# Okay to ask guest to leave their guns at home? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226 "2009-11-20T00:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/101 "2009-11-20T21:15:26Z")
Who cares if it’s conspicuous? Some people don’t like guns and don’t want them in their homes. That is the only argument that needs to be made. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/102 "2009-11-20T21:16:06Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I think the scenario I’ve suggested is eminently plausible that’s why your argument is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/103 "2009-11-20T21:17:07Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Why don’t you tell me what argument you’re making that’s so reasonable that it makes mine a “stupid one” and warrants being patronizingly told to “just stop” like I’m a five year old child? I think the scenario I’ve suggested is eminently plausible and I think telling someone to leave their gun at home is very rude. I think it’s also very unlikely to ever happen. Has anyone here ever been told not to bring their gun into someone else’s house? Has anyone here ever asked someone else not to bring their gun into someone’s house? Who the hell would ever ask something like that? The whole “my house, my rules” thing is unbelievably pompous when it is directed at something which would be _hidden on your body._ THEY WON’T KNOW whether you have your handgun or not so what the hell difference does it make? It’d be one thing if someone wore a pistol openly on their belt all the time, but a small pistol in a concealed holster isn’t any more conspicuous than a beeper or a cell phone. Who gives a crap. Why can’t we just answer the question that was asked? Are you saying that you would refuse & show up with a gun anyway? Would you turn down the invite, or would you politely adhere to the request? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/104 "2009-11-20T21:18:02Z")
I’ll repeat again: has this scenario ever come up anywhere besides on this forum? Has anyone, in real life, ever been asked to leave their (concealed) handgun at home? Has anyone, in real life, ever asked someone else to leave their (concealed) handgun at home? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/105 "2009-11-20T21:19:02Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > that’s why your argument is stupid. Duuuhhh! Stupid! Stupid! Does anyone here actually have a goddamn _reason_ why they think this argument is so stupid? Or are you just going to keep throwing third-grade level responses at me? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/106 "2009-11-20T21:20:53Z")
My reasonable argument: They don’t want it. It’s their house. Do NOT bring a gun into their home. I don’t care if you have it concealed in your ass. I don’t care if nobody but God himself could find it. I don’t even care if you carry it with 3 cable locks and a trigger lock on it. I don’t care if your friends live in the middle of Detroit, the middle of Orange County, or 7 miles away from anybody else in the middle of Montana. There is no plausible scenario that would allow you to violate the rights of the host/property owner/renter to make the rules in their own home. If they tell you that guns are not welcome in their home, you do not bring one into their home. If you can’t deal with that, do not go to their home. Get it now? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/107 "2009-11-20T21:22:38Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Duuuhhh! Stupid! Stupid! > > Does anyone here actually have a goddamn _reason_ why they think this argument is so stupid? Or are you just going to keep throwing third-grade level responses at me? Because it dodges the spirit of the OP. S/he clearly wasn’t looking for what certain people would do in specific danger-inducing situations. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/108 "2009-11-20T21:23:35Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Duuuhhh! Stupid! Stupid! > > Does anyone here actually have a goddamn _reason_ why they think this argument is so stupid? Or are you just going to keep throwing third-grade level responses at me? because it’s not an argument for anything. making a ridiculous hypothetical that is perfectly contoured to the point you attempt to make is not valid argument - it’s third grade argument. lets change your scenario: same facts, except that (you know that) the 2-year old child member of the family would spontaneously combust if granny walked in the door with a gun. what then? huh? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/109 "2009-11-20T21:27:07Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Duuuhhh! Stupid! Stupid! > > Does anyone here actually have a goddamn _reason_ why they think this argument is so stupid? Or are you just going to keep throwing third-grade level responses at me? 1. Because you had to come up with a possible-but-hardly-plausible hypothetical to support it. 2. Because it ignores the host’s right to tell you they don’t want any guns in their home. The fact that your gun may be inconspicuous or even freaking invisible is not relevant. If I tell you I don’t want drugs in my house and you bring a baggie of PCP, you are violating my request, no matter that it may be hidden in your rectum. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/110 "2009-11-20T21:27:23Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’ll repeat again: has this scenario ever come up anywhere besides on this forum? Has anyone, in real life, ever been asked to leave their (concealed) handgun at home? Has anyone, in real life, ever asked someone else to leave their (concealed) handgun at home? if i knew of people like you who would bring a concealed weapon into my home without asking me beforehand if it was ok, and instead assumed that if I had a problem with it I would spontaneously tell you, I would ask you. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/111 "2009-11-20T21:40:49Z")
OK, fair enough. Back to the OP’s topic: is it okay to ask guest to leave their guns at home? Sure, insomuch as it’s also “okay” to ask the guests to leave their watch at home, or their cell phone, or not wear a green shirt, or whatever. It’s up to the person who owns the house to make the rules, I suppose. And it’s up to the guest to decide to obey them once they’re known. I don’t think this situation would come up in my life and I doubt it would for most people. I don’t carry regularly anyway. But if someone specifically asked me with no provocation whatsoever to “leave my gun at home” (if he somehow knew that I had guns)? I’d do it, and I’d go to his house, and eat his food, and drink his beer, and think, deep down, that he’s a huge pussy. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/112 "2009-11-20T21:43:41Z")
