What's wrong with this picture?

Submitted by R. Neal on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 3:04pm

Click the image to see the full photo and find out who needs a gun safety refresher course.

His finger is on the

Submitted by Cletus on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 5:02pm.

His finger is on the trigger.

That's a big no-no, unless he's intending to fire it.

Safety band

Submitted by Joe328 on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 6:42pm.

The rifle also has a red safety band, which disables the gun from loading ammo and firing.

The rule against putting

Submitted by metulj on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 7:14pm.

The rule against putting your finger on the trigger applies whether or not the weapon has a barrel filled with cement. I imagine Frednecks will use some sort "safety band" argument to keep behind a pro-gun candidate who is obviously incompetent with a weapon.

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Trigger finger

Submitted by Joe328 on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 9:42pm.

I retired from the Army and competed at the rifle matches for years. I'm not aware of any military manual or regulation restricts you from, "putting you finger on the trigger unless you intend to fire." In fact, dry firing the weapon is part of training.

The safety rule is, don't put your finger on the trigger while removing it from the holster, you may shoot yourself. Some law enforcement agencies teach their officers not to put the finger on the trigger while the weapon is pointed at someone, unless you intend to shoot.

He has the weapon pointed in a safe direction and he may have checked the chamber when he first picked it up. I don't believe the pictures show any unsafe handling.

I have been to several of the local gun shows and seen unsafe acts at most, including a displayed gun that was loaded. I will agree that this area has some folks with guns that scare me. I have left the range more than once because of unsafe people who refuse to follow simple safety rules.

Years ago two brothers loaded up their truck and left for a hunting trip. They also loaded their shotguns before leaving home. One shotgun discharged through the floor bounced off the road and hit the radiator.

I own guns and have a carry permit, but I have only carried it about three days in the past year. I just don't see the need to carry one every where like some people do. Whenever the news reports a murder or violent act in an area I need to be in, I sometimes go armed.

OK, then.

Submitted by R. Neal on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 9:49pm.

OK, then.

"I imagine Frednecks will

Submitted by Fredneck (not verified) on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 2:47pm.

"I imagine Frednecks will use some sort "safety band" argument to keep behind a pro-gun candidate who is obviously incompetent with a weapon."

Are you 100% sure that Fred didnt check to see if the shotgun was loaded before putting his finger on the trigger? The media, not surprisingly, kinda failed to mention whether he did or not and I dont believe they would have mentioned it if he had checked it.

He was obviously pointing it in a safe direction while checking it out so he obviously does know about safe firearms handling.

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who didn't"

He was obviously pointing it

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 2:52pm.

He was obviously pointing it in a safe direction while checking it out

How is that obvious from that photo?

Safety band

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 7:23pm.

The band only prevents the shotgun from being opened, not fired. The user has no idea if it's loaded. Rule 1 of gun handling applies: Treat all firearms as if they are loaded.

Rule 1 of gun handling

Submitted by smalc on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 1:35pm.

Rule 1 of gun handling applies: Treat all firearms as if they are loaded.

...until you have personally verified that it is not loaded. Otherwise how could you disassemble, clean, or store it.

good catch

Submitted by Defiant Lobster on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 9:14pm.

any carry permit class teaches to keep the finger off the trigger-NO MATTER WHAT-unless you're ready to shoot something.

Redflex Shooting

Submitted by Joe328 on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 11:22pm.

Someone has shot a Redflex camera with a hunting rifle. I have read several comments at Knoxviews that have shown a strong dislike for these redlight cameras. I'm sure some would quietly support the idiot who shot it, but openly judge everyone who owns a firearm as being the same as this reckless moron.

He's an idiot and Fred

Submitted by metulj on Sun, 2007/11/25 - 11:39pm.

He's an idiot and Fred Thompson needs to take a gun safety course.

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Gun Safety

Submitted by Joe328 on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 7:54am.

The Knoxville Police Department inspects firearms and safeties them the same way. The firearms are handled many times the same way Fred Thompson has done in the picture. The Knoxville Police Academy also requires students to dry fire a weapon in the classroom.

Now provide any reliable agency, gun safety course, or document, which states, "never put your finger on the trigger unless you are ready to fire."
Otherwise your doing nothing more than a witch hunt.

See there you again...

Submitted by Carole Borges on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 12:05pm.

Making presumptions and linking two totally different things together in order to try to shift people away from the real point has been utterly exposed now as one of the Republican Parties biggest scams.

I'm not all that warm and fuzzy about the Redflex cameras, and I have posted my concerns about them here, but I resent the fact that you are erroneously trying to put me in a camp that would applaud anyone for shooting them.

