What did this man need that he didn't have?

[pErvinalia]

+1

[tattuchu]

An umbrella. Everyone should carry an umbrella because you just never know when the sky may open up, and you don't want to get all wet.

Oh. Are we past this now? Sorry.

[Bella Fortuna]

An umbrella. Everyone should carry an umbrella because you just never know when the sky may open up, and you don't want to get all wet.

Oh. Are we past this now? Sorry.

Just make sure you have a 15-year-old train you on proper operation... you could put an eye out!

[Seth]

Boasting about firearms expertise and marksmanship is like bragging that you can ride and take care of motorcycles well. Any idiot can learn that, and so what?

Really? So how come "any idiot" doesn't randomly win the Gold Medal for marksmanship at the Olympics? Why is it that to be a Scout/Sniper for the Marine Corps takes years of diligent practice and the ability to pass one of the toughest tests that the military administers? How come every year there's a long-range rifle competition at Camp Perry where the best marksmen in the US compete?

More importantly, why is it that the overwhelming majority of people who injure or kill themselves or others with firearms just happen to fall into that "any idiot" category while those who are proficient in handling firearms rarely do so?

Right now you two are insisting that you're more competent than a nine-year old girl. Congratulations.

It's the other 99.9 percent of shooters that I'm more competent than, and that's what counts.

I'm a good shot too, with the service medal to prove it.

How good?

Do you know where that medal is located on one's chest by the other medals? At the lower right, meaning it's the least valuable thing that can be awarded. Simply enlisting in the last twelve years earns a higher medal than marksmanship.

That's because the standards for basic military marksmanship are very loose indeed. The vast majority of soldiers who pass basic marksmanship couldn't begin to compete with your average regular big-game hunter. I don't know what it is at the moment, but as I recall, the ordinary soldier fires less than 200 rounds PER YEAR to remain qualified. I shoot that many rounds in one session at the range with some regularity. I've had to cut back because of the expense of ammunition lately, but for many years I shot in excess of 10,000 rounds per year.

So your service medal means that you are more qualified than a 9 year old, but not much more qualified.

I wouldn't call a military service medal an indication of anything more than the most basic of safety and marksmanship training.

Am I bragging? Nope, just stating the truth.

[Cormac]

I once shot a cockroach from probably 2 or 3 kms away. I had to account for the curvature of the Earth and upscale my calculations from Newtonian to Relativity.

[Ian]

Seth, predictably as ever you completely missed the point. Was I talking about world-class skills, enough to win an Olympic medal? No, I was just talking about a normal level of proficiency. You're probably enough of an expert to come up with some numbers as to what that means to you; other organizations (such as the military) have their own standards. But yes: any idiot can reach that level, and surely you realize that plenty of idiots do. Marksmanship is not restricted to the intelligent. Just as any idiot can progress from chewing gum to blowing a bubble with some practice and patience, any idiot can progress from firing a gun to learning to shoot proficiently. But it's still not much to brag about, end neither is progressing beyond that level. I have no doubt that there is a world champion bubble-blower out there, someone who can blow a bubble far better than I can. And so what?

[piscator]

I once shot a cockroach from probably 2 or 3 kms away. I had to account for the curvature of the Earth and upscale my calculations from Newtonian to Relativity.

No mention of the Coriolus, Poisson, Etovos, Magnus Effects; gyroscopic drift, or air density; arcane wildcat calibers, esoteric bullet loads? This is obviously a fabrication. Only Seth could hit that roach.

[Kristie]

A bunch of 9 year olds shooting rifles, with instructions from a 15 year old...

They may have been 16. There were adults present. And, the rifles were trapped in wooden box like things and chained in place. They could only move a few inches in any direction.

[pErvinalia]

I once shot a cockroach from probably 2 or 3 kms away. I had to account for the curvature of the Earth and upscale my calculations from Newtonian to Relativity.

No mention of the Coriolus, Poisson, Etovos, Magnus Effects; gyroscopic drift, or air density; arcane wildcat calibers, esoteric bullet loads? This is obviously a fabrication. Only Seth could hit that roach.

All that other stuff... I just felt the vibe, man. I've shot literally 180,467,326 bullets in the last year, so this stuff just comes naturally to me.

[Collector1337]

I bet they were BB or pellet guns and not actual firearms.

[pErvinalia]

They were too!

[mistermack]

People are making the point that shooting is just like any other sport.

No it's not. Shooting is unique, because it makes pathetic wankers feel powerful. It messes with small minds.
I've often noticed that it's the least intelligent, who love guns the most. If you plotted stupidity with love of guns, you would find that the graphs matched perfectly.

I've seen the glazed look that comes over a moron's eyes, when they pick up a gun. And you get the same picture, through the words posted on gun threads.

It's not just another sport, it's for wankers.

[Kristie]

I bet they were BB or pellet guns and not actual firearms.

I hoped they were when I heard we'd be shooting. But, they were .22's.

[pErvinalia]

Oh, I thought he was talking to me...

[Kristie]

Oh, I thought he was talking to me...

He may have been.