Guns Magazine from 1956
Right here. It’s interesting to me that, perusing the photos, there is no trigger discipline. Those photos published today would result and internet flame wars and comments galore. We’ve come a long way with gun safety, I suppose. Good.
February 6th, 2012 at 11:24 am
“Asked why his car was riddled with 300 bullet holes, he explained he shot up his car after returning empty handed from the hunt.”
u mad bro?
February 6th, 2012 at 11:51 am
There was a trend back in the day, either advocated by Bill Jordan or Skeeter Skelton (I think, but don’t quote me) where you were to take your Carry .357 and remove half the width of the Trigger Guard and rest your shooting finger on it. You were supposed to be able to just slide your Finger right onto your trigger much faster. I suppose it was safer than one of the “Fitz” specials, where the entire guard was removed, but….
But even Col. Cooper was dismayed at the poor Gun Handling by his Contemporaries. That’s why he came up with “4 Rules.”
February 6th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
@Bubblehead Les-do you mean the ASP relief cut? TJ Customs still offers it, if one were want to have it done. I’m guessing you don’t.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
My favorite was the Gov of Texas making his 7 year old daughter shoot a deer through the neck.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Also the fact that when the Governors all met in Chicago they were each presented with chromed revolvers!! My how times have changed.
February 6th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Well, I’m not sure they are all that sloppy.
On the cover, we have Stewart Granger, finger definitely on the trigger, but the hammer’s down, the Sharps has just been fired, and other buffalo’s gone to leather factory. Clearly a live-action movie still, er, “shot” on the set.
On page 14, the lighting tells you this is an outdoor photo, probably taken unposed on a real hunting trip, and I’m going to presume that the gentleman shown is taking aim at his target, a deer. Where’s the sin? Especially as he’s helping reduce the herd’s size, to the benefit of one and all, including the deer. (Well, except for the one he bags.)
On page 24, none other than Roy Rogers — the King of the Cowboys himself! — strikes a thoroughly modern pose. And elsewhere, his fingers are far from any triggers (or Trigger). You know, of all the people shown in this issue, RR was probably the biggest role model for any kid who flipped the pages, believe me.) No sins here!
Robert Taylor (p.26)? Well, yeah, but this is clearly a photo of man in the middle of a stampede — wouldn’t YOU be blasting away like he is?
There’s Granger again, page 29, but he’s hunting buffler, can’t you see? No harm! (Well, again, except to the buffalo.) Page 30? No man can lollygag around when there’s trouble, on two or four feet, headed his way, now, can he?
Well, then there is Gov. Shivers of Texas on page 8. But hey, it’s Texas, and he’s the governor, and don’t they all have have keep a wheel-gun handy while in office? Why, according to Wiki (which is never, ever wrong), Shivers held the record for continuous service in the governorship until it was broken by none other than…Rick Perry!, another gun-totin’ governor. So there.
C’mon. Cut ’em some slack. It was 1956, Ike was in the White House, and the Rooskies were about to mug us in space.
February 6th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
In 1978 when I went through basic police school, the trigger of the holster was still open and we were taught to put our finger on the trigger as soon as we got a grip on the pistol (revolvers only, no semi autos allowed please). No speed loaders were allowed, loading from the pocket only. And on target as soon as you drew the pistol. Modern firearms skills (Finger off the trigger, ready position, 4 rules) didn’t come along in law enforcement until the mid 80s. So what they were showing wouldn’t have been unusual.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:34 am
@Mile-how many negligent discharges/people who couldn’t qualify did you guys have went you went from revolver to semi? We went from model 10 to Glock, and there are still people two decades later that are having trouble.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Damn look at those prices.
February 7th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Take a look at the gun accident numbers over that time. Things are much, much better now:
http://www.canfirearms.ca/Skeeter/Suter/med-lit/g4.gif
February 7th, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Thanks, Mike, for the accident stats. Wish they covered more recent dates, but a trend is clear.
More generally, what I can’t stop thinking of is that if all the gun sales figures and background check numbers are correct, we’re in the middle — or at the start…?! — of a gigantic uncontrolled national experiment in firearms ownership, with thousands upon thousands of newbie gunners let loose in the land.
Definitely food for thought.
In an odd way, it reminds me of the ongoing national panic over driving while texting and cell-phoning. I’m not poohpoohing the risks of that — like everybody, I’ve seen people barreling down the road too fast, obviously distracted with their phones, and all you can do is get outta the way.
But here’s a subversive question. If cell phones and driving were all that deadly a combo, where’s the large and growing death toll from it? I’m not aware of any gigantic bump in accidents. Not that the cell-related crashes don’t happen, but that the huge increase in people who are driving-while-cellular over the last 10 years hasn’t translated into an equally huge increase in vehicular accidents. Why?
Maybe things that look hair-raisingly risky aren’t really as risky as they look. Well, let’s hope so, given the gun newbie stats and the strong probability that The Four Rules will be imperfectly internalized by the newly empistoled hordes.
But I guess we’ll all see, won’t we?
February 8th, 2012 at 2:14 am
Robert:
Ten-fifteen years ago they calculated that cell phone distracted drivers were killing 1600 people a year. I’m pretty sure that number has climbed along with the number of phones. Mostly, the cops don’t put much effort into determining if a phone was a proximal cause of a crash or fatality.
February 8th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Robert – there is one detail you omit from your last paragraph, a detail perhaps different from the 1950’s.
All those newbies who go to a range will have people surrounding them who will not tolerate inadvertent reckless gun handling, and will denounce purposefully reckless behavior even more forcibly. Either a firm correction from the range staff or a gentle suggestion from the guy in the next lane will likely ensue if a newly empistoled horde member does not demonstrate safe gun handling. And as the saying goes, a word to the wise is oft sufficient.
When I asked advice of an old and experienced fellow about teaching my kids the four rules, he told me to jump their a$$es hard and loud and publicly the first time I saw them violate any rule at the range, just like the DI’s did in boot camp to him many decades earlier. I did. It worked. On my sample size of two, there was zero recidivism.
February 8th, 2012 at 11:03 am
Jeff, we only went over to the “dark side” (Glock) 4 years ago. We carried Sigs before that. We’ve had 1 ND in that time, and scores have actually went up some. For people who can’t/wont take the time to master the DA/SA trigger, the single trigger was easier to get the hang of. In the late 80s – early 90s there were some highly publicized NDs with fatalities with the Glock.