I can understand the underlying fears this person might have felt about so much loss of privacy these days, but I certainly don't commend anyone for shooting anything (other than legal prey they are going to eat), even a mechanical device. To me this incident just showed how absurd and hilarious the relationship between ordinary people and our government has become.

Link...

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 8:05am.

http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp

Dry firing

Submitted by Joe328 on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 9:00am.

The pictures in your NRA link were taken on a gun range, where firing a weapon is permitted. Fred Thompson was not on a firing range.

I'm unable to copy links for some reason, but search "dry firing" on the NRA website and you will find several rules where it is permitted. One search return will be the range rules for Camp Perry. Camp Perry is national matches where military, law enforcement, and other compete annually.

Some triggers are adjustable, and pulling the trigger without the intent to fire is needed for adjustment. trigger adjustment are usually made indoors in shop.

Fred was handling an unloaded weapon, pointed in a safe direction, and safety to prevent firing.

I think it would be

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 9:03am.

I think it would be incredibly rude to dry fire someone else's gun at a gun show. Not to mention dangerous and stupid. Is that your argument?

Subjet is Safety

Submitted by Joe328 on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 9:51am.

The remarks are about safety, not abusing someones gun. You are correct, it would be rude to dry fire someones gun without permission.

Firearm safety is something many people in this area don't want to discuss on the range. Correcting someone at the range is a problem since most are self educated experts. I believe shooting accidents during hunting season could be reduced by improving hunter education. By the way, I don't hunt.

I don't plan to vote for Thompson and realize that politicians always get a picture with a firearm just for the vote, which is what Fred did. Furthermore, I don't have a problem with regulating gun shows or reasonable gun laws.

Well, it's good to know that

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 10:06am.

Well, it's good to know that you are are a reasonable and responsible gun owner and shooter. There should be more of them.

I think in TN we have mandatory hunter education before issuing a license, albeit with many exceptions, so that's a good thing. I don't know whether it's any good (I haven't hunted in 30 years, and I think I would be exempted anyway) but at least it's required. We should also require safety training by a certified instructor before any firearm purchase because many (most?) people purchase them for reasons other than hunting.

Back to the topic, as you note this is a political photo op. But this photo shows that Thompson instinctively puts his finger on the trigger instead of outside the trigger guard because to him the gun is just a prop and the gun show is just a stage, which a) reveals that he is not a true sportsman or gun enthusiast but rather a poser and a panderer, and b) sets a bad example regarding gun safety when he should be promoting gun safety along with responsible ownership.

So in that regard, I believe it's a perfectly legitimate political observation. Besides, Thompson is the one politicizing guns by posing for the photo and calling the gun show a "day in paradise". He should be more careful.

Hacker

Submitted by gba (not verified) on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 9:30am.

The only reason this picture was posted is to make Fred look bad. If had been taken without the finger on the trigger we would not have ever seen this "shot" on here.

If this is what it comes down to, the Republicans will run away with the elections.

If Hillary Clinton picked up

Submitted by metulj on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 9:39am.

If Hillary Clinton picked up a shotgun, there would be in-depth analysis of her posture and lengthy posts about how she wished it were a dildo to use on her lesbian lover. And yes, you are right. It was posted here to make him look bad.

"If this is what it comes down to, the Republicans will run away with the elections."

I will admit that avoiding issues and playing dirty politics is the only reason GOOOPERs get elected. As for running away with the elections, I guess it will be armed robbery?

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

They say one picture is worth a thousand words

Submitted by Carole Borges on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 11:53am.

It was reality. He should have known better. I think showing him at a gun show and calling it "a paradise" is what made him look bad. Pandering obviously. The "paradise" sound byte was a bit Hollywood-ish, don't you think?

Wouldn't a better picture of "paradise" have been a visit to a center that was rehabilitating the troops, to show the wonder of the work being done there and the miracles being performed?

Fred's attempt to look like a good old boy, instead of a rich Hollywood star, is what is causing his numbers to be so low. The American people are sick to death of swaggering braggards touting their manhood while fleecing the working class. We are not a nation of scared little wimps who need someone to ride in on a horse at sundown. We are a strong nation who lacks competent leadership. We need clear thinkers who can mend all the damage done by the present adminsitration, here at home and globally.

Seeing the next Democratic president sworn in? Now that's going to be "paradise" for the 77% who think this nation is headed in a wrong direction. I guess Freud would suggest that maybe the photo shows Fred to be not only a little trigger happy, but also sloppy, and uninformed?

To those who think this guy has a chance of being the next Republican candidate I commiserate with the disappointment you will feel. None of the Republicans seem to have much going for them, but clearly Fred Thompson is unable to keep up. His campaign never did really get any momentum. It's just running on hope now.

Are you 100% sure that Fred

Submitted by Andy Axel on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 2:49pm.

