In an Emergency situation where all you have is a gun to protect yourself... would you know how to use it? Consider the following...
1. Would you know if the safety is on or off?
2. Would you be able to load it?
3. Would you know how to hold it?
4. Would the type of gun matter (pump, rifle, pistol, etc)?
Well, I think each weapon is different. I have fired an M-16, so firing in and of itself is not a problem. If I had a weapon and had never seen this type before and it was now an emergency, the nerves that comes with the situation would make it doubly difficult to be successful. Hopefully, I would have a chance to familiarize myself with the weapon before the situation became dire.
International Level: Diplomat / Political Participation: 320 32%
I have shot several different types of guns in my life, including M-16s, pistols, shotguns, and rifles.
1. Safety: It would depend on the gun. Most bolt action rifles and shotguns would be pretty easy to find the safety. Various semi-automatic or automatic weapons might be a bit more difficult. Revolvers rarely have safeties. Automatic pistols usually have an action similar to a rifle. I don't know anything about a lever-action rifle.
2. Loading: Probably. Loading for most guns is pretty straightforward. The hardest thing might be finding how to open the magazine.
3. Holding it: No problem. Unless it is an RPG or other exotic weapon.
4. Type of gun: The main thing that I would find difficult might be finding the safety.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 854 85.4%
I have never shot a gun, so I can't say that I would know how to use one, other than pulling the trigger. I've seen enough movies where guns have been used so I may be able to figure it out, but in a situation where one has to be used in an emergency, who knows?
International Level: Envoy / Political Participation: 241 24.1%
I've handled and shot a few guns, but never really had enough training for my satisfaction -- it's a goal of mine to have some type of gun training and purchase one sometime this year (as I'm sure I've mentioned before).
1. Would you know if the safety is on or off? Maybe. Some that I have seen are obvious, with red or yellow markings; some are hard to find.
2. Would you be able to load it? Maybe again, depends on the gun, and in an emergency, I'd probably be shaking too hard to do it.
3. Would you know how to hold it? Probably.
4. Would the type of gun matter (pump, rifle, pistol, etc)? Yes. Big heavy guns are a little unwieldy, whether it's a handgun or a rifle or shotgun doesn't really matter. My hands are kind of small, so big guns are hard for me to handle.
International Level: Ambassador / Political Participation: 595 59.5%
I have shot many guns. From fully auto's to semi. I own a shot gun 3 hand guns one bolt action rifle and one m14. I learned how to use many of these guns in LEO training. I think that people who even own then should learn to use them. And if you think you may need to use one for self defense make sure you see what your planing on shooting so you don't end up shooting a family member. Make sure you know the laws in your state on home defense. Some states say you have to be in grave danger to shoot some one in your home some states say you able to shoot a trespasser in your home with out knowing if your life is in danger. But make sure you know your laws before using deadly force.
Well, I probably wouldn't know how everything worked right off the bat, but I would figure it out. The gun that I have shot that packed the most punch was a .22 calaber rifle. I can only imagine that nearly all guns in general follow certian rules. The safty button or latch has to be somewhere, how hard can it be? Loading is usually trickier as it usually requires some knowledge about the gun to know where the realese for the clip is, but I believe I could figure this out too, but maybe not quickly for non-rifle type guns. As far as holding a pistol, I've seen it enough on TV to have the basics- Rifles I know. I could fire a pump action or a semi-automatic without trouble.
-Unferth
I'm a former Paratrooper and combat medic, and as such have been exposed to a wide and varied range of weapons. In addition, my father was a Green Beret in Vietnam, and I grew up with ordnance of all kinds in our home. I can say with relative security that I can use most any individual to squad level weapon made.
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