Damn it, man, don’t you understand? This is about guns!
Incidentally, every time I see the username Scumpup, I want to say ‘Scumping up, sir!’
This thread does seem like an awful lot of fuss over something that’s going to directly affect so few (relatively) people.
Although I might just reconsider that S&W 500. 
Be my fag?
I assume you mean that in the sense of ‘dogsbody’!
(And no, I won’t! Polish your own gun! 
)
Alas. I had you pegged as a warm-bottomed fag, too.
What the hell are you two talking about?
Wiki don’t know.
Google don’t know.
I’m afraid to ask my (barely) adult granddaughter.
Well, it’s just that his name sounds like a command. ‘Scump up’ instead of ‘Scum pup’. So when I see it, I think of a subordinate acknowledging that he heard the order and is doing it. (Think of C3PO when Han Solo says, ‘Shut up!’ and C3PO says, ‘Shutting up, sir!’)
So then Scumpup made a ‘fag’ comment. One definition is:
I knew this because someone mentioned it in another thread recently. So I wanted to clarify that he meant it in that sense, rather than as a word for homosexual. The only word I could think of that was similar was ‘dogsbody’:
(I knew this one from reading about Douglas Bader – DB, and remembering he was sometimes called ‘DogsBody’ on the radio.)
As to his last, I was wooshed.
They’re being veddy British.
I wasn’t. I was riffing on Star Wars.
Slightly OT, but in the vein of something you guys were talking about (not confrontational, I promise):
Several people who have/like guns offered to allow other people who don’t know anything about guns, and are nervous about them, to visit them and see/shoot their guns. But, I have to ask, if someone is nervous at all about a gun, is it really wise to let them be anywhere near in control of it? Wouldn’t the nervousness make them more likely to mishandle it or make a mistake? And you can’t afford to ever make a mistake with an item so potentially lethal…
I ask this out of a personal circumstance, in part. My dad has, within the past six months or so, gotten suddenly interested in target shooting. He has bought 10 (!) guns in that time – six different pistols and 4 long guns, including an AR-15 type gun that looks really, really scary. (I know they’re not more dangerous than any other rifle that doesn’t look so scary, don’t worry – it just looks very intimidating.) I am very scared of guns…when I walk by him cleaning the guns in the basement, I have to run away, even though my dad is a very responsible person and the guns are never, ever loaded in the house and are locked up all the time except when he cleans them. He wants me to come to the shooting range with him and shoot his .22 pistol. I have to wonder, is it really safe for someone who’s so scared of guns to shoot one? Since he’s apparently not going to get rid of the scary things, I’d like to not be so scared, but I don’t want to cause a dangerous situation.
Well, you wouldn’t take someone who was hysterical at the site of them. If they’re open to learning to do it properly, simply instruct them and supervise them closely as you would anyone else new to shooting.
Well, I would want to learn to do it right (since you have to or you could kill someone, eeep). I’m not hysterical at the sight of them, just sort of nervous. I’ve never been around guns in my life…no one I know hunts with guns or does any shooting sports, until my dad got so into it lately. So, to me, guns feel scary and dangerous. If I can not feel this way it would be nice, since, like I said, I have to live here for the time being and they’re going to be around.
No responsible person is going to just hand you a loaded gun. Let’s assume the AR-15 (because I like them). When he shows you it, it should be on the bench at a shooting range. The magazine should be out, and the bolt should be back and the safety on. At no time should the muzzle be pointed anywhere but downrange. There should be a safety briefing before anything else. He will show you that the rifle is unloaded, and show you how to see that it’s unloaded (mag out, bolt back, look in the chamber – FROM THE BACK!).
Next he’ll show you the controls. The AR-15 has a safety switch on the left side. There is a magazine release for removing the magazine. There’s the bolt catch release. (The bolt is being held back by a catch, and the bolt catch release releases it.) There’s the charging handle, which is used to load and cock the rifle. Most AR-15s have a forward assist plunger, to assist in chambering a round that doesn’t go all the way in. (I almost never have to use mine, and one of my AR-15s is a '79 Colt that doesn’t have one.) There are the sights, which you need to learn how to use. And, of course, the trigger.