Are you 100% sure that Fred didnt check to see if the shotgun was loaded before putting his finger on the trigger?

Wouldn't that break the "safety band?" Boy, they can't get the talking points straight on this one.

____________________________

"Respect mah authoritah!" - Fred Cartman Thompson

He was obviously pointing it

Submitted by redmondkr on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 2:54pm.

He was obviously pointing it in a safe direction while checking it out so he obviously does know about safe firearms handling.

How do you figure that from this picture?

Obviously somebody is looking at this through Fred colored glasses.

Visit us at

Wearybottom Associates

I am not a Fred Fan, either

Submitted by Pam Strickland on Mon, 2007/11/26 - 4:35pm.

I am not a Fred Fan, neither politically nor artistically. However, if you look at other pictures taken at the gun show, it does appear that he is apparently pointing the firearm toward a table. The angle isn't the best. The photographer was apparently standing directly in front of him for that shot.

None of it would explain the red band issue.

Nor would it explain why Southern men have this thing about being outdoorsy meaning they like to play with firearms.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

my dos centavos

Submitted by cafkia on Tue, 2007/11/27 - 10:43am.

Dry firing is firing. The idea as I understand it, is to treat every weapon as though it were loaded. If you are going to pull the trigger, you have the firearm oriented as though it were going to eject a bullet. This is especially true if I am nearby. When I have taught others to shoot, including my baby sister, I tell them that "there is no such thing as an accident. If the gun is pointed at me, I'll assume that you are trying to shoot me and I'll do my best to get you first. I'll explain it to your mother later".

My paranoia says that if I can't check the weapon to verify it's status, then putting my finger on the trigger is definitely out. Hell, handling the weapon at all is pretty much out if I can't check it. And no, I do not care who hands me the weapon or what they swear to. If I am alone in my home and I put a weapon down and go do something else for ten minutes, when next I pick up the weapon, ten minutes or ten days or ten weeks later, I check it to verify it's status.

So, the pictures depict Fraud Thompson in such a manner that I am not inclined to trust him. He is clearly handling a firearm that he has not been able to check. In a similar situation, I might pick it up and inspect the engraving and feel the weight but, no simulated firing positions. Any politician, or anyone for that matter, who is trying to impress me with their firearms attitude, has got to do better than he did.

The rest of you may be easier than I am.

CAFKIA

-----------------------------------------------------------

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.
- William G. McAdoo

Oh, Sweet Jeebus

Submitted by Speakertweaker (not verified) on Tue, 2007/11/27 - 12:47am.

Wow, these arguments go on for days.

Here's what we KNOW. Senator Fred Thompson, gun rights advocate and presidential candidate, is looking down the sights of some sort of rifle/shotgun. PERIOD. Full stop.

We DON'T KNOW if he's pointing it in a safe direction, whether he's checked it for load, if it's an illegal sawed-off model with depleted uranium ammo, or if he's got it trained on a 9-month-old baby.

Let's try to stay focused, people.

tweaker

Wow, way to avoid all the real issues here...

Submitted by Gullyborg (not verified) on Thu, 2007/11/29 - 4:37pm.

I can't believe the hysterics some gunbloggers go into over trigger fingers. Using the logic of many of the commenters here, no one should ever make an action movie where guns are used as props, because the action would involve putting fingers on triggers and pointing guns towards defenseless camermen.

THIS IS NOT THE ISSUE OF THE DAY.

The issue of the day is the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Fred Thompson will fight for that right. Rudy Giuliani fought as mayor of NYC to weaken the rights of law abiding gun owners. Hillary Clinton would actively fight to reinstate the assault weapons ban, begin national gun registration, and appoint liberal judges who would rule the Second Amendment out of existence.

If you want to be constructive, help get Fred Thompson elected instead of bickering about rule 3. Especially since every one of you (admit it) had broken rule 3 on one occasion or more. Hell, Dick Cheney SHOT HIS HUNTING PARTNER but I would certainly trust him (especially after the fact) to protect my gun rights more than any democrat currently running for office.

That's all I have to say. Now I have to get back to watching "Quigley Down Under" so I can meticulously log all the instances where Tom Selleck breaks rule 3.

Uh, I think you're at the

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2007/11/29 - 4:39pm.

Uh, I think you're at the wrong place. The gun bloggers are here:

http://www.saysuncle.com/

Fred Thompson, jowls of death

Submitted by SammySkull on Thu, 2007/11/29 - 5:45pm.

Gun rights, somehow not quite as important as human rights, equality, America's dismal infant mortality rates, health care, budgetary mismanagement, racism and that whole evil war being waged by our "leaders."

Hey Gullyborg, lose perspective much?