That sort of macho crap is why so many people assume all gun owners are crazy, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/113 "2009-11-20T21:49:25Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > is it okay to ask guest to leave their guns at home? Sure, insomuch as it’s also “okay” to ask the guests to leave their watch at home, or their cell phone, or not wear a green shirt, or whatever. It’s up to the person who owns the house to make the rules, I suppose. And it’s up to the guest to decide to obey them once they’re known. [emphasis added] you’re either off your rocker or just making this up to suit your fancy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/114 "2009-11-20T21:56:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That sort of macho crap is why so many people assume all gun owners are crazy, you know. I just feel it only fair to point out that out of several firearms owners and enthusiasts who responded to this question, only one has taken this stance, while the remainder have all volunteered to leave the weapon at home or secured in a vehicle. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/115 "2009-11-20T22:02:01Z")
I’d also point out that I am among that group. I would also leave it at home or in my vehicle. Actually it’s a moot point since as I already said, I hardly ever carry it at all. However - what I am saying is that it’s a petty request and I look down on someone who’d make it. Would I abide by it? Yes. Fine. But I think it’s a dumb thing to ask someone. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/116 "2009-11-20T22:10:16Z")
Yes, it’s okay to ask someone to leave the gun in the car or at home. Yes, it’s okay to stay home rather than accede to that request. No, it’s not okay to bring a deadly weapon into someone’s home without so much as a “kiss my ass, fascist.” Yes, a gun is a tool. So is a nail gun, and I’m going to tell you to leave that out in the car, too. (Assuming, of course, you haven’t brought said nail gun to build/repair something inside the house.) I have no problem with guns in and of themselves, and I have no problem with someone having a gun out in the vehicle when they have some reason to expect to need it, like going to or coming from a hunt or some work where you need a gun, or in some situation the reasonable person would consider dangerous. But what I’ve seen in personal experience is that people who are ardently pro-handgun aren’t always very good at realistically assessing risk. Like the friend of mine who keeps a gun in her car and several more in her house for protection from…well, deranged gunmen, near as I can tell from the things she’s said over the years. But some of their guns got stolen a few years ago, right out of their cars. It was easy for the thieves, because the cars weren’t locked and the guns weren’t otherwise secured. They never bothered because, although we live in an area absolutely riddled with junkies looking for shit to steal and sell for drug money, they didn’t think it was worth guarding against. Do I want someone with that sort of risk assessment skills having a potentially deadly tool in my home? Absolutely not, no more than I’d want them in a woodshop using the table saws and stuff, because I worry that their poor judgment will get themselves or someone else hurt or killed. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/117 "2009-11-20T22:14:12Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > OK, fair enough. Back to the OP’s topic: is it okay to ask guest to leave their guns at home? Sure, insomuch as it’s also “okay” to ask the guests to leave their watch at home, or their cell phone, or not wear a green shirt, or whatever. It’s up to the person who owns the house to make the rules, I suppose. And it’s up to the guest to decide to obey them once they’re known. > > I don’t think this situation would come up in my life and I doubt it would for most people. I don’t carry regularly anyway. But if someone specifically asked me with no provocation whatsoever to “leave my gun at home” (if he somehow knew that I had guns)? I’d do it, and I’d go to his house, and eat his food, and drink his beer, and think, deep down, that he’s a huge pussy. Well, this is what I was wondering–for a lot of people a gun is like a cell phone or a watch. Like, if I knew someone who hated mascara and didn’t want it in their house, I might just lie and say I didn’t have any if I had some in my bag and didn’t want to throw it out or whatever. And someone who felt that way about a phone or t shirt or watch or make up is a bit odd. But don’t you think it’s a bit bizarre that you see a gun as no more harmless than a cell phone? No, you’re not going to go on a shooting spree or have it accidentally go off, but it’s not like the people who do those things think they will either. And rationally, a gun is different. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/118 "2009-11-20T22:24:25Z")
Look, I may have been abrasive in this thread, and I’m sorry about it. I certainly don’t want to come off as crazy, or give gun owners a bad name. I don’t believe that gun owners should be rude and ungracious to their friends or hosts just to make a point about gun rights, which is why (if I carried regularly in the first place) and this request was made of me, I would comply with it. I just wouldn’t be happy about it, and I want to explain why: Asking someone to leave his gun at home - unless this person is Hunter S. Thompson and has a habit of pulling out his gun and randomly shooting at things - is an extension of the mentality that guns, as objects, are something to be feared and mistrusted. That is why I don’t like the spirit of the rule. To me, acquiescing to it is giving in to this “guns are scary” mentality, and I don’t like the idea of doing that. The kind of person who would make this request would, in my mind, be the kind of person who is governed by emotion instead of reason. And I don’t like giving in to the requests of these people. Would I, in this hypothetical situation, do it? Sure, I guess I would. And I wouldn’t make an issue of it, nor would I try to persuade them to accept my point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/119 "2009-11-20T22:24:31Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > lets change your scenario: same facts, except that (you know that) the 2-year old child member of the family would spontaneously combust if granny walked in the door with a gun. what then? huh? What, just like that? Granny doesn’t even have to brandish it and say something like “The Power of Charlton Heston compels you”? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226/120 "2009-11-20T22:27:03Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > To me, acquiescing to it is giving in to this “guns are scary” mentality, and I don’t like the idea of doing that. The kind of person who would make this request would, in my mind, be the kind of person who is governed by emotion instead of reason. And I don’t like giving in to the requests of these people. Would I, in this hypothetical situation, do it? Sure, I guess I would. And I wouldn’t make an issue of it, nor would I try to persuade them to accept my point of view. But guns are scary. They are designed to be very destructive. I think it’s healthy to have a sense of fear of something that can do this much damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-to-ask-guest-to-leave-their-guns-at-home/518226.md?page=7)