245: Gunners and Gamers

[Russ Pitts]

Gunners and Gamers

Guns and games typically only come up in the same news story when it involves a horrific act of violence. But what about all the responsible enthusiasts out there who simply want to enjoy their favorite pastimes? Russ Pitts speaks with gamers and gun owners about their dual hobbies.

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[carpathic]

I used to have a .22 and a shotgun. While the .22 was quite fun (I was a pretty good shot), I never really found shooting to be a terribly fascinating way to spend a day. Rather, I felt like an anachronism - why in today's age, in one of the world's richest, most peaceful and law abiding countries do I need to be shooting a gun.

Most people in the world, for whom a gun is a necessity would happily trade places with me for the simple cost of not having to ever use a gun again - yet some people in my country constantly complain about restrictions on firearms.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Sadly I live in the UK and civilian possession of firearms is pretty much a no-go. A shame, too; I'd be the kind of person who'd like to go down to a shooting range every now and then to squeeze off a couple of magazines. Well, I live in N.Ireland and the laws are a bit more lax here than in other parts of the UK, so perhaps at some point...

Interesting fact; In the UK, N. Ireland is the only area that accepts 'Self Defence' as a legitimate reason for gun ownership.

But in any case, I agree with one line in the article in particular; It's the CASUAL gun owners that you need to worry about, not the 'hardcore gun-nuts' because they're the ones who will know how to handle a firearm properly.

Case in point; that woman pictured for the article both has her finger inside the trigger-guard AND is aiming that weapon at her own head more or less. That's an accident waiting to happen. Also, I'm not sure, but are those machine-pistols/SMGs? Darwin Award waiting to happen if those things are loaded.

Also, dual-wielding? Seriously? All well and good if it's for a bit of fun, but if she was trying to look serious, she has failed miserably as far as I'm concerned.

That said though, sometimes dual-wielding can look very badass. Just don't try and do it as a serious thing. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCra4qOrjFw]

 

[Daveman]

I live in the UK... basically nobody has guns... can't really see the point.

I only know one guy who owns a gun (well, his parents do) and he's a nutter who told me about the time he practiced golf using myxomatosis rabbits. Yes live ones.

 

[Koeryn]

Sadly I live in the UK and civilian possession of firearms is pretty much a no-go. A shame, too; I'd be the kind of person who'd like to go down to a shooting range every now and then to squeeze off a couple of magazines. Well, I live in N.Ireland and the laws are a bit more lax here than in other parts of the UK, so perhaps at some point...

Interesting fact; In the UK, N. Ireland is the only area that accepts 'Self Defence' as a legitimate reason for gun ownership.

But in any case, I agree with one line in the article in particular; It's the CASUAL gun owners that you need to worry about, not the 'hardcore gun-nuts' because they're the ones who will know how to handle a firearm properly.

Case in point; that woman pictured for the article both has her finger inside the trigger-guard AND is aiming that weapon at her own head more or less. That's an accident waiting to happen. Also, I'm not sure, but are those machine-pistols/SMGs? Darwin Award waiting to happen if those things are loaded.

Also, dual-wielding? Seriously? All well and good if it's for a bit of fun, but if she was trying to look serious, she has failed miserably as far as I'm concerned.

That said though, sometimes dual-wielding can look very badass. Just don't try and do it as a serious thing. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCra4qOrjFw]

And amusingly, even with TWO, there's little to no muzzle climb. Instead, they're producing rearward thrust, much the same way as miniguns do.

I live in the UK... basically nobody has guns... can't really see the point.

I only know one guy who owns a gun (well, his parents do) and he's a nutter who told me about the time he practiced golf using myxomatosis rabbits. Yes live ones.

Then I'm glad it's his PARENT'S that own the gun, and not that idiot. Nothing wrong with gun ownership (dependin' on your reasons), but gun ownership, and animal cruelty do NOT go hand in hand, in any way shape or form.

That'd be like saying anime and rape are directly linked.

Or furries and beastiali- wait a minute...

=p

 

[Major_Tom]

Case in point; that woman pictured for the article both has her finger inside the trigger-guard AND is aiming that weapon at her own head more or less. That's an accident waiting to happen. Also, I'm not sure, but are those machine-pistols/SMGs? Darwin Award waiting to happen if those things are loaded.

She's holding two plastic toys, I wouldn't be too concerned for her safety.

 

[Velocirapture07]

Excellent Article. Well written and researched, and great facts. As a person who has fired some rifles, but doesn't own any, I can totally respect others who take it seriously, and have the training needed to protect themselves and others.

 

[Tarrker]

Ah these big groups that protest things in the US are mostly all are just looking for the next, big thing to attack. If you live in the US than you probably remember how much people attacked GTA4 when it first came out. I, personally, thought it was just silly. The specific features they picked out of the game to attack have been in games for YEARS. GTA4 was just the one they heard about on the news, or whatever.

I've practiced martial arts for most of my life and, needless to say, I have a pretty hefty arsenal of melee weapons and such. Now, I live in a very, VERY, christian, rural community and these people just seemed to be terrified of me and my family from day one. The police are up at our house almost daily, and it's almost comical. My family and I practice martial arts so that we can free ourselves from things like hate and anger, but all these people seem to think we're murderous lunatics or something. I don't know how many times I've found myself wanting to strangle one of my younger siblings and, instead, went did pushups or hit the cutting board for an hour or so. I think, that, when you deprive someone of a primal need, like, bashing things or you know, sex, it makes them want it even more. However, these protesting groups in America, would have you believe that taking those things away is the answer.

