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*sigh*, where to begin. I just got off of a call with a young man from my church. He got a call while at work asking if he was the resident at an apartment unit, and did he own certian items. He answered yes, and the police promptly arrested two "undocumented workers" who were "working" to steal his stuff.

Needless to say, he went home, talked to the cops, had his door repaired from the kick in, and went to buy his first gun ever for protection. Ever meaning he has never even touched one. He went to Academy, and purchased a Glock 23 40 cal, a box of FMJ, and a box of Horniday TAP ammo, all on sales guys advice.

The guy knows I take the priests shooting. I organized a CHL class at the church. He figgured I was a good person to call with questions.

He said "I just got my gun, and I am loading the bullets into the "thing" and it is really hard to get more in...I can only get 6 into it, and it says I should be able to get 14 bullets in." At this point my palm went to my forehead. I had him run through normal checks to make sure the gun was unloaded and put away.

Long story short...he was feeding the rounds into the mag BACKWARDS. I did not know if I should laugh, cry, or cringe.

I told him to leave everything alone and not touch anything, and I am going to educate him tomorrow.

The best part of this whole thing is that he has you to help guide him.
I'm sure that with some experienced instruction that he'll do good. We all started somewhere.

It's ashamed that so many people "react" to bad things rather than be proactive in the first place.
The good news is he has opened his eyes and taken steps in the right direction.

At the minimium you need to take him to the range and run him through the basics. He should have bought a double action revolver for a first gun but that is just my opinion, Show him the ropes so he is not a danger to himself.

by USA1 » Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:45 pm

The best part of this whole thing is that he has you to help guide him.
I'm sure that with some experienced instruction that he'll do good. We all started somewhere.

It's ashamed that so many people "react" to bad things rather than be proactive in the first place.
The good news is he has opened his eyes and taken steps in the right direction.

He's is lucky to have a mentor. Teach him well and encourage him to get renter's insurance.

by Weg » Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:48 pm

At the minimium you need to take him to the range and run him through the basics. He should have bought a double action revolver for a first gun but that is just my opinion, Show him the ropes so he is not a danger to himself.

FWIW, .

USA1 wrote:The best part of this whole thing is that he has you to help guide him.

It's good he was smart enough to ask for help.

While i am not a fan of the Glock, I do own one, I will say that it is a good choice for a first gun and has a better trigger than the DA revolver. I don't recommend a revolver for a first gun anymore. The three main reasons I suggest a good semi-auto as a first gun is because it usually has a better trigger, is easier to train someone on, and is easier to reload. The biggest issue is to teach a new shooter/owner is the four basic rules so that they don't have a Negligent Discharge. After that teach them how to shoot and then teach them that they need more instruction, and most likely a CHL.

USA1 wrote:The best part of this whole thing is that he has you to help guide him.

And a manual to read until you can give him some in-person advice.

I would recommend getting a handful of snap caps to teach him with. After (quite) a few repetitions of loading & unloading those, then consider moving on to live ammo.

Update - tomorrow after church we (myself and three other CHLs) are taking him to the range. Not only are we going to teach the right way, we are also going to introduce him to the ...and I hate to say it..."the sport" of shooting.

The current plan is basic safety, gun opperation, sight picture, etc. On top of that, we plan to introduce him to clay shooting. I think it will be a good day for him to understand that there are people out there who are OVERLY concentrated on safety and that he has a lot to learn, but all the while, have a good time.

That's the plan....still, he is all freaked out about people breaking into his house and stealing his stuff.

I will update after the range day tomorrow.

SecedeTX wrote:still, he is all freaked out about people breaking into his house and stealing his stuff.

I think after a break-in that is normal.

I'm a Glock lover/hater I mean that's what I carry and trust.

For a first gun I'd recommend an XD instead of Glock, only because of the disassemble process.

Pasadena Police Dept's OLD building has a "ding" in the floor due to imho, needing to pull as trigger to disassemble the "I though it was unloaded, I took the magazine out" and I had to pull the trigger to disassemble it to clean, Glock.

As long as someone KNOWS a round may be chambered still, Glocks are great though.

I worry that people who put cartridges in backwards, might not know to check the chamber AFTER, instead of before, removing the magazine..

Good thing he called you

RPB wrote:I'm a Glock lover/hater I mean that's what I carry and trust.

For a first gun I'd recommend an XD instead of Glock, only because of the disassemble process.

Pasadena Police Dept's OLD building has a "ding" in the floor due to imho, needing to pull as trigger to disassemble the "I though it was unloaded, I took the magazine out" and I had to pull the trigger to disassemble it to clean, Glock.

As long as someone KNOWS a round may be chambered still, Glocks are great though.

I worry that people who put cartridges in backwards, might not know to check the chamber AFTER, instead of before, removing the magazine..

Good thing he called you

You still have to pull the trigger on the XD, unlike the XDm, although you both guns make you lock the slide back in order to take them down. The M&P is also another good gun that can be taken down without a trigger pull.

Don't forget to remind him to also purchase some type of security device to prevent a child from accessing his new gun. He probably hasn't thought about all the ancillary equipment to properly store his equipment.

From what I know, I do not believe Academy will accept a return on a firearm. Just seems to me that a .40 is probably not the best for his first pistol.

Griffen wrote:Don't forget to remind him to also purchase some type of security device to prevent a child from accessing his new gun. He probably hasn't thought about all the ancillary equipment to properly store his equipment.

Don't all new guns come with a cable lock now?