The Intelligent Gun Owner Quote Thread

[PhillyCheese]

The Intelligent Gun Owner Quote Thread

This thread is for posting quotes regarding firearms.
This thread is a great place to highlight quality information stated from members of this forum.
It can be, however, a quote from anyone, anywhere, not just this social media platform.

- Criteria for Posting in this Thread:
1. Must be legally correct information regarding firearms.

2. Educational

3. Informative

4. Credit must be given to the author of the quote.

5. For any Author Unknown, state Author Unknown as author.

6. Must be as brief as possible, no walls of text.

7. Cannot quote yourself.

9. All quotes need to be in Quote Tags.

10. Do not double post, edit in more quotes to your post.
* Exception: 60 day rule: 60 days goes by, and you wish to post a quote in a new post, feel free to do so.
Otherwise, edit your own previous post.
_________________________________________________________________

Quotes:

The man who pays for quality only has to cry once. Buy a good gun and feed it quality ammo. You won't regret it.
GW

When I think of quality, You do get what you pay for.

We're talking about a machine which is manufactured to produce a certain result when properly operated.

Reliability is the single most important criteria of a defensive arm. That is why it is first on the list. A gun that doesn't go bang when it needs to is useless and can get you killed. "Click" is the loudest sound you don't want to hear when the SHTF.

Generally speaking, I suggest that just about any rifle or pistol you might buy, if it has been made by a reputable manufacturer (e.g., not Taurus), will function completely reliably when it is fed appropriate ammunition from properly functioning magazines.

 

[FITASC]

"The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory.” - Aldo Gucci

(Applies to just about everything today)

 

[vito]

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have one, its likely that you will never need one again." Author unknown.

 

[2ndsojourn]

"It ain't gun control we need; it's sin control."

~Si Robertson

 

[pax]

Quotes!

It's only 'an arm's length gun' if you're incompetent. – Claude Werner

Lots of people who choose a first-time firearm will find their preferences will change over time as they train and learn new things. That's not a bad thing at all. I've had many students bring "good" guns to classes that they chose well only to decide they weren't what they thought they wanted by the end of class. It happens all the time and it's okay. – Melody Lauer

The pistol is a means of stopping a fight that somebody else starts. It's a means of turning somebody off who's trying to kill you. In practically every case in which you will have to use a pistol for serious work, it will be because somebody is trying to kill you; and if he's trying to kill you, it is to your advantage to make him stop. – Jeff Cooper

Almost every gun-control proposal amounts to the following: “We respect your rights, and we totally don't want to take them away. We promise not to, if you'll just 'be reasonable' and give them up.” – Alan Scheer

…there is no appreciable difference in the effectiveness of the 9 mm and the .45 ACP cartridges. – Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques, 2nd edition, p150

RANT: A very proud B Class shooter decided to critique my shooting technique based on snippets of pulled together shots shown in a commercial by giving me advice on how to shoot "light" 3.5 triggers and how to let the shot surprise me. Never mind I am shooting a pocket pistol with an 8#+ trigger and all my shots were piled up in the center. I tried to explain how I don't care for that "surprise" technique, because I want to control every aspect of the shot in speed shooting. It's a concept that works great for a lot of people and gives them something to focus on in order to produce the results they are looking for on the target. It can be very useful in precision based sports but for run-n-gun or more practical applications, it’s all about controlling the shot in the moment and following it up with another or a fast transition to a new target. I don't know if it’s because I am a woman, or what, but he wasn't happy with my thoughts on the subject and pointed out his B class status again. But, hey... what do I know? – Julie Golob

Bearthread: Interminable discussion threads on internet gun fora devoted to rationalizing purchase of exotic firearms solutions to fantastically unlikely problems. The Taurus Judge is the concrete, physical world manifestation of too much bearthread. – Tamara Keel

As I go through this process of learning the AR and telling my story to my knowledgeable friends many of them are expressing how embarrassing this must be for me. On the contrary, I am not embarrassed by my ignorance. Nor do I believe this threatens my credibility as a handgun instructor or shooter. I am learning a new skill of which I am completely ignorant. There is no shame or embarrassment in that. I'm actually really excited and proud that I am in a position to start at a very beginner level and work myself up on a brand new skill. Where pride starts messing with you is when the pressure of other people starts to get to you.

