Gun Enthusiasts Complain About the "Call of Duty Effect"

[Mr.Pandah]

Gun Enthusiasts Complain About the "Call of Duty Effect"

Many gun enthusiasts complain how amateurs believe that they know about firearms due to playing videogames like Modern Warfare 2, which feature real guns.

The owner of the gun site, The Firearm Blog [http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/], was surprised to realize that the most popular search term that led to his site was an obscure gun unknown outside the firearm industry, the Bushmaster ACR. That was until he realized that the gun was featured in Modern Warfare 2.

"I was surprised because, compared to the AKs, M4s and Glocks of the world, the ACR is relatively unknown outside of the industry," the blog's owner, Steve, wrote on December 8th, 2009. "Have any other bloggers noticed the Call of Duty effect?"

There follows a stream of anecdotes from gun enthusiasts about how videogames have turned gamers into "gun experts."

"I was riding around with a friend of mine when I asked him to stop in at this new gun shop," said one commenter, Robert. "He knows next to nothing about guns so I was surprised when he asked, 'Can you buy an ACR in there?' After explaining they don't sell it to regular people I asked him where the hell he had heard of it ... should've known before asking. He's an avid gamer."

Another funny story is told by Jim:

I wouldn't call it the Call of Duty effect as much as the Halo effect. He came in to a Pawn Shop I was shopping around at and asked for an "Ess Em Gee" (Submachine gun). The owner said that he didn't carry them. He then asked if he had any sniper rifles. The owner showed him a .270 (I believe). As the punk (hat cocked off to the side and his pants at a level where a belt would not allow them to fall) looked down the scope, he asked how to "zoom it" (a common feature of scoped rifles in video games). The owner showed him how to magnify and clarify the image. The punk said that he was just used to the rifle doing that for him.

Finally the owner asked what the kid was looking for to which he replied "I just want to headshot some noobs! Like in Halo!"

The conversation quickly degraded from that moment and ended very shortly.

Source: Firearm Blog [http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/12/08/call-of-duty-effect/]


Permalink

I can't believe that last story...or at the very least, I don't want to.

As a somewhat gun enthusiast(due to my family), I can say that I've heard these complaints before. I've even made these complaints myself because of my friends that I play with. We'll be watching a show or some movie and they'll say "Oh man, that guy is using an M4A1" Or something to that affect. Just because the gun looks similar, does not mean that is an "A1-anything". It kinda gets on my nerves to be honest.

 

[Jared]

I'll just stick to playing a game and wikipediaing the guns featured in them if I want to know more.

Pretty much same here

 

[HTID Raver]

this is just sad

 

[Del-Toro]

These people who think they know about firearms are the type of people who don't realize that when you discard a clip you have to eject the chambered round. You may have heard that a child pretending to be master chief in his back yard died as a result of this. That was the reference I was making. They probably also think iron sights are reliable right off the bat. No I'm not an American gun nut (although just having a rifle or shotgun, you know, a rifle or shot gun and wanting to keep it isn't so bad, hell, firing range shooting is rather enjoyable) I'm a Royal Canadian Air Cadet. They taught me how to shoot a bolt action rifle. Anyway, you gotta love how technical real weapons are, keeps the number of morons (the punk from the second story) who are proffecient with them to a minimum. Also, where the fuck was he going to find those noobs?

 

[Lord George]

Are Gun enthusiasts like Train enthusiasts but slightly more pathetic and slightly more dangerous (trust me those Anorak covered bastards bite.)

I myself only know that Magnums are goddamn awesome, or more correctly Clint Eastwood is goddman awesome, I just want to wield Clint Eastwood around as some sort of weapon actually.

 

[ToxinArrow]

EDIT

Golden test: tell me what to do in a misfire, and I'll pass you as competant.

Unload the clip, put the safety on, keep it pointing away from people and look for someone who knows what they're doing?

EDIT the second - By "unload the clip, I mean eject, not fire randomly."

Wrong. Keep the firearm pointed downrange for at LEAST 30 seconds. After a sufficient time has passed to where it is believed beyond a reasonable doubt the cartridge will not go off, safety on, remove the magazine, and cycle the action to remove the round. Dispose of in a proper manner.

 

[Lunar Shadow]

Well the same people think Desert Eagles are "good weapons".

I laugh.

They are a good weapon.....for bludgeoning someone to death

 

[noogai18]

I'm surprised that even an "avid gamer" (construe that as you wish) would assume that advanced and prototype weaponry would be available to Joe Blow, let alone rifles above .50 caliber.

