TOP 10 EXCUSES

[P.E. Kelley]

Hey Kids,

Help a brother out wouldja?

I am assembling an article covering some of reason (excuses) shooters that we run into don't or won't play our game or any other for that matter.

I'll give you a few.

Too Expensive.

Don't have the right guns or gear.

I am not good enough to compete or want to get better before they start.

I am a "tactical shooter" and gun games lead to bad habits (sure thing buddy, put down the game console and step back from the bag O' Cheetos)

Don't have the time.

I already know how to shoot

The guys who play that game are "clickish" you know, like all Joe cool with their fancy shirts and stuff.

I know I have heard others, just that I am drawing a blank right now and I know you guys got some GOOD ones!

Thanks all

Happy New Year!

Patrick

[Dan Sierpina]

There's too much stuff to lug around. (These guys never shot Highpower!)

Making sure that 3 guns work is a pain in the butt.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Dan Sierpina

[Nuke8401]

- For instructors/trainers/anyone in the firearms industry; their performance, or lack thereof, can have a negative impact on their reputation. The show Top Shot comes to mind. Any match where the scores are public puts their skills on the table even if the game has nothing to do with their area of expertise.

- For those that don't do any competition shooting it is intimidating to take those first few steps. I don't think the first match is the hardest. Before I fired my first shot in competition I had a picture of my skills that included military Expert in both pistol and rifle and had been a lifelong gun owner, part time hunter and shooter. My bubble was burst at my first IDPA match and going back to the second and follow-on match was a tough pill to swallow. Many personality types cant deal with this public display of poor performance, others overcome and use it as a motivator to improve. Until that first match/scores are posted, someones shooting skills are all in their mind and are what they have told others.

-For those that shoot another sport such as skeet, bulls eye or high power; they know how hard it is to be good and may not want to compete unless they can be good at it. While many people say, I just shoot for fun, I dont and I dont think many really do. We shoot to win, and that takes work, time, and money.

-Many gun owners are not shooters and I doubt they get beyond that first box of 50 rounds they bought when they bought their gun.

Or Im just completely wrong on all accounts.

I guess these are really reasons not excuses as most people would never admit to most/any of these.

David E.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Nuke8401

[HS101]

Don't forget the "I'm too old / young / overweight / etc.." excuses. There are plenty of shooters who blast all of those myths out of the water. We see shooters of all ages (I have seen shooters safely compete from the ages of 9 to 76) I have competed against shooters who came out with a broken ankle, bad knees/backs, broken arms/shoulders (arm in a sling)... I even RO'd a shooter once who only had a thumb on his left hand (no fingers). He shot open, and had a special "magazine rack" that allowed him to reload, and he operated the slide with a slide racker and his thumb!

If people realized that it is fun, and you only truly compete against yourself / people of your own skill level, they would realize that what they are left with is truly a bag of empty excuses!

[Merlin Orr]

Fear.

Of failure.

Of the unknown.

Of embarrassment.

Of not being "accepted."

Of the reality of your Actual skill level.

[bbbean]

The one I hear over and over is "I need to practice before I go." I try to explain that local matches ARE practice, but many potential shooters are convinced that every match is going to be like being sent unprepared into an NBA game. I can't seem to convince them that they aren't going to be judged or embarrassed just because they don't shoot like TGO at their first match.

I put off competing for a couple of years because I liked partying on Friday night and sleeping in on Saturday, and nobody had a match that started after lunch on Saturday.

[lumpygravy]

Here's one for this morning: I was too sleepy

[ErichF]

Heh, the one I've gotten from a couple co-workers, "They start too early." Meaning, "I drank myself to sleep late last night watching the game and can't get my frat-boy butt outta bed."

These days, I find more guys would rather spend all day sitting inside watching OTHERS have fun outdoors on TV. Vicarious times, are these...

[wlktheduk]

The RULE about (fill in the blank) is B***S@@@ and I won't play because of that.

There are too many/not enough/I don't understand the RULES and I can't/won't figure out what to do.

Drawing from the holster is too dangerous.

Shooting that fast is too dangerous.

Moving with a firearm in your hand(s) is too dangerous.

That sort of target/syle of shooting looks bad, like we want to shoot people.

I don't have the right gun/holster/ammo/magazines/speedloaders/belt/shoes/eye & ear protection/clothes/gun bag for that game.

I could shoot that well IF I was sponsored/had free ammo/reloaded ammo/was the range officer/firearms instructor/whatever.

I don't like to compete. I just shoot for fun.

[Nik Habicht]

Family pressures

Work pressures

Football Season -- the wife demands my presence on the couch....

[DinosaurMikeGolf]

Don't want to clean the guns after the match.

[whitedog]

"I'm not good enough". My reponse is always..."neither am I, but I do it any way". People really have no idea how much fun it is.

[brandrum]

The significant other and financial reasons (usually connected to the significant other) are the most common ones I hear.

[Jim Norman]

Takes too long, I can't spend the time on the range.

[Braxton1]

That one from Brandrum is a reality.

I usually look at "excuses" as a euphemism for "a bullsh*t method in which your mind attempts to justify failure or the potential thereof", but I had a friend who lived this one.

We don't have too many local 3-Gun matches (maybe quarterly), so we try to hit all of them when we can. As luck would have it, our favorite local 3-Gun occurred the Saturday after we got back from the Nationals. When he mentioned that he'd LIKE to go, the retort was a facial expression of shock, then a "You just got back from 4 straight days of shooting", and then that icy stare that is indicative of "Your life will NOT be the same when you come back from shooting 3-Gun with your buddies.".

