Have you ever been shot at?

[Thebobo]

Bottle Rockets yes
BB guns yes
Guns no

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't recall ever even hearing a gunshot, let alone being shot at.

Come to think of it I've never heard a close range gun shot myself. At least not a confirmed one. Sometimes I'll hear what sounds like a gun shot, and it could be cops trying to get a bear to leave town or something, but never witnessed an actual violent encounter type situation involving a gun. At least can't think of any off the top of my head, but I imagine that is something I'd remember pretty clearly.

 

[Thebobo]

years ago while working on the fire alarm in a government building we were working in a small indoor gun range in the basement. They were remodeling it and we were removing the old fire alarm detectors etc. In the range itself the walls were lined with layers of soft lead sheets. (Which I grabbed some for my RC sailplane ballast) What was scary was there were bullet holes like a couple inches from the shooting stall in the wall lol. This was the ATF btw. ~

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

There is nothing more exhilarating than being shot at with no result.

That said guns aren't something that concerns me. More likely to be attacked by a knife.

 

[kage69]

Yeah it's not guns that I worry about, but knives. Small knives.

 

[PJFrylar]

Come to think of it I've never heard a close range gun shot myself. At least not a confirmed one. Sometimes I'll hear what sounds like a gun shot, and it could be cops trying to get a bear to leave town or something, but never witnessed an actual violent encounter type situation involving a gun. At least can't think of any off the top of my head, but I imagine that is something I'd remember pretty clearly.

Yeah everything I've heard could have been a firecracker or something similar. I'm a bit surprised I haven't heard a hunter or farmer fire a gun, especially when I go out and visit my sister. There aren't any bears where I live in Madison, but there are around her farm.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah it's not guns that I worry about, but knives. Small knives.

The thing with knives is it's close range only, so generally you have a better chance to get away and it's much harder to injure many at once. That said, some people will surprise attack so you don't see it coming at by the time you realize it you got stabbed 3 times. There was actually a stabbing somewhere, I forget, but the guy actually got like 10 people. So in a busy public area it definitely could be dangerous.

The scary one is there was a knife related murder in my city a few years ago, and it happened right in the middle of a baseball field. There's a field in front of my house, I sometimes go there to take star photography at night or whatever. That totally could have been me that got killed. Different field but same idea.

 

[Chaotic42]

I've gotten shot several times by BBs and pellets as a kid when my friends and I were screwing around. A friend and I got shot at once in high school when we were walking through a really rough neighborhood. Several former coworkers have been shot at outside of my old office in St. Louis. One guy's car got shot up.

 

[kage69]

The thing with knives is it's close range only, so generally you have a better chance to get away and it's much harder to injure many at once. That said, some people will surprise attack so you don't see it coming at by the time you realize it you got stabbed 3 times. There was actually a stabbing somewhere, I forget, but the guy actually got like 10 people. So in a busy public area it definitely could be dangerous.

The scary one is there was a knife related murder in my city a few years ago, and it happened right in the middle of a baseball field. There's a field in front of my house, I sometimes go there to take star photography at night or whatever. That totally could have been me that got killed. Different field but same idea.

I don't blame you for thinking this, as the difference between blades and ballistic weapons is clear and obvious. Hell I used to think that. Thing is, it's incorrect. Would it surprise you to know I'd rather get popped with a pistol than stabbed by a determined assailant? Majority of pistol wounds are non fatal, and surprise is not a tactic reserved for knife wielders. It's a tactic used by all who predate on others, one to worry about regardless of what an assailant chooses to carry.

A knife attacker is ALWAYS dangerous, crowd or not. For distances inside of 35ft, that danger increases exponentially - even if you are armed. You might get him, but odds are good you are going to be leaking when it's over.

Blades are easy to procure, easy to conceal, don't require reloading, silent, and let's face it, stabbing something or doing a big draw cut doesn't exactly require extensive training. Not saying guns don't represent a threat, hell no, but too many people dismiss blades as a more manageable threat.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The thing with knives is it's close range only, so generally you have a better chance to get away and it's much harder to injure many at once. That said, some people will surprise attack so you don't see it coming at by the time you realize it you got stabbed 3 times. There was actually a stabbing somewhere, I forget, but the guy actually got like 10 people. So in a busy public area it definitely could be dangerous.

The scary one is there was a knife related murder in my city a few years ago, and it happened right in the middle of a baseball field. There's a field in front of my house, I sometimes go there to take star photography at night or whatever. That totally could have been me that got killed. Different field but same idea.

