How do you feel about hunting/firearm answers that could get some one hurt or killed?

Question

We see them here almost daily; bad answers from what gun and ammo to use for dangerous animals and self defense, to how to handle firearms and ammo. That are either ridiculous or just down right dangerous.

What do you think about answers like that? Do they just think this is like a Sunday paper puzzle to take a shot at the answer?

Do you think they realize they could get some one killed or maimed?

What’s your take on this?

Answer 1

Yahoo Answers is a nice way to get a number of responses to questions you may have.  The problem is that most of us are not experts by any stretch of the imagination.  Questions may or may not get answered correctly.  We have to look at all of the responses and pick the ones that seem to make sense.  From there, we can research them even further to prove their validity.  It's foolish to simply accept what people post.  You didn't and you're addressing the issue now. Thank you for doing that.

Some people come here to respond to questions that they know nothing about.  You can tell which ones they are pretty easily.  I don't know if they realize what they're doing.  It's up to us to weed through the answers one by one and decide for ourselves.  

Answer 2

People do this because they want those 2 points. I have seen this as well. Usually it's not the answer but the way they answer it that shows. I admittedly may have given some bad advice, not that bad, but I try my best to answer to the best of my knowledge questions that fit into the category you speaking of. And somtimes I do get a lot of thumbs down for that.

Answer 3

ultimately, the person with the firearm is the final arbiter of what actions are taken, and they hold the full responsibility for the outcome.

This should not turn into the nanny state.

Maybe it would be good if some of the morons here Darwined themselves thanks to poor advise, the only reason I don't wish that more is it makes the rest of us look bad.

Answer 4

Nothing wrong with posting an opinion here

The asker is at fault if he accepts the answer without researching it

We live in the age of instant information

You simply take the answer you like and try to disprove it

If you can't or if your research reinforces the answer then you take that answer as truth

If you take some anonymous persons word as gospel without confirming his answer and get hurt that's your fault and on ones else's

Darwin's rules are always in play

Answer 5

This is an open forum.  There is no way to check on anyone's qualifications.  True; there are many who know what they are talking about.  I can tell because I have read some great answers.  But many of the ones asking the questions, can not tell these apart from the ignorant, stupid and perverse!  Unfortunately, those who ask need the information the most.

I do not want to sound too "Forrest Gumpy", but true answers tend to convey honesty and sincerity in them.  So "stupid gets as stupid is."

Then there is the problem with "politically correct" and "sensible souls" who quiver when honest, straight and true answers are posted.

We need to help those who need honest, valuable information, without stepping on anyone's toes.  (Personally I do care for the first part of this last sentence and care less for the second part.)

Will do anything to help, the best way I can, those who come here for answers.

Answer 6

well beeds there are way too many people on here answering questions that really have no business answering them........all we can do is hope that the asker has enough sense to know right from wrong and maybe if we reported bad answers as such and get them removed it may help save someone's life

Answer 7

like jim w said you get what you pay for and as others said you should research the advise you are given on hear there are alot of kids that do not have a clue about what they are saying. Keep setting them strait be eds.

Answer 8

I am appalled by this situation, and I often see it on here. Some ignorant clowns give me thumbs down for disagreeing with their opinions that have no firm basis. Such fools can cause many deaths. The person who asks has no way of knowing who really knows what he is saying. I think we need to try to remedy this deplorable situation.

Answer 9

That is why to give good answers thumbs up, and false/potential dangerous ones thumbs down.

Answer 10

most of us will fight to protect our Right to Bear Arms, so lets not trample some ones Right to Free Speach. take what works for you and discard the rest. this site is for entertainment and sometimes we get usefull information.

Answer 11

Most people just answer they don't care.

Answer 12

It truly annoys me when I read, people recommending high powered firearms to people when they don't even know all the facts of the potential shooter (especially for kids).

Answer 13

that's why you never use a reload that someone else gives you, never try to do something unless you have it checked first for safety, or that you do real research on. You must remember that there are trolls on here that hate hunters, and give false info with the intent of causing you, the hunter to get hurt, or worse. If you see an answer that you suspect is dangerous, go ahead and gice the right one and report them. Better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 14

I have been shooting since before I can remember.  My father tought me to shoot when I was around 5.  I have learned great respect for the weapons I shoot and I have never hurt anyone. As long as you know your weapon, know that you have a save background to shoot it is ok.  What happens is that some people get buck feaver and shoot blindly. They are rare.  I feel safe in the woods and so should you.

Answer 15

I love hunting. 30 of 50 people get hurt swimming. Compare that to 3 of 20 injuries in hunting

Answer 16

As much as I enjoy goofing around with Answers, if it were in my power to do so I would abolish the whole thing for just the reasons you cite. There is absolutely no quality control. Any fool can post the most ridiculous nonsense as a reply and it carries as much weight as the well considered opinion of an expert who's studied the field for a lifetime.

And who gets to pick the "best answer"? The person who asked the question in the first place. Logically, it they knew enough to pick the best answer, they wouldn't have needed to ask the question.

Answer 17

It is an appalling situation, as someone above stated. I saw a question today where a young tough was insisting that there was no way a bb or pellet gun could ever kill a human being. Of course we know this not to be true. During My ex-wife's years as an ER trauma tech, this happened twice at the same hospital.

I understand the gravity of the situation. Bad answers could get someone killed or maimed. I try to instill extra safety precautions into my answers for just this reason.

Another problem that runs rampant on Answers is bad/incorrect/clueless legal advice. I don't know how many times I've told someone, "If you do that, you're GONNA get arrested..."  - only to see to my chagrin that numerous other idiots have recommended the very thing I've just warned against.

In such cases, I usually go back and add emphatic "PLEASE!'s" to my answer in hopes this will cause them to question the majority opinion. I don't want a firearms owner or hunter to lose his or her rights over some unknown, uneducated, idiot's, opinion.

It reminds me of the one-sided answers given by advice columnists such as Dear Abbey. This advice is often fatally flawed, and obviously given in a knee-jerk fashion with little regard to deeper consideration or consequence.

There is no telling how many lives these advice columinists have inadvertently and callously