I was at a local gunstore just talking to one of the guys that work there about some .38 special supplies, when two "young-ins" (probably closer to 20-21) walked up.
I'm sorry if this seems offensive at face value, but within 2 minutes of being near them, anyone could tell without a shadow of a doubt that they were two of the "Call of Duty" crowd. The first thing they did when they got up to the counter is ask if they could see an "ACR".
This is a store that specializes in hunting rifles and pistols. The rep begins engaging them in polite conversation and tells them that if they wanted to see a sporting black rifle, he's got an AR-15 by Rock River that's "Kind of like the M4". He walks to the end of the rack and pulls out a brand new A3 Flat Top. Its got free-float quad rail handguards, the 6 pos. stock, and a nice vertical fore-grip -beautiful.
He hands it over and asks the kid to be careful with this. The kid takes it and points it upward while he pulls out the magazine and looks inside the receiver (fine by me; but it is readily apparent that this kid has never properly handled a rifle). Him and his buddy start talking about how "The ACR and this M4 shoot the same bullets but the M4 is still more powerful," before discussing how many shots from all kinds of different guns it takes to kill someone.
My rep friend is just quietly chuckling to me when they are finding the charging handle on the RRA. We talk a little more and I look over as the one holding the rifle fingers the bolt release on the side of the receiver. He must not have been expecting the movement/sound/shift because his first instinct was to drop the rifle mid-air and jump back. This poor brand new Rock River AR-15 A3 fell at least a foot onto the corner of the glass case before falling the other 3 feet to the ground. He looked quickly at his friend and they both turned around and quickly walked out of the store.
I walked over and picked up the rifle. There was a noticeable ding in the forearm and a nice scratch on the receiver. I appologized for the unfortunate incident, bought some shells and went home. Never saw those kids back in there again.
Pearls of Wisdom:
1. Besides the basic rules of gun safety, there is an overarching rule called:
The Golden Rule of Gun Safety and it is simple.
"Don't Be Stupid".
2. If you are handing a weapon, loaded or unloaded, to a person that seems or is completely green; try and offer a little more instruction on function and handling than "Just be careful". They really might not know ANYTHING about guns no matter how much they think they've learned from TV and Video Games.
3. Being good at Call of Duty does not mean that you have gained a single step in handling real firearms. Approach any situation with the appropriate level of respect no matter how much you THINK you know. Even experts can be surprised.
Keep em' coming.
~LT