Needless to say, he stayed home and watched some HGTV... I really wanted to speak my mind, but 99.9999% of the time, she's great about it. She just put her foot down on that one.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Braxton1

[Aglifter]

I think a MAJOR one is, "I don't want to face my actual skill level," - and, frankly, I don't know that such people are best suited for the shooting sports.

I think the worry about it turning into "former sport/obsession*", is a very real one. I think they can be some of the most pleasant people to shoot with - but I think there is that feeling of holding back to out of what will happen if they "try".

*not just people w. shooting backgrounds.

[-JQ-]

"it's not real world enough for me"

"if I'm going to spend time on the range it is going to be something practical"

I'm not saying these are my brightest friends

[vernbo]

"I don't want to burn out my barrel shooting that fast"

[Tyro Shooter]

Here you go Pat

These are all excuses I've been told. . . .

"I would love to go . . . but . . . I'm afraid if anyone sees me enjoying my self while participating in a shooting sport, I'll be labeled a right wing gun nut by my left wing friends."

"While in the "Teams" Our Tactical Delta Ninja instructor told us we could never let civilians see us shoot because our training techniques are so advanced they could never fall in to the hands of our country's enemy's . . . . all of our gun training had to be done in secret . . . If "they" found out I was competing . . .they would have to kill me. . . .to bad, because with my Ninja training I could kick all your asses"

"My PD department has cut back on training because of the budget and they don't want us shooting any kind of matches because we will pick up bad habits"

"I raked the leaves last night and hurt my hand."

"I over exercised my trigger finger and now I'm not strong enough."

"I have a paper cut"

"My ___________ (insert Mom, wife, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Boss, Significant other, Life partner, Long time companion, Sugar Daddy doesn't like me playing with guns."

"I can't go to the match with you guys on Sunday . . .because I suck"

(this was not a lie . . . .He did suck . . . but he got a little bit better and now he is classified "Expert" at skillful little mistruth's to his girlfriend to get to the matches on Sunday mornings. . . .

and there is the truth. (it worked for me this past Sat.)

I didn't practice, It's not the gun Ray built for me, It's not the 21 oz. supper bitchen Glock trigger . . It's just me and I'm having a really bad day.

[JKSNIPER]

Dan +1 brother! If you think the USPSA game makes you lug around stuff you obviously have NEVER been behind the trigger in a high-power rifle match.

Dinosaurmike +1 too!

My ex partner in the PD was fond of saying "I'm not going to shoot that gun John.....if you shoot them you have to clean them."

This guy carried a dog noose (metal pole) into a tree to capture a rabid/distemper infected raccoon in a thunderstorm....because he didn't want to fire the rifle at it 'cos then he'd have to clean the rifle.

If you'd have seen the condition he and his equipment was in after the attempt you'd be laughing now.

I told him "wouldn't you have had less work to just shoot the damm thing than all the BS of the ladder and soaking wet stuff covered in leaves etc now?"

Funny times.

[AR Gunner]

I've heard: "I like to shoot, but I don't want to do it under the pressure of being timed."

[MarkCO]

Too expensive (My answer has been, "Shoot a .22 and skip one burger next week")

I don't have time to practice (My answer has been "I don't practice")

Playing games with guns will get you killed if you have to defend yourself (My answer might violate a forum rule)

The unspoken one I think is "I know I suck but I don't want proof" (My answer is, "You were probably nervous once before, but you have kids do you go obviously over it!")

[cas]

"I have no way / where to practice."

I had people tell me I should shoot competitively for years, I really didn't have any interest, and honestly their opinion of my skill level didn't mean all that much. About 10 years ago a friend tried to convince me to shoot GSSF matches. He was a really good shooter. He kept telling me "You could win some guns, trust me." So I broke down and bought a used Glock. I took it to the range a few times, but what always stuck with me was "How am I supposed to practice shooting "fast" (or at least quickly) if I'm not allowed to shoot fast? At the ranges I had access to I couldn't shoot rapid fire or set up multiple targets. "If I can't practice I can't possible do well, so why bother." I sold the gun and didn't shoot a GSSF match till 10 years later after I'd started USPSA/IDPA*

*Which I did mostly as a joke, a friend and I said "Lets go embarrass ourselves." So we did and I enjoyed myself. A little while in I started to do well, often coming in first…. all without having a place to practice.

I hear it a lot from new potential USPSA/IPDA shooters, there's no way they can practice so why bother. I tell them I am the perfect example that you can do well without having a place to practice. More importantly, you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of it, not doing well.

Skip ahead a couple years, I'm now a member of a club where I can set up multiple targets and shoot fast. I still don't practice.

The unspoken one I think is "I know I suck but I don't want proof"

I think it was best summed up by someone of another forum when we were trying to get people to come to a rifle match. He said "Some people like to shoot. Some people like to sit home and think they can shoot."

Why ruin the illusion.

Edited January 2, 2012 by cas

[itchy]

I had someone tell me this recently, "It wouldn't be fair. I'd beat everyone. Do you know John Pride was my partner at LAPD? It would be like Tiger Woods showing up at a local golf tournament."

Seiichi

[P.E. Kelley]

Thanks Guys!

I think I'm set.

Patrick