Why boy scouts are fun
 

I got to shoot a real gun this weekend. (it's my 7th time ever)



that's me with the hat.
but i can't hit the broad side of an Aircraft carrier! ten shots and only three hits!



How many others have done this?

I'm an Eagle Scout. Got my honors just before my 18th b-day back in 1993. I worked 1 summer at Camp Parsons between my Jr and Sr year. Got a lot of badges from working there. I was on the beachcrew as a lifeguard. So yes, I totally hear ya. Now here's the kicker. The firing range instructor, did he have anything hiding in the shed? Like automatics? The guy who was our firing range duder had a several automatics that he'd let us fire off during the transition time of scouts.

nope, just single shot .22s. but an auto would be awesome!

And some people wonder why some americans and canadians (sorry Shane) go in school shooting at others :eek: . I don't know if I would be happy with my son learning how to fire a gun. I don't even know if there is a need to it.

And parents get affraid to left childrens play with some PC games, playstation games, watching MATRIX and some other movies, or even playing with G.I. Joes... :confused:

I think weapons aren't for kids. Not even for adulpts. Sorry to be the dumbass here, but it is what I think about this matter.

Hey I shoot real guns all the time! I own a .22 bolt action. I've fired M-1's, M-4's, 5-7's pistol, this assult rifle that fires 7.62 rounds, magnum, 8 and 12 gauge shot guns, an atuomatic .22, and so many others. I used to go with my father all the time! I'm an exellent marksman. I've held so many other guns that the U.S. military uses. The Shooting range is so much fun. But I still like paintballing. People sometimes call me a gun feak. I don't get mad.

they use them for a merit badge, though i see no point in it. besides, most kids who will shoot these guns have none at home.

Scouts!!!
 

Very cool, I was a Cub Scout in the 60s!!!

dang, what haven't you shot? a friggen bazooka?

I've never shot a bazooka. Only rifles and pistols. But they all destroyed my hearing. Exept the 22

it's called using earphones...........

*sigh*

The merit badge you would earn is Marksmanship. And the fact is, it's a SPORT. You can get into shooting clubs and shoot clay discs (pigeons) or real birds. Either way, it's a kick back to the old days. SOME of you guys might remember that Geena Davis is a marksman; either with rifle or bow. It's a skill.

And just FYI, some of those boy scouts end up in the military and having marksmanship skills is a plus, not a negative.

Is there anyone here besides me that has actually fired .50 cal MG, M-60, M-203, AT-4, LAWs, MK-19.... BTW this list could go on forever. $ years in the Army and you get to shoot and blow up stuff. So much fun.

Yeah I use them. But the noise of an assult rifle goes through it anyway.

I never got to fire those heavy and light MG's. Youy lucky firing an M-203. But I'm not jelous until someone fires a G36C. (favorite gun)

I have never shot a bazooka, but an AT-4 was really fun. I hit my target (old tank). It is not as easy as it seems.

Back in the day, when I was in the Army, I was trained and qualified in the following weapons;
M9 Bayonet, M9 Pistol, M11 Pistol, M4/M4A1 Carbine, M16A2/M16A4 Rifle,
M1014 Combat Shotgun, Mossberg 590 Shotgun, M14 Rifle, M24 SWS, M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), M240B Machine Gun, M2 Machine Gun, M67 Fragmentation Hand Grenade, M203/M203A1 Grenade Launcher, Colt M1911 Govt., M224 60mm Mortar, M252 81mm Mortar, M120/M121 120mm Mortar, Tokarev TT, FN GP-35, FEG P9M, CZ-52, FMK-3, vz.61 Skorpion, Spectre SMG, MP-5A1, M3 submachine gun, IMI UZI / Mini UZI / Micro UZI, FN FAL, IMI Galil assault rifle and a stick - just for good measure.

I had no personal life while I was in the service. I was always in training...at least it seemed like it.

Jesus Christ!

Yeah. 1st Ranger Battalion, Spec Ops., Panama (Operation Just beCause). I had to learn a lot of weapons and equipment.

Rangers lead the way! Thats where my carear is headed.

Good Luck! Rangers are a way of life more than anything else in the Army. They are your brothers, uncles, fathers and sometimes that strange grandfather you don't talk about. I wish you all the luck in the world. Hooyah!

I know ender would say that the marines have the best shots right? ;)

Yeah. But really the army does.

True, but the first reaction any oppressive regime has is to disarm the populace. Hitler did it, The Japanese did it to the Okinawans. It would be a wonderful world if there was no need for guns...and nukes for that matter, but sadly they are a fact of life.

I don't own any personal firearms, except a .22 rifle that is in my Dad's Closet back in NY. I think weapons are like cars, liquor and sex, if you're honest with your kids and teach them the power and responsibility that goes with these things, they will grow up to respect these things. If you don't show them how to handle or deal with these situations, you get kids who's only experience is blowing someone away in HALO, and when they get a real gun in their hands, they don't realize until it's too late that the power is real and FINAL. Teach them safety and respect, if they get their gun savy from friends, they'll be nuthing but thugs!

