[Rcope822]

An hypothetical scenario. You have been transported to the set of a TV cop show and are about to do a shootout scene with a bad guy. You are handed a Glock 9mm loaded with blanks to use in the scene.
Considering that the majority of members here have spent much of their lives learning and practicing the safe handling of firearms , my question is this. Even being 100% sure your weapon is not loaded with live ammunition , would it make you uncomfortable to point a gun at someone who is not a threat and pull the trigger?
I ask this because today was wipedown day for the handguns and as I did the Model 29 , the memory of an event from several years ago came to mind. At a family gathering we were sitting at the kitchen table gabbing and at some point the conversation turned to guns. My Niece's husband asked me if I owned a .44 Magnum and I told him about the 29. He said he'd never seen a .44 and would I show him mine one day. Sometime later they were over and after a while he asked to see my .44. I retrieved the gun , cleared it and handed it to him butt first. He looked it over for a minute and then lined up on my sleeping cat and pulled the trigger. I almost knocked him down taking the gun from him. I gave him ten loud minutes of why to NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to destroy.
Funny , the things you remember when wiping down your handguns.

 

[WendyZXZ]

You showed quite a bit of restraint, you were far kinder than I would have been to him for pulling such an irresponsible dumbass stunt...

 

[Rcope822]

You showed quite a bit of restraint, you were far kinder than I would have been to him for pulling such an irresponsible dumbass stunt...

I did what was possible with my Niece in the room. BTW , what is your answer to the scenario about pointing a gun?

 

[WendyZXZ]

I did what was possible with my Niece in the room. BTW , what is your answer to the scenario about pointing a gun?

My answer to family or friend that that scenario had happened I would be you are welcome in my house, but handling guns here is strictly off limits from now on. Whether I told the person or just thought it my reaction would be that I could not trust the person to safely handle a weapon. It would not matter if I had checked it, they need to do the same. Never assume anything with a firearm.

 

[Rcope822]

My answer to family or friend that that scenario had happened I would be you are welcome in my house, but handling guns here is strictly off limits from now on. Whether I told the person or just thought it my reaction would be that I could not trust the person to safely handle a weapon. It would not matter if I had checked it, they need to do the same. Never assume anything with a firearm.

I meant I was curious about a reaction to the TV cop show scenario.

 

[BC38]

It would be difficult for me to overcome years of conditioning regarding rule 1.
I'd have to unload and reload the magazine at least once and even then it would still be difficult to pull that trigger the first time.

 

[jonesy814]

I would have a hard time pointing it at someone and pulling the trigger. I have NEVER even CONSIDERED pointing one of my guns at a person or pet and pulling the trigger, even when I had just finished cleaning a revolver and had brushes & patches in the barrel and charge holes, with no live ammo in the room......nope . If I were wisked to a movie set I am sure I could at some point do it, but it would always feel, not right
If you have watched Hollywood Weapons on TV, they did an episode talking about blanks and tricks of the trade. There are 3 types of blanks they use. One is a very low bang and no flash, one a regular blank and one is formulated to make more flame/muzzle blast than even a real round makes. They use those when someone is mowing down the bad guys with an M60 or when they really want to emphasize that muzzle blast and no one else is near by. The real low powered ones the use at fairly close range. They said that for really close shots, like an execution, or when another actor is very close to the muzzle they often use a gun with compressed air and a piston in it so when fired you get the recoil effect but no noise or blast. Those effects are then added later digitally

 

[Mister Dave]

The only people who handle my guns are those I know have even more experience than I do, with the exception of my wife who is more careful than I am. To date there have only been 2, and one was the manager of the LGS/shooting range and I let him fire it too. We were working out a problem at the time.

Should someone else ask to handle my gun(s) my first question would be "WHY?". Absent a good answer (there are very few if any) I would direct them to the LGS for any gun fondling they should desire.

There's a very good reason for this. There will never be a negligent discharge in my home for any reason. My goal is no discharges at all, but that's up to who visits (uninvited).

 

[Diabloman]

WOW scary incident! I had a similar one and I knocked my bil's a$$ down/out! To this day he isn't welcome at our house. My sister told me she hopes I die....soon! This was 35+ years ago! Now days I don't talk guns with strangers. My friends that own/shoot all are on the same page. Guns? mine got lost in a horrible boating accident! fwiw

 

[gearchecker]

There have been actors killed by being shot at with guns and "blanks". Brandon Lee and Jon-Erik Hexum comes to mind. There is no way I could point a gun at somebody unless it was my intent to destroy them.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

Bored today?

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

The only people who handle my guns are those I know have even more experience than I do

^^^^^^ This

It is the responsibility of the gun owner to ensure he/she is handing a firearm to someone who understands safe gun handling as you insist in your home. The "ten loud minute" lecture is much more effective before handing over the gun than afterward. These type of things should alway be viewed from the angle of 'what could I have done differently'.

