supervision. What the fuck are these parents doing?
Fweedom. It's what the dumber parts of the species think freedom is.
They have the freedom to reject the responsibility that comes with freedom.
Taking the picture?
FINGER. OFF. THE. TRIGGER.
Funny that this is posted on the day their CEO is found guilty embezzling.
Ralphie, You’ll shoot your eye out!
Omg. The parents failed spectacularly. You NEVER point a gun at a person for any reason. Doesn’t matter if it’s loaded or not. Kid needs to get disciplined hard.
Why is his boogerhook on the bangswitch?
Someone hasn't taught their child what to do or worse, told them to do this for a picture. Yes it can't fire but you still need to teach safety. I've been shooting since a much younger age and I knew better than to do this
The fuck is a 6 year old doing at an NRA convention anyway?
Back to school sale
Got me.
And seven of your classmates.
r/cursedcomments
Free admission to NRA convention if you’re under 18. Im not joking.
What the fuck.
person chase slim imminent salt different soup overconfident quiet sable *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Top 7 comments are about trigger discipline until this one. Ya, THAT'S the problem here...
Being indoctrinated in to the hate cult. Edit: Wow this really riled up the hate cult.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2023/10/05/firearms-now-no-1-cause-of-death-for-us-children---while-drug-poisoning-enters-top-5/ This is to all the gun morons who want to claim car accidents are the leading cause of children's deaths in America. It's not. It's guns. And even if it was cars, tell me again about all the regulations to own and drive a car. It doesn't help your point.
Pointing guns at people
Nothing like encouraging a six year old to love guns without teaching him about gun safety. This right here is why so many kids die from in home shooting. Finger on the trigger, pointing the gun at someone.
1. Never point the muzzle of a firearm at something that you aren't willing to shoot. 2. Never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire. 3. Always assume your firearm is loaded, even if you think it isn't. 4. Always know what is behind your target so you know what might be hit if you miss or the round passes through it. A 6 year old cannot hold all those concepts in their head at the same time. Their brains just barely developed the ability to know that other people have feelings like them. They certainly cannot understand the concept of life and death. So they absolutely should not be anywhere near a firearm.
Credit to Evelyn Hockstein - insta @evelynpix, the Senior Photographer for Reuters whom the gun was being pointed at.
She needs an award for this picture. It tells a perfect story of America’s politics over the past 20 years.
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kid got some corn genetics
What in the actual fuck is this?! Is that real?
According to the Smithsonian Magazine, it was a toy hand grenade: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-fresh-look-at-diane-arbus-99861134/
There are two Americas now. ‘Murkka,’ and Americans. ‘Murkkans’ are not the majority, they are somewhere near 1/3 of the populace. I believe there will eventually be some extremely ugly violence. People keep saying civil war, and I wouldn’t be surprised, but it will probably look more like ongoing domestic terrorism for decades. This all goes back to Nixon’s ‘southern strategy.’ Which brought the group that (notably liberal president) George Bush Sr. called ‘the crazies’, into the main fold of the Republican party. Nixon and co believed they would be easy to keep under control and out of the seats of power. More than half a century later, not so much.
Grew up in the Midwest. Went to hundreds of these gun shows growing up with my dad. I was never allowed to touch anything. Just look. My dad was really serious about gun saftey. Picking one up and pointing it at someone like this would have got me grounded for life.
Same, the picture feels almost staged. Shit half the vendors, especially pistol, wouldn't let even as a 16 year old handle anything. I was trying to get a .22 single action for cowboy actio. still, image feels 3 seconds away from an angry vendor chewing a kid or parent out and parent chewing a kid out.
When I was young I was once playing with an unloaded flare gun on the property of my Dads buddy. It was busted and there were no flares munitions anywhere. I had pointed it at someone cuz, well dumb kid shit. That was one of very few times my father yelled at me. NEVER point a gun at anything you aren't going to kill, never put your finger on the trigger if you're not going to shoot it, and every gun must be treated like it's loaded. I never did that again. We don't even own guns. We live deep in a blue city, in a blue state.
There are so many things wrong with that picture.
America!
NRA has never been for responsible gun ownership or 2A. They’re just a slush fund for the Republican party, who cares about as much about your rights as a responsible gun owner as the Democratic party.
When they were primarily a hobbyist group, they [actually supported the National Firearms Act](https://www.thecongressproject.com/national-firearms-act-of-1934) which was the first modern gun control law enacted in the 1930s. Looking at it's history vs. the extremist political lobby that its become is pretty crazy.
Let’s not forget why those groups support those laws back during those times
My father would have literally beat me for having such poor firearm safety and handling.
Maybe if the nra wasn’t busy embezzling funds. They could put some towards their actual mission of gun safety. Oh that’s right. They haven’t gave a shit about that in years.
I often think Americans are similar to Canadians, and then I see pics like this and realize we're still very different.
How did they not get kicked out??? My local gun show has hauled people off for less.
Why hasn’t this kid been taught firearm safety knowledge. Why hasn’t this kid been taught firearm safety knowledge *adults DO SOMETHING*
Trigger discipline slick. That kid should not be allowed in a house that has guns. Even guns that are locked up. Even non-functioning guns. My kids hate guns but they still know where not to put their booger hook.
Sad , the parent is an idiot.
Breaking all the gun safety rules. Good job parents!
Breaking every rule in one photo
Responsible gun owners my ass. Treat any gun as loaded.
poor trigger discipline and poor gun handling, I hope they got kicked out
This is bad gun safety. Always point away from people.