Thank god for weapons permits.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've got to wonder if the automobile enthusiast crowd gets this problem with gamers running up to them and asking how much they like to "drift".

Golden test: tell me what to do in a misfire, and I'll pass you as competant.

Enable the safety, eject the magazine, pull back the bolt/slide to eject the chambered round, check the barrel. If a live round is trapped in the chamber or barrel and you DO NOT HAVE EXPERIENCE in clearing one, get an expert. That's the firing-range methodology, anyway- always follow the safest route. In a firefight it'd be "hastily jerk back bolt/slide until you get a useable round in the chamber".

"Gun enthusiast" is both an amusing and depressing phrase.

Why? We're the absolute least likely of any firearm owner to accidentally blow your head off while showing you how we "pwned those noobz" in MewTwo yesterday... because we know better than to ever, EVER point a weapon at someone or something we don't intend to fire upon.

RELATED SIDENOTE!

A thought occurs to me, mabye the Yanks on here can help me out:

You're allowed a concealed firearm, aren't you? If I had a poncho on and wore a hip holster that, if I hadn't got the poncho on, would be blatantly visible...does that count as a concealed firearm, or a firearm that happens to have a bit of material hiding it?

Only certain states allow a CCW (carrying concealed weapon) license, and I'm fairly sure that in most if not all states, any clothing that hides the weapon from plain sight places it in the class of "concealed".

 

[tkioz]

Speaking as a gamer and a guy who grew up taking part in shooting competitions not to mention shooting in my spare time I know how sad these "Halo Gun Experts" are. I'd love to see them deal with the recoil on a "sniper rifle"...

Sad thing is these people would have no clue about the rules of gun safety.

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

I have been shooting real guns before i was shooting guns in games... I think that its mostly the people in cities that have this problem. Ive grown up around guns, so whn i see one in a game, i dont really want to shoot it in real life, because i can just go shoot another gun legally

 

[Jumplion]

Hey, I said it as a joke! C'mon, lighten up!

But srsly, tho, I do have an interest in weapons, specifically how they work. While I've never touched one in my life, I've spent enough hours just pretending to go "Pew pew! Ch-ch-BOOM" and whatnot to really want to know how they work.

While the closest I've ever gone to a gun would be in video games, it does fascinate me when using modern/periodic weaponry to see how things worked back then. The mechanics in a bolt-action sniper, loading the bullet in, cocking it, pulling the trigger, then with the gas igniting propelling the bullet, it's all pretty damn cool to me.

That said, I would never use a gun unless I knew how to handle it properly. Just because I've reloaded 700 sniper rifles in video games and in my head does not mean I know how to do it in real life.

EDIT: Well, I have used a paintball gun, though I don't really think that counts. Paintball was hella fun though.

 

[McNinja]

Wow... just wow. That story is rediculous.

 

[Dogstile]

You want to teach these guys about guns? Start off by getting them their own paintball gun and only giving them ammo at a field. Get them to clean it, repair it and eventually use it for a couple of weeks. Most give up.

 

[The_Splatterer]

Thank god i live in england where video game player (alot of them still stupid) can't just go to a shop and look at M16s or something

 

[GrinningManiac]

RELATED SIDENOTE!

A thought occurs to me, mabye the Yanks on here can help me out:

You're allowed a concealed firearm, aren't you? If I had a poncho on and wore a hip holster that, if I hadn't got the poncho on, would be blatantly visible...does that count as a concealed firearm, or a firearm that happens to have a bit of material hiding it?

Only certain states allow a CCW (carrying concealed weapon) license, and I'm fairly sure that in most if not all states, any clothing that hides the weapon from plain sight places it in the class of "concealed".

Hot damn!

Oklahoma, here I come!

 

[matrix3509]

Yeah I fucking hate people who think they know guns just because they play videogames. That is, I hate them until they demonstrate their lack of knowledge by blowing off their own heads, then I can be grateful to them by removing themselves from the gene pool.

Besides, anyone who goes into a gun shop and asks for something as vague as "a sniper rifle" shouldn't worry anyone too much. They wouldn't be able to hit anything further away than 50 meters anyway because they think that bullets all travel in completely straight lines, to say nothing of breath control.

 

[Aenir]

Can't believe it's still legal in America to carry guns... Fucking wild west. Well yeah the world is kinda retarded and this doesn't suprise me a bit. Hopefully all the gamers WILL buy a gun and then just annihilate each other. Many less humanbeings to worry about

Second amendment...right to bear arms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States