I've personally fired the M-16A1 and A2, M-60, M-249, M-240G, AT-4, LAW, M-2, M-3A1 grease gun, M67 (find that dinosaur these days), M203, Baretta 92F, M1911A1, AK-47,DRAGONOV SVD, Desert Eagle, Glock 9mm pistol (I forget what the nomenclature was), M82A1 SASR, the Uzi 9mm, the Mac-10, M-19 grenade Launcher, Luger 9mm, Various gauges of shotguns and sports rifles (I had a huhge family and they're all rednecks, and have literally hundreds of hunting guns!) but my all time favorite was when I got to fire a Soviet Flamethrower when I did security for a Special Forces weapons Demonstration! Whew!!


Ok, now the Army vs Marines question! I'm gonna say Marines are the better shot because I have been in both the Army54th engineers (1987-1990) and the Marines(1995-present). In the Army, our Drill Sergeants made all adjustments for windage and elevation on our sights. We were never even told about the effects wind, haze, light refraction, etc. has on a round impacting the target. The Marines engage targets from 200m, 300m and 500m on a set course of fire. The Army uses pop ups staged from 50m to 300m in 50m increments. The pop up scenario is more realistic, but for marksmanship skills, the Marines are known for distance shooting. Of course, the record for longest sniper shot isn't help by a US Marine or a US Soldier, it's held by a Canadian! (look up sniper on wikipedia, it's at the bottom) but before that, the record distance kill was Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, USMC. That's not to say Soldiers can't shoot, they can, but Marines DRILL shooting into your brain and spend more time teaching you how to do it!

I've never seen guns as a problem.

Nuclear weapons however... :(

Hah! Thats awesome us Canadians got the best shooter. I wear glasses though I doubt I'd be any good with a gun in my hands. Though I have heard that we have more guns in Canada than people but with a population of 30 million that really isn't saying much.

Okay okay ender. Marines have a better shot. fine. But all those guns you fired! I hate when people get the Uzi and the Mac 10 mixed up. Most people think the Mac 10 is an Uzi.

I can tell a MAC-10 from an Uzi, but I can't tell a Toyota Corolla from a Honda Civic. Aint that funny? I don't know crap about cars, I can barely tell one from another unless it's blatently diffrent (like the PT Cruiser). People love the way I can tell you about diffrent wepons but can only describe cars by color! LOL!

Guns don't kill people! People kill people! So says DMX, yo. (c'mon, Exit Wounds was just on... Oh wait, was it Romeo Must Die?)

I agree w/ Frank. Guns are a tool used for occupation, hobby or sport. It's the mooks out there who don't know how to solve problems that they rely on them.

Same here! :p

The SWAT guys told me that guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people.

Wrong. Chuck Norris kills people. If you live to see the dawn it's because Chuck Norris allows it.

lol

WHAT???

Are you telling me DMX lied to me???

:D

There are a lot of things to be said on either side of the gun issue. I view guns as much a tool as a screwdriver. The biggest thing to remember is that an individual with the motivation to do someone harm or commit a crime will find a way, with or without a gun. It is the same with alarm systems and locks and guards. I can get on a soap box here but this isn't really the place for it.

As far as the Army vs. Marines is concerned...the traditions of the Marine Corps. makes them naval sharpshooters and amphibious ground troops. These are still held as the primary aspects of the Marine training. The army has had to grow more than any other branch of the US military. The Navy has been evolving from 1941 through today. The Air Force has been at the forefront of technology since its inception in the late 40's. The Army has been the slowest to evolve and embrace those changes. Once this evolution started, some things such as the marksman training has suffered. The army also started segregating MOS groups and due to this segregation, the training is adjusted to fit the MOS requirements.

well i can understand why TGR is disturbed by the sight of young people learnig to use firearms.

In my country it's not allowed to hold a weapon,

not because it's an oppressive one : we're one of the oldest modern democracies around the world along with the UK and the US but because such "tools" can be used in many dangerous ways and it's unavoidable that someone gets killed in the process.

most of our revolutions (and we had a lot of those) happened in spite of people being armed. The revolutionaries just took the weapons from where they were stocked...

I have to own fire arms for protection. And target practice. I didn't know France does that. Oh well.

i tend to rely on the government (military, police and justice) for my protection ;)

Yeah but the U.S. is full of crazy people. Like George Bush or Donald Rumsfeld. Thats why the U.S. is a sleeping giant.

"Under every government the dernier [Fr. last, or final]
resort of the people, is an appeal to the sword; whether to defend
themselves against the open attacks of a foreign enemy, or to check
the insidious encroachments of domestic foes. Whenever a people...
entrust the defence of their country to a regular, standing army,
composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain
under the direction of the most wealthy citizens."

Anonymous 'framer' of the US Constitution, Independent Gazetteer, January 29, 1791