# If you saw someone carrying a gun at a party, what would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146 "2007-04-22T03:16:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/41 "2007-04-22T15:59:49Z")
I’d call the police. Attitude to guns is a little different in this country, so I’d imagine the cops would arrive in some pretty heavy style and in numbers. Gun-carrying pal would be in chokey before he knew it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/42 "2007-04-22T16:09:57Z")
This also kind of happened to me – twice. Once was actually at my workplace – a co-worker, who was a licensed gun dealer and frequently tried to sell us guns, showed one off at work to a group that included me. Someone complained and he was sent home that day and ordered not to bing a gun to work anymore. That man was later convicted of 2 murders, including a murder for hire, and is suspected in a 3rd. Another time, my roommate’s friend brought a gun into my apartment. Then it got worse – he said he had it for protection because he had ripped off the stash of a local drug dealer. I told him to get out, and he did. My roommate didn’t raise any objections to what I said, and said it was just as big a surprise to him as it was to me. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/43 "2007-04-22T16:16:38Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Honestly? I would ask him what he was packing. [/QUOTE] Or are you just glad to see me? I’d say in 99 percent of the time I’d ask him (the 1 percent being where I already knew why he had it, aka police etc.) If he had a good reason…and there arn’t many, fine. If his reason was “because everyone is out to get me” I’d run very fast in the opposite direction. And if I were a responsible person (still in question) I’d call the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/44 "2007-04-22T16:16:50Z")
My response is [more suited to The Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8493778#post8493778) than this thread. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/45 "2007-04-22T16:24:15Z")
Also, if someone introduced me to a party guest carrying a gun and said, “Hey, this is Bob. He’s a cop,” my reaction would be very different from “Hey, this is Joe. He works at ABC Software.” Police officers know how to use guns and have a good reason to carry them. I’m less trusting that random strangers do. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/46 "2007-04-22T16:25:20Z")
Police also know how - and when - _not_ to use guns, at least police who are worth a shit. ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/47 "2007-04-22T16:32:14Z")
I would leave immediately. At least once a year a kid is killed in a drive-by shooting in my neighborhood at home (in Los Angeles). Usually it’s a case of mistaken identity. The last time it happened, last December, the teenager was running away from the car while he was shot and killed. When I was in high school, the boyfriend of my across-the-street-neighbor was killed in front of my house and I was woken up by the gunshots. So I have a pretty negative reaction whenever I see a gun. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/48 "2007-04-22T16:38:49Z")
I have a number of friends with concealed carry permits, mostly because it’s actually cheaper here to get the multiyear CCW than to repeatedly get a single year handgun permit. A couple of them actually carry in casual situations. I don’t own any firearm, myself, and DH has a shotgun for hunting. A lot would depend on context. My friends are trustworthy and can have guns in my house, no problem. They’re also smart enough not to mix guns and alcohol. A new acquaintance would have to be vetted by a trustworthy friend, and if I saw them drinking, I’d probably leave. If it was my party, I’d ask even a trustworthy friend to lock their gun in their car, so no one stupid could get it. I’ve seen enough dumb behavior with guns that I’d need proof of responsibility before I’d trust someone, but neither can I assume that all gun owners are “gun nuts”. If I did that, I’d have to stop talking to a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/49 "2007-04-22T17:02:01Z")
I host a militia training session once a month on our property. Afterwards is “social hour,” where people sit around and shoot the bull. Nearly everyone is armed with a handgun, rifle, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/50 "2007-04-22T17:13:03Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] I host a militia training session once a month on our property. Afterwards is “social hour,” where people sit around and shoot the bull. Nearly everyone is armed with a handgun, rifle, or whatever. [/QUOTE] Totally off-topic, IMO. If someone started a thread about people having open sex at a garden party, it would be off-topic for someone else to respond,“Well, when we host “swap parties” people have open sex quite frequently!” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/51 "2007-04-22T17:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Totally off-topic, IMO. If someone started a thread about people having open sex at a garden party, it would be off-topic for someone else to respond,“Well, when we host “swap parties” people have open sex quite frequently!” [/QUOTE] Well I guess I need to spell it out, then: if I notice someone carrying a CCW at a party, I do not get nervous. In fact, I feel safer knowing people are armed. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/52 "2007-04-22T17:26:48Z")
