One of the most annoying and disappointing things about online discussions in places like forums and Facebook pages, is when someone gets upset because someone uses a common, simple substitutional word for a more complex, yet more accurate word. The best example of that is when someone, admittedly usually a newcomer to the shooting sports, uses the word “clip” when referring to a magazine. Then, hell breaks loose, and all the self-righteous Keepers of the Faith immediately chastise the newcomer, instantly destroying whatever conversation was going on about magazine changes or springs, or whatever.

My frustration about this never-ending rant led me to compile The Pledge, the first line of which is: When posting on-line I will never criticize anyone for using “clip” instead of “magazine.”

Recently, I have been involved in many discussions about gun carry rights in Georgia. Here, the document granting government permission for citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights is called a Georgia Weapons Carry License. A citizen must be in possession of one of these cards in order to carry a loaded handgun in any manner outside of one’s home or business. Note, this applies whether the gun is carried openly or concealed.

However, in a lot of states, the permission granted by the government only applies to a concealed gun. Hence, many states and their citizens call this a Concealed Carry Weapons License, or CCW for short. Seeing that many people living here in Georgia grew up elsewhere, many of those discussing GWCL details unknowingly refer to them as a CCW. When this happens, almost invariably the Keepers of the Faith immediately lambast them, and spend tens of minutes explaining how the laws in Georgia work, even if the original post author was only wondering how long they had to be a state resident in order to get a license.

I say all that to explain that I have now added point 1a to the Pledge:

1a. criticize anyone for referring to a Georgia Weapons Carry License as a CCW.

Please join me in pledging this today.

Thank you!

I have not added anything to The Pledge in a long time. But it seems to me like everyone recently has been talking about carrying with an empty chamber.

Okay, I get it. You are too scared of your own gun to carry safely. So suck it up, and keep the discussion to yourself.

So, here is The Pledge, updated. You may access it at its own page.

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When posting on-line I will never:

1. criticize anyone for using “clip” instead of “magazine”

2. get in a discussion about which caliber is acceptable in a gunfight

3. get in a discussion about whether you should use a Glock grip plug

4. criticize anyone about how often they clean their gun

5. criticize anyone for what cleaner or lubricant they use

6. call a shotgun a shottie

7. call a revolver a wheelgun

8. call Walmart “wally world “

9. post simply “+1”, “well said,” or some similar agreement, except as part of a retweet, thereby showing my endorsement and agreement

10. accuse anyone of kool-aid drinking

11. tell you that your gun or ammo is unsafe* or junk

12. change your words and say I “fixed it for ya”

13. tell you to move to a gun friendly state

14. use profanity frivolously

15. have a contest that is announced on one or more sites but only available to members of another site.  I.e. no “Facebook only” contests that are announced on Twitter.

16. get in a discussion about Israeli carry

* unless I think it is unsafe in my opinion as a Certified Glock Armorer, in which case I will tell you why I think so, and what I think you should do about it.

Clip or Magazine?

Yes, there is a difference. But is it important that we chastise anyone, especially casual gun users, or worse, non gun owners, for using them interchangeably?

I read several gun forums, and on a lot of them, the quickest way to get the ire of some forum members is to use a word incorrectly. My observation is that the words “magazine” and “clip” seem to be the ones that draw the most ire from gun purists when they are used interchangeably. Yes, they mean different things. But how important is that? Important enough to alienate someone over?

Are we not all on the same side? Should we not be inclusive to shooters who are looking for advice from those who’ve been there before?

When the zombies come, and I’m shoulder to shoulder with another shooter, shooting his AR, and he asks me for a clip, am I really going to rummage around in my Maxpedition bag and pull out an SKS stripper clip of 7.62×39, and toss it to him? Then laugh as the zeds eat his brains?

Be careful, oh ye language snob. If you insist on separating common usage from technical usage, you made find yourself in trouble.

An example: is this snake poisonous?

Now, if you held this up and asked a biologist who was also a “gun forum purist,” you would be told “no.” And you would almost immediately be bitten, and die a painful death.

That’s because the rattlesnake is not poisonous. In fact, I’ve eaten it prepared several ways, and have never suffered any ill effects from eating its meat.

Is it venomous? Oh, hell yes! But venomous is not poisonous. So sorry, you asked the wrong question. Oooo. You might want to put your feet up and call 911.

Now, if someone asks me if a rattlesnake is poisonous, I say yes, unless they have it skinned and breaded and the fryer is hot. In that case, get out the wing sauce, and let’s go.

All this needs to end. We need to act civilly, and be inclusive rather than snooty and exclusive.

To that end, I present The Pledge. It’s an expansion of something I read in the signature line of user ManNamedJed on GlockTalk, and I send him my thanks.

First, let me say, I do not mean ill of anyone who does not take The Pledge. You may choose to act the way you do, it’s a free country, and they are free forums. But, I believe that following The Pledge not only will make us more inviting to new shooters and new forum members, but it will make forums a lot more pleasant to use.

The Pledge

When posting on on-line gun forums, I will never:

1. criticize anyone for using “clip” instead of “magazine”
2. get in a discussion about which caliber is acceptable in a gunfight
3. get in a discussion about whether you should use a Glock grip plug
4. criticize anyone about how often they clean their gun
5. criticize anyone for what cleaner or lubricant they use
6. call a shotgun a shottie
7. call a revolver a wheelgun
8. call Walmart “wally world “
9. post simply “+1”, “well said,” or some similar agreement
10. accuse anyone of kool-aid drinking
11. tell you that your gun or ammo is unsafe* or junk
12. change your words and say I “fixed it for ya”
13. tell you to move to a gun friendly state
14. use profanity

* unless I think it is unsafe in my opinion as a Certified Glock Armorer, in which case I will tell you why I think so, and what I think you should do about it.

If you agree with me, and want to take The Pledge, feel free. I’m going to include that fact in my signature lines on all my forum profiles, with a link to this page.

Then maybe, in time, we can get to the real work of shooting better, preserving our freedoms, and enjoying life.

Edit: On 6/9/2011 I added the phrase “When posting on on-line gun forums” to the beginning of the pledge, lest anyone think I meant to adhere to this in everything.