How do you feel about people asking about the gun you are carrying? I ask because I was talking to a sheriff just the other day. He was here at work asking questions about something. When we were done talking I asked him a few questions about his Glock and how he liked it. I told him I was looking into getting one. He seemed a little uneasy talking about it. I wasn't gonna ask him if I could hold it or anything, but he seemed to be uncomfortable about it all. How do you all react when some one asks about yours? P.S. I find it interesting that when I type Glock the spell check thinks its not a word and has the squiggly red line under it.
Most of the time it doesnt bother me to talk to civilians about what i carry. When it does it's from some banger or scrote. I feel like they're asking for all the wrong reasons, kinda like they're sizing me up. But for a standup guy,or girl, i dont mind talking about my duty weapon.
Never thought about that. Interesting. I should ask some buddies this question. Only time my will ever piece come out of concealment in public is when I need to use it. This has (thank God) never happened. I consider myself lucky.
Seems kinda crazy to me. I am an LEO in North Carolina and we carry HK USP. I probly ask asked about it once a day. I like it but I rather talk about a glock.
Civilian wise, I have no problem talking about what I carry. But where I work (county jail) if an inmate asks me, I always respond "what kind of gun brought you in here?" they usually shut up after that. I never talk to them about my carry or my firearms. They have to find out the hard way.
On the rare occasion I'm wearing a weapon on duty (Correction Officer), if someone asks me about my gun, the hairs on my arm start to stand up. First of all, if someone other than staff is asking me about my gun that means they've been eyeballing my weapon. Secondly, if they're not staff, it means they're somehow connected to an inmate, or a media type. For some reason, movie-makers and news people just love East Jersey State Prison (fr. named Rahway). I've even had occasion on duty at a hospital where someone, not in hospital attire has asked me about my gun. I've found myself unconsciously turning my gunside away from that person. And no, I don't talk about the gun. I just tell them we're not allowed to talk about it. I also go into that very rude habit that most LEO's develop, especially C/O's. I start looking around as I'm talking to them. We very seldom look each other in the eye while we're talking. Irritates the hell out of the rookies until they realize or one of us tells them about it. Watch a couple of cops on a walking beat sometime. It's a survival skill a lot of us develop naturally. So usually it's a very short conversation with whoever's asking. Off duty, a stranger isn't going to know I have a gun. In 24 years, I've never asked a street cop about theirs, either. I always considered it bad manners. Of course, at a gunshop or on a public range, I'll talk about my weapons.
Having two gun ranges in our city, I never had a problem answering questions from good folks. Of course, if they were gang bangers, I'd just ignore them.
I can agree with kmurray. Most people think police and gun in the same sentence. But when they ask about my gun doesnt mean there going to get you. Some people don't know much about firearms and just are curious. But I do agree about not letting your guard down. I really like the USP but imglad I didn't have to pay for. The are priced high and are in general a big gun. But they are as accurate as they come. I've shot over 5000 round through it and never had a problem.
My guess is that this is happening only because you live in California. Might be the same in IL and some of the other less gun-friendly states, as it's not "normal" for people to talk about guns like it is in the semi-free (I don't think anywhere is truly free anymore) states.
I do live in CA, but in a very rural part of it(yes they do exist here). That said, everyone I know has one or more guns. I'm not old enough to know what it was like several years ago, but to me it seems rather easy to get a gun here. You just need to prove you are sane enough to control one. It takes more time but that's fine with me, I'll get several more than I probably need by the time my life is over. I dunno. I guess I'm saying I think no one around here is that afraid of guns, I don't think it has anything to do with living in CA.
I agree with sgtglock. I don't mind giving advice to decent ppl when they ask about my glock. I like to actually encourage them to get one and usually ask them what other guns they are thinking about getting. I never tell them what to buy but always recommend Glock. Like sgtglock said, i never give bangers, thugs, paroles any info about what I carry, why I carry it, what the mag caps are at or especially about my holster (obviously).
I work for a school district police department so I get asked by curious kids all the time. It doesn't bother me to much depending on which kid it is. Its a small district so I know most all of them by name. I did get thrown for a loop by a fifth grade girl a few months ago. I noticed her looking at my holster when she looked up and asked " what model Glock is that". First of all, not many girls that age can recognize a Glock in a holster and they don't usually ask in that manner. When I said 17 she said mine is a 19. Long story short she is a very accomplished IDPA shooter and competes almost every weekend with her father. I also found out a few weeks later she was featured on the cover of a pretty major gun magazine. Needless to say we hit it off pretty quick. It's nice to know I have backup if I need it......lol
The prices on HKs are what made me look at the Glocks and learn more about them. Granted at this point I will buy mostly Glocks, I will someday own my Mark 23. http://www.hk-usa.com/civilian_products/mark23_general.asp
As far as accuracy and durability, the H&K and the Glock are the two best semi-autos in the world. But the price, weight, sharp edges and parts availability on the H&K make it second place in my thoughts. Plus, I need a OEM replacement part or want to do any custom work on my Glocks? It's done as fast as the mailman can make it to my door.
It really depends on who is asking and how they are asking. For me, my initial thought is why are you asking me. Is there an angle? Do I need to be alert? Etc
generally, most of the conversations that get around to guns seem to float the notion that the person asking is a gun enthuiast. it just depends on each person and the perspective of the moment. you can sort of get a feel of where the conversation and motives are going. you can either be comfortable with it or short with it.......just depends. 2nd.....a lot of officers unfortunately are not gun enthuiasts and i have known a few who would not want to get into a discussion about firearms as they do not want to show their iggnorance. Its nothing more than a tool that gets qualified with once a year.
Same here, depends on the person and the way the ask. We carry the S&W M&P .40 now, and I actually get quite a few questions from gun enthusiasts asking how we like it and why we switched from the G22 to the m&p. I also frequent the local gunshop on my lunch breaks and get a lot of questions on there.