"Well, you were a cop, you should know the law."
"You were in the military so you should be an expert in handguns."
"You're a xyz so you should know abc."​

Right now, I'm getting, "You're an instructor so you should know rifles."
Why? Because every pistol class I took somehow snuck subliminal rifle information into it? There is NO shame ... NO SHAME!!!... in admitting you don't know something, even if people assume you "should" know it. The shame comes from trying to pretend you do and deceiving yourself and others. – Melody Lauer

Someone is going to read this and think, “I have a right to go anywhere I want. Just because something is dangerous doesn’t take away my rights.” Let’s get this over with now. Defending yourself is not and never has been about rights—rights are those things that the civilized members of society agree everyone “deserves". When you hit the ground and taste blood in your mouth, when a steel-toed boot slams your head into a curb, when a knife slips under the waistband of your skirt and a hand is wrapped around your throat, the civilized agreement on how people should be treated is not an issue. – Rory Miller

Be yourself when teaching. Don't get up there and try to be Massad Ayoob or John Farnam or Chuck Taylor or Jeff Cooper. They've already done that. Just be yourself. You're better at being yourself than you are at being those other guys. – Marty Hayes

It’s impossible to eliminate the risk of handling firearms. We don’t eliminate risk for the students. We manage it. That’s our job as instructors. – John Farnam

This title of instructor we look on as kind of a plateau, and we stop learning. But as Einstein said, the universe cannot possibly stand still. If we’re not growing, we’re falling back and becoming less valuable to our students. We have to stay thirsty. All that achieving the plateau can do is help you see over the edge to the next mountain we need to climb. – John Farnam

The problem with head shots is that heads have skulls. Some thicker than others. – John Farnam

Don’t indulge your curiosity in times of danger. Here’s the kind of witness I want to be: “I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I was somewhere else.” – John Farnam

The right to possess firearms for protection implies a corresponding right to acquire and maintain proficiency in their use; the core right wouldn't mean much without the training and practice that make it effective. -- Ezell v. City of Chicago. 7th Circuit, United States Court of Appeals in July 2011. (Opinion written by Judge Diane S. Sykes)

Knowing how the drill is explained and performed isn’t the same as understanding the drill, the how’s and why’s, the potential pitfalls, the telltale indicators that something is about to go wrong. – Todd Louis Green

The only shooting metrics that matter are accuracy and speed. The standard is: You need to shoot faster and/or more accurately than you did yesterday. Tomorrow, you need to shoot faster and/or more accurately than you do today. – John Mosby

A real-life attack is not the same thing as training for such an event. Training prepares you for something and by definition cannot be the identical to the real thing. I though that was obvious, but apparently, it isn’t. Especially in the fighting arts, people seem to miss this point. Not so in other sports though. When was the last time you heard somebody claim line drills in football are useless because nobody plays football in a line like that? – Wim DeMeere

I am opposed to mandatory training of any kind. It's just something else for the government to screw up and tax people for. However, if you use your gun improperly because you didn't get professional training, you don't want me sitting on your jury. – Jim Wilson

...when comparing themselves to others, people with low competence tend to think they are as good as everyone else, whereas people with high competence tend to think they are as bad as everyone else (the Dunning–Kruger effect). In addition, when presented with expert advice, people tend to insist on their own opinion, even though they would have benefitted from following the advisor’s recommendation (egocentric advice discounting). These findings and similar findings suggest that individual differences in competence may not feature saliently in social interaction. – Ali Mahmoodi et al in "Equality Bias Impairs Collective Decision-Making Across Cultures"