Anyone else reminded of [Terry Kath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Kath)? **Crafter\_Man** , but are you guys completely shitfaced? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/53 "2007-04-22T17:31:00Z")
So, the people who say they’d call the cops, you all live in places where it’s illegal for civilians to have a conceal weapon, right? It’s legal here, so although I’d alert the host, I doubt it would occur to me to call the police. If they were drunk and showing it off or if they were acting agressive, sure. Otherwise I’d think they were a. a law officer or b. someone with pretty poor judgement about what sort of situation warents bringing a weapon. I’ve known a couple of women who’ve kept them in their purses because they worked in rough cities, but they never brought them to social engagements. It would make me wary that this person saw a need to. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/54 "2007-04-22T17:33:30Z")
You must go to some dangerous parties, **CM**. Myself, I’d probably just ask “What’s with the gun?” If he didn’t have a valid reason for carrying one I’d assume he was trying to compensate for something, and snicker at him behind his back. Oh, and I’d make sure he didn’t drink too much. In my mind, “armed” is in the same criterion as “designated driver.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/55 "2007-04-22T17:40:29Z")
If it were here, I’d simply make an exit. All sorts of weirdness goes on here, and calling the cops is not a preferred course of action unless it’s a true emergency. But a drunk Thai with a gun is not someone I want to be around. If it were in the U.S., I might leave, depending on the situation, but if I didn’t, I’d definitely keep aware of where the person with the gun was. I doubt I’d call the cops unless the person with the gun seemed drunk, but even then I might just tell the host and let him handle it before leaving. Hard to say; it would be a case-by-case basis. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/56 "2007-04-22T17:51:35Z")
If it happened here, I’d leave, then call the cops. If it happened in Thailand, see **Siam Sam** ’s post - a few months ago, a tourist got shot on Phi Phi after a silly drunken row with a local, who went off somewhere, returned with a gun, and killed him. Really, I can’t see any circumstances in any country in which alcohol+concealed weapon would be “safer”. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/57 "2007-04-22T17:52:58Z")
I’m in the UK. I’d leave the party, call the cops and quietly warn a few people so the party can break up and there are fewer people at risk from the gunman. Guns are almost totally illegal over here, and due to a spate of gangland shootings with illegal weapons the police are cracking down. Responsible gun owners in Britain don’t take their guns to parties - irresponsible ones do so only if they want to risk jail. Likely response would be an armed response unit present in ten minutes flat - give up the gun or get shot. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/58 "2007-04-22T18:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Anyone else reminded of [Terry Kath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Kath)? **Crafter\_Man** , but are you guys completely shitfaced? [/QUOTE] Ahhh but you see somehow this analogy won’t fly with people who believe it is perfectly fine to stand around drinking with lots of the attendees carrying loaded weapons. Even though your cite makes it clear he was a gun enthusiast, he..uh…well… he wasn’t as…er… good… or… something as the people who stand around socializing with loaded weapons at some other parties. Right? :dubious: Apparently, people attending a social function have no right to assume that they are _not_ surrounded by drunk people toting loaded weapons. Fascinating- I’d have thought the reverse to be the case. As I posted earlier, I would have called the police. Last autumn I was parking my car in the local Wal-Mart and a few slots away were two cars. One guy got out of one car, opened his trunk, proceeded to place several weapons into a dark canvas bag along with boxes with a gun maker’s name on them. ( Remington. That’s a gun maker, yes? ). They put the bag into the other guy’s trunk and drove away. No markings on car, nothing about their dress to indicate being on the job. I called the State Trooperes, who by luck have a barracks less than a mile from where I was sitting. I left it to them. MY Job is not to enforce gun laws. My job is to steer clear of lunatics who crave carrying loaded weapons around, including at parties. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/59 "2007-04-22T18:42:23Z")
Since more likely than not it’s a cop, I would not say anything and I’d mind my own business. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146/60 "2007-04-22T18:43:27Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Anyone else reminded of [Terry Kath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Kath)? **Crafter\_Man** , but are you guys completely shitfaced? [/QUOTE] Um no… :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-carrying-a-gun-at-a-party-what-would-you-do/401146.md?page=4)