Once you have been briefed on the controls (including inserting and removing an empty magazine), he’ll show you how to hold it. I don’t like dry-firing guns, but it shouldn’t be too hard on most modern guns, so you might get a feel for the trigger.
Once you know the controls and know how to hold and control the rifle, he should show you how to load one round into the magazine. Then, with the bolt closed (and after donning hearing and eye protection), the magazine will be inserted. You’ll load the chamber by working the charging handle. You’ll aim and fire. The AR-15 barely kicks at all, so don’t worry about it. Don’t panic. It’s supposed to be fun.
By loading only one round, you’ll see how the bolt stays back when the magazine is empty. He might load another single round into the magazine and show you how the bolt release works in practice. (Pressing the bolt release releases the bolt and loads the round.) After firing that round, you’ll load a few rounds into the mag.
Introducing a new shooter to shooting a step-by-step process starting with safety and proceeding through each stage demonstrating safety. If anyone just hands you a gun without going over safety, the controls, etc.; and especially if they don’t show you it’s unloaded (safety on, bolt or slide back, magazine out), then you can be scared.
Eeep, Johnny L.A., just the description makes me nervous, because it involves that gun (I really don’t like that one, it looks like a machine gun to me, even though I know it’s not one.) I’m also not strong enough to handle that gun – I’m a girl, and I have weak wrists because I have carpal tunnel syndrome. He said he would have me shoot the .22 pistol which I think is a little gun – I don’t think I’ve seen that one, since he has so many now and they’re always locked up. I’m sure he’ll try to be safe with it but I guess I don’t trust myself not to freak out and do something wrong. How does anyone deal with that, really? It’s so much pressure, because it’s so dangerous.
One of the first things you would learn is not to judge a gun by appearance. 
The AR-15, however black and scary-looking it may appear, is probably one of the weakest rifles you will ever encounter, aside from a .22LR. It has practically zero recoil, and can be comfortably handled and fired by anyone. (The same goes for the “machine gun” version, the M-16; the only difference is that it will fire more than once per pull of the trigger.) Compare a plain, old-fashioned looking gun like this Mosin-Nagant M44. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s many times more powerful than the AR-15 – it packs a wallop that, while it won’t dislocate your shoulder, will definitely bruise it if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here’s a photo of me firing it, capturing the impressive muzzle blast. 
That said, I can understand your feelings – I was rather nervous the first time I got into shooting. It is a big responsibility, and being keenly aware of that is the first step in maintaining the appropriate safety mentality.
Try to think of how you felt before driving a car for the first time: it was a bit nerve-wracking, wasn’t it? You’re taking on responsibility for the safe operation of a powerful and dangerous machine. Everywhere your car is pointed is the potential “kill zone.” If you screw up, you could kill somebody, or yourself. But if you take it slowly, and have a competent instructor to guide you through from first steps to familiarity, you’ll have no problem gradually taking on that responsibility and handling it competently.
Hmmm, that is a good analogy. I was scared to death when I first started driving – I even freaked out on the highway and hit the brakes once during a lesson (nothing bad happened, though.) But, now, I’m a good driver and it’s not scary anymore. (Except that now, I have a new car, and I’m scared of scratching the paint or spilling coffee in it. :D) Of course, shooting doesn’t have the utility that driving does, and I’ll never be good at it (I have terrible depth perception and have trouble aiming anything…) but I hope I can at least not be scared by it anymore.
Why can’t more people be like this about guns? Props to you, meenie7.
I didn’t mean to make you nervous! I just wanted to show you that there are steps a responsible gun owner should take to ensure safety.
Learning to drive a car is a pretty good analogy.
The important thing to do is to remember to be safe and sane and take it slow. If you get nervous, just repeat, it’s only a tool, it won’t do anything by itself. You’re the one holding it, you control it.
Also. Very important. Don’t flinch when pulling the trigger. You will. Don’t worry, it happens to everyone. Accept that you will, accept that you will be startled, and you’ll be less startled.
Try to keep your eyes open. It’s like swimming underwater at first, people always close their eyes when they pull the trigger.
Don’t worry.
Really, don’t worry. Thousands of people do this. It’s safe. It’s fun!