If we're attacked by someone on the street, we don't simply shoot everybody on the street. We use defensive force judiciously, only against the person who is the aggressor attacking us, even under the threat of life threatening attack. We focus our use of force on the person who is attacking us. We don't wildly shoot everyone on the street. In the same way, we can talk to police judiciously, using informed judgment even in the aftermath of a life threatening attack. – Andrew Branca

If you get an “I-should-leave” feeling, then leave! Too many people tell themselves they’re imagining a threat. While possible, what’s the harm in leaving? Never doubt yourself! Of all the people in the world to trust, you should be first on your list. – Dave Spaulding

One of the hardest things I do as a firearms and self defense trainer is convincing people that their lives are worth defending. Many students come to my classes with an attitude that displays an extreme lack of self worth. It’s hard for me to comprehend, but many people do not believe that their lives are worth more than the life of the criminal who attacks them. – Greg Ellifritz

If you don't have your own pistol, you may have to wait the rest of your life for the police to bring theirs. – Tamara Keel

Every gun owner believes that his or her gun handling is safe, regardless of how good or bad that gun handling is. This is an example of illusory superiority, a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. It’s also known as the Lake Wobegon effect, because none of us believe we are below average. – Karl Rehn

 

[Erno86]

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side kid."

Han Solo, Star Wars Episode Vl


"The rifle has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they certainly can be corrected by good men with rifles."

Jeff Cooper

 

[jimpeel]

DELETED (Cannot quote yourself)

 

[maggys drawers]

"There is no gun smithing problem that cannot be made worse with a Dremmel."

Wyle E. Coyote School of Gun Smithing

 

[JohnKSa]

Here are a few.

Because you are/were a civilian, a cop or in the military or even a member of the NRA doesn’t make you a weapons firearm instructor, teacher (or you pick the word) any more than my wife’s piano in our living room makes me a concert pianist.

The holster question shouldn’t be required. If you are smart enough to carry a gun, you should be smart enough to put it in a proper holster.

Speed kills. It kills imbecilic drivers (and other innocents), and it kills gunfighters who don’t control their emotions. A gun battle is not won by blinding speed. Alacrity is often a deciding factor, but there is a vast difference between being quick and being fast.
...
If you exceed your gunfighting mechanical speed , you will blow a hole in yourself, a non-hostile bystander, or—at best—you’ll miss your intended target. None of these three will win a gunfight, and could, in fact, lead to a lot worse than second place.

It’s a big misconception (that dryfiring is only for beginners).
...
I’ve been shooting competetively for 20 years...and I still dryfire a minimum of 30 minutes a day for 5 to 6 days a week.

The idea that you are going to have the opportunity to go and find your gun when residential robbers have already kicked your door down is silly.
...
I can recall numerous cases where an officer has been murdered or assaulted in his own home, while the sidearm he should have been wearing remained just out of reach.

If you screw up with your finger on the trigger when it should be positioned elsewhere, the weapon will fire, irrespective of the trigger pull weight.

The fact of the matter is simply that a bullet with enough penetration placed in the right spot does the job. If misplaced, the caliber doesn’t matter, it simply won’t do it.

Becoming a good shot requires disciplined practice over a long period of time. But just as many schools accommodate students by lowering standards ... many new shooters have adopted the “good enough” approach. It’s common to see shooters barely keep their shots on a silhouette target at 5 yards and then call it good enough.

The notion that one can make machinery safe or unsafe by mechanical ingenuity is increasingly depressing. As we insist here at the school, safety does not lie in gadgetry, but rather in the mind of the user. One cannot make a “safe” gun. One can certainly make a “safe” shooter. But the unenlightened refuse to recognize this, and go right on trying to regulate the construction of machinery about which they know nothing. Apparently it is an elemental characteristic of the Age of the Common Man to attempt to save the stupid from themselves. Obviously this cannot be done, either by education or by legislation. Personally, we do not even think it should be done, as we rather tend to the doctrine of the survival of the fittest. The fact that it cannot be done, however, will not deter the do-gooders. The urge to “do something”, even if it makes no sense, seems unavoidable in a certain kind of nitwit.