When I go photographing in the city I have a Fox 479 karambit in my right pocket and a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in my left. In most situations I'd rather have them than a handgun and for the same reason police hate knives. You never know. Normally I do carry the Para 2 but that's just because. Never know when a knife might be needed with more mundane matters.

 

[Paladin3]

In my newspaper photographer days I went to a lot of shootings but always after the fact. I've seen lots of guns drawn without being fired, thankfully.

I was on a ride-along with LA Co. Sheriff when we rolled up on a house at night for a man with a gun call. It was a 20-year-old kid and they found him upstairs with a Remington .22LR rifle pointing out the window trying to shoot at us. The rifle was jammed with a double-feed so he couldn't get any shots off. We were all happy about that jam once we found out. I don't want to get shot, not even with a .22LR.

 

[Paladin3]

When I go photographing in the city I have a Fox 479 karambit in my right pocket and a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in my left. In most situations I'd rather have them than a handgun and for the same reason police hate knives. You never know. Normally I do carry the Para 2 but that's just because. Never know when a knife might be needed with more mundane matters.

Your camera and a smile will get you out of more scrapes than a knife our gun ever will.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Your camera and a smile will get you out of more scrapes than a knife our gun ever will.

Always has. Because I am prepared does not mean I am anxious to use them. People don't give me trouble for whatever reason but i'm not complaining.

 

[Paladin3]

Always has. Because I am prepared does not mean I am anxious to use them. People don't give me trouble for whatever reason but i'm not complaining.

Truer words were never spoken. I don't know why folks think that because you carry a weapon you are eager to use it. Well, I guess some idiots are and they ruin it for the rest of us.

I've seen this guy at the local Walmart twice now who open carries a fullsized pistol with three extra mags on his belt. He wears a leather vest that says "PROTECTOR" or "VIGILANT" or some stupid shit like that across the back. Guys like that scare me.

 

[pete6032]

No, and I live in Chicago, for 5 years almost. I have never even heard gunshots other than at the gun range.

 

[ImpulsE69]

There is nothing more exhilarating than being shot at with no result.

That said guns aren't something that concerns me. More likely to be attacked by a knife.

One thing I forgot to mention..slipped my mind earlier. But at the trap shooting place, dude forgot to clear his shotgun and it went off as he was walking up to a group of us. Put a nice hole in the ground about a foot from me. I was like 11 at the time. He pretty much got his ass beat.

 

[Muse]

Never had one pointed at me, but I've been threatened with one. The older I get, the fewer fucks I give. Anyone pointing a gun at me better be prepared to use it because I'll kill them if I get there first.

I've been threatened by someone who reached for one... presumably. I didn't stick around to see if he really had one. I walked to my car and drove away. Sometimes I wish I'd called his bluff. But I might have died. Anyway, I did what I felt like doing at the time.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I think that might just be worst feeling in the world.

Does being shot at with Simunitions count? If so - yes. A friend of mine is a SWAT trainer and he asked me to volunteer as a "bad guy" for a local swat training OP. I got to play a deranged veteran who had stormed the local VA and taken a doctor hostage. I was briefed to try and get the SWAT guys to negotiate a surrender, but my behavior was erratic enough that the SWAT team that was training stormed the room. The breach man shot me in the head with a simunitions round before I could blink. I had a simunitions pistol in my hand and the breach man thought he saw me begin to raise it when he went through the door - so he reacted by sim-killing me. For me it was a serious "Oh Sh!t" moment because even though it was simunition, I experienced just how quick a bullet can end everything. Also - I learned that you really, really, do no want to be on the receiving end of a swat team. Those guys are bad a$$.

 

[GobBluth]

I've been shot in the neck with a paint ball before. That kind of sucked.

 

[mizzou]

For high powered there is a strong concussive effect you feel when you get close to them. When I was little I remember hearing a zipping sound of distant bullets traveling near you.

 

[John Connor]

No. Had a gun pointed at me a few times.

 

[KMFJD]

i got shot at with a roman candle, that smarted a bit, been shot at by bb guns...does that count?

 

[local]

I had a random shot go past my head when I was riding my bike as a kid. It came from the other side of the trees behind my house probably a quarter mile away or more. Most likely a ricochet and we didn't get worked up over it. But it was loud and I could feel it as it went past so it must have been very close to my head. If my head had been just a couple inches to the right it I might have been killed. Other than that nothing has ever come close or been pointed at me that I noticed.