How do we make people feel stupid again?!

Yeah, it sounds like a malfunction. It should clear by racking the slide until nothing comes out, but ALWAYS verify by checking the chamber.

A faulty extractor would easily cause this issue. That's why you also have to visibly inspect the chamber. A round would be easily visible while the slide is back.

ALWAYS treat every gun as if it is loaded

Yep yep. I will only trust that the chamber of a gun is empty if I can shine a light down the front, and see it from the back. Even then, damn bullet goblins can pop a bullet in there in the blink of an eye, so you still want it pointed away from anything that can feel pain

How?

Wow you must encounter some really aggressive cashiers

Followed with:

2. Never aim your weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy.

3. Keep your trigger finger straight and along the receiver until you intend to fire your weapon.

4. Keep your weapon on safe until ready to fire.

5. Be aware of your target, your surroundings, and what lies beyond your target.

Never trust the last person, especially if the last person was you.

Disagree. I’m not from the US, so maybe guns being seen as fun is more of a cultural issue in not aware of, but plenty of weapons are seen as fun here in the UK. And while we do have gun crime, I think firearms are seen differently here vs the US.

People will go axe throwing for fun. With Scouts, we shot air rifles on camp a number of times (supervised by people who knew what they were doing). Knife throwing is also a thing. Clay Pigeon shooting is also not uncommon here.

I genuinely believe using a weapon on a (non-living) target is fun for a lot of normal, well adjusted people.

Firearms are fun. Knives are fun. Martial arts are fun. At least to a decently large number of people. That doesn't mean that their roles in society don't suck.

One might say that the danger (to people, to society...) outweighs the benefits of allowing target shooting as a sport. Maybe, I'd still disagree, but that's an opinion we can argue about. We don't allow people to build their own nuclear reactors for fun, for example. But saying something isn't "fun" is ignoring that a lot of people perceive the world differently.

Have you ever tried it?

There's nothing quite so uniquely irritating as someone intensely critical of something they know very little about.

I'm not American, and this kind of absolute is completely unacceptable.

You're basically fun-shaming.

There's plenty of stuff that's universally disliked, like... Idk, murder.... But that's not the whole reason guns exist. Sport shooting, hunting, event target practice, can be lots of fun to people, and they all involve guns, and no person is harmed, if done correctly.

Stop being so hateful.

I don't even like guns. I've never held, nor fired one. And I wouldn't ever, even slightly, say that there is no "fun" to be had with firearms.

You're a dick.

I'm a member of the American public. I abide by the rules, make smart choices, and don't tolerate those who don't. All my friends are the same way.

Less than 1% of American gun owners commit 100% of gun violence in the US.

To quote K from Men In Black: "a person, can be smart. but people, are dumb."

also yes. I do.

I would argue that they do follow those rules. They're just willing to destroy other kids at school with hopefully more kids behind them. Same goes for muslims in mosques, etc

About 80 percent of the time yes. Even the dumbest slack jawed hick knows not to fuck around with guns, doesn't make them not twitchy but that's a different issue. It's white trash and rich yuppy types who are generally the threat.

Oh come on. I get what you are trying to point out, but that is like saying you don't need to know forklift safety rules, as you will never operate a forklift.

I get your point, but hunting, as a sport, is about as old of a sport as you can get, and for that sport there will always be people who prefer firearms.

At a basic level, firearms really can't be barred from most countries as a blanket rule for everyone that is never allowed to be broken.

Therefore, firearms exist and people have them. That might not be you, or your neighbor, nor anyone you know, but they exist and people have them.

If you are ever in the rare position of being in the presence of one, and/or the situation where you need to handle one for any reason, would this information not be better to know ahead of time, rather than unknown until that moment?

It's like first aid, IMO. I've known first aid for well over two decades, including CPR and everything. I've never needed anything more than how to correctly apply a bandaid. I'm still grateful to know what I know in case I'm ever in a situation that I may need it. That situation might never come, it may never happen. I'd rather know, and never have the need to know, than have the need to know, and not know.

Safety, first aid, anything that keeps people alive, should be universal knowledge. Doesn't matter if it's guns, cars, CPR, bandaids, or forklift safety... It's better to know it, and never need it, than need it, and not know it. Period.

This mindset is why kids that receive abstinence-only sex ed end up getting pregnant way more often