As far as being an actor... an actor has to do what an actor has to do. Knowing myself, I am sure I would be checking the condition of the movie gun to ensure it is loaded with blanks and is whatever type prop gun it's 'supposed' to be rather than relying on someone else. In God we trust... everyone else check.

 

[sdismukes]

An hypothetical scenario. You have been transported to the set of a TV cop show and are about to do a shootout scene with a bad guy. You are handed a Glock 9mm loaded with blanks to use in the scene.
Considering that the majority of members here have spent much of their lives learning and practicing the safe handling of firearms , my question is this. Even being 100% sure your weapon is not loaded with live ammunition , would it make you uncomfortable to point a gun at someone who is not a threat and pull the trigger?
I ask this because today was wipedown day for the handguns and as I did the Model 29 , the memory of an event from several years ago came to mind. At a family gathering we were sitting at the kitchen table gabbing and at some point the conversation turned to guns. My Niece's husband asked me if I owned a .44 Magnum and I told him about the 29. He said he'd never seen a .44 and would I show him mine one day. Sometime later they were over and after a while he asked to see my .44. I retrieved the gun , cleared it and handed it to him butt first. He looked it over for a minute and then lined up on my sleeping cat and pulled the trigger. I almost knocked him down taking the gun from him. I gave him ten loud minutes of why to NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to destroy.
Funny , the things you remember when wiping down your handguns.

I would 100% be uncomfortable handling it like that. I imagine the actors don't much know any better, so pull the trigger on it pointing at someone else. But I'd have real heebie-jeebies trying it.

 

[Mister Dave]

As far as being an actor... an actor has to do what an actor has to do. Knowing myself, I am sure I would be checking the condition of the movie gun to ensure it is loaded with blanks and is whatever type prop gun it's 'supposed' to be rather than relying on someone else. In God we trust... everyone else check.

Brandon Lee might be alive today if someone had just checked the gun properly.

 

[Blackcloud2]

An hypothetical scenario. You have been transported to the set of a TV cop show and are about to do a shootout scene with a bad guy. You are handed a Glock 9mm loaded with blanks to use in the scene.
Considering that the majority of members here have spent much of their lives learning and practicing the safe handling of firearms , my question is this. Even being 100% sure your weapon is not loaded with live ammunition , would it make you uncomfortable to point a gun at someone who is not a threat and pull the trigger?
I ask this because today was wipedown day for the handguns and as I did the Model 29 , the memory of an event from several years ago came to mind. At a family gathering we were sitting at the kitchen table gabbing and at some point the conversation turned to guns. My Niece's husband asked me if I owned a .44 Magnum and I told him about the 29. He said he'd never seen a .44 and would I show him mine one day. Sometime later they were over and after a while he asked to see my .44. I retrieved the gun , cleared it and handed it to him butt first. He looked it over for a minute and then lined up on my sleeping cat and pulled the trigger. I almost knocked him down taking the gun from him. I gave him ten loud minutes of why to NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to destroy.
Funny , the things you remember when wiping down your handguns.

 

[Blackcloud2]

Interesting question by the OP, I’d personally struggle with going against my training and pointing a gun at anyone even knowing it’s loaded with blanks or unloaded, it just doesn’t feel right due to my instincts. However, there are groups that do train exactly this way, Military Special Forces and Police alike. My son is a police officer, currently side-lined with a recently rebuilt knee, but over the last 3 years, his department has put on realistic “Active Shooter” choreographed events that involved patrol officers and in my son’s case, specialty squads. These aren’t hokey deals, they hire professional actors to be hostages and injured victims, with Hollywood quality makeup. He’s participated in 3 such events; the Zoo, a hospital and a High School, all had shooters, the hospital had fake bombs implanted to work through. I’m proud to say that at the Zoo, they had 4 bad guys, my son killed 3 of them and wounded the 4th. At the Hospital, he was made the lead to move a cobbled together group of officers, something you’d expect in such a situation forward toward the threat. He recognized a military grade explosive device on a door into an area they were about to clear and moved the team away. They never found the bad guy, the bomb was supposed to leave the message. To the point of question by the OP, their handguns and rifles (if they carried rifles) had been previously altered with barrels and magazines to accept what is essentially a ‘high tech’ paint ball. Here’s the deal, you HAVE to aim, shoot and fire at the bad guys to win….

I’ve asked him over and over, how he knew for sure his gun was safe and he told me he personally watched his firearms disassembled and outfitted with the ‘less lethal’ hardware, so he felt safe. By the way, he’d always have to re-sight the rifle after these events, it would be off with both the iron sights and the optics, the handgun wasn’t an issue. So, that’s just another take on matters. Some folks in training situations can do it, but I’m not one of those folk, which might be because I’m old and fat with no desire to do it, yet I remember being young with high spirit, still I wouldn’t do it even then!

 

[Bob K]

I always check my guns at least 2-3 times, before I give it to someone, or use it myself. I tend to be overly cautious in everything I do. I always double check that the door is locked before I leave. My wife says I'm Obsessive Compulsive. I'm not actually.....doesn't everybody check the front door 3-4 times, before going to bed????? 😄 Bob