 

[flatten_the_skyline]

I think it is short-sighted to call the shooters of Columbine "Pure Evil". It's the third of the things that always happen after a school shooting. First, blame the gun laws/ gun owners that didn't look after their guns (where I live it is pretty hard to get a gun). Second, blame music/games (Yes I listen to Slipknot and the likes while I exercise to blow off steam, and I'm currently stalking through Pripyat with my Heckler & Koch G36, still I'm a pacifist), and third, the shooters are characterized as evil lunatics. I guess, most of them have at least one psychological problem, and suffer from it. But most of them were in your class for years, and you said they were freaks, most of them were taught by teachers they might or might not eventually murder, and the teachers told them they were failures, most of them had parents that either didn't care or ignored the fact that they really needed help. Now, after the shooting, there's psychologists talking their heads off over the psychopath in one of the body bags, how about stepping in before? Most of them were "problem children" (Note: There are no problem children, only symptom bearers, that's what I think), you could see that most of them were "strange" before. Maybe it is time to take the "psycho" label off of people with issues and to work for a society in which psychological disorders such as depression, borderline and the likes are treated like other medical problems, instead of making helpless people ashamed of their helplessness. One third of us suffers a depression at least once in our lives... So it could be you. Or Me.

As for gun laws: I prefer to live in a country were mostly police and foresters have guns. I have never seen a gun in private possession, and I definitely don't want to buy one.

 

[Tarrker]

I live in the UK... basically nobody has guns... can't really see the point.

I only know one guy who owns a gun (well, his parents do) and he's a nutter who told me about the time he practiced golf using myxomatosis rabbits. Yes live ones.

Actually, that's kind of frightening. If you look up murders committed (at least, in the us) by kids under 18, you'll find that most stole their weapons from parents who simply thought they had been misplaced. Who are these people? If my hand-sword goes missing from the umbrella stand, I go on a rampage through the house, STARTING with those under 18

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

I don't own any guns... yet.

I wouldn't mind keeping an M1911 (or similar .45 automatic), H&K 9mm and Garand for target practice, however. And just in case of zombies.

 

[Vek]

Interesting and well-written article, Russ.

 

[AntiAntagonist]

I don't have enough time to write a whole spiel on school shootings (huge freakin subject).

I'll just relay my past experiences. I've practiced martial arts for several years at a time, know how to use firearms from shooting with my family and have gamed for all my life. The only people I've ever met who are fanatical about guns also have had diagnosed mental illness. Most of the people I've met who own multiple guns take them seriously, even if they are sometimes jovial on the range.

 

[iFail69]

I'm also from the UK where no one owns guns, but cracking down on guns is a vote winner with the masses, so politicians do love to hate guns in front of the people...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Interesting and well-written article, Russ.

I agree, but doesn't the picture surrounding it make light of the situation? The words "Zip those puppies up" do spring to mind.

The pictures that often get spread with guns are very much akin to the ones that used to be used with cigarettes, or Flakes, or six inch long sandwiches...

And perhaps that's what leads to problems like Columbine? Sexualisation of something that's really not sexual.

From a UK perspective, our knife crime is reaching US's gun crime standards; before we look into the bomb problems, which we've had for decades, but are now creeping across into the US.

 

[ldwater]

"Monkey see monkey do"...

Kinda like the whole thing with Tony Hawk and a wave of kids who got into skating because the game made it look easy and cool.

It's the same with alot of things that hold 'influence' over people - if properly put into context they can be very benifical.

Living in the UK and growing up in the 80s & 90s me & my brother were interested in American football & Basketball. Anyone in the UK will know that both are very hard to come by - and even harder to get information on back in the days before the internet. I remember doing PE lessons where the teacher would give me the basketball and go off for a smoke because I knew more about the sport than he did.

So where did I go to get information & game rules? Madden & NBA games!

Yes I know its not EVERYTHING you need to know, but it can make a huge difference between knowing how to make a jump shot correctly (or close enough) or trying to come up with a technique yourself and get it all wrong.

I have a similar interest in firearms, but not to the same stupid extent as the guy in the article (how did he think that the rifle would 'zoom for him?' - will it to zoom using the force or something??) - but put into the proper context in reality the basis of interest from video games can be very benificial and sometimes superiour than not having the video game at all (ie being able to understand battlefield tactics etc without getting shot )

 

[Marine Mike]

"They used pipe bombs and other IED devices"

IED stand for Improvised Explosive Device... so they used improvised explosive device devices?
Anyway, I'm a pretty avid gamer and definitely an avid gun owner and I've never shot anybody... oh wait, I lied... I HAVE shot people but that was Iraq and they were littering (long story). So I guess my opinion is that someone exposed to real guns prior to those in video games are far less likely to use them irresponsibly. This really isn't the gaming community's fault, its society's for putting so many restrictions on firearms that fewer and fewer actually know how to handle one with safety and responsibility. Guns are merely a tool... say you have a 13 year old who has helped out with home improvement projects all his life, and another kid who has never touched a power tool in his life. Given a miter saw, which one would be most likely to cut his fingers off?

 

[KiKiweaky]

Been to the range a few times, while I enjoyed it I do hold a huge respect for guns, yesit is enjoyable but at the end of the day they are designed to kill people.

That guy who walked into the gun store is obviously a complete moron if thats the way he's going to approach firearms :/

 

[johnman]

Excellent article, pretty much sums me up perfecty, I have even used the same army simulators.Compare me, experiacned in firearm handling, avid airsofter and gamer, osscasional weed smoker to the guy at school who plays no videogames and has no idea about firearms.
Who would you trust with a loaded weapon in a crowded room? Me, as the first thing I would do would be to put the fucking safety catch on.

I only have 2 air rifles and a G3 airsoft rifle in my house. But fire 12 gauge, .22 and 5.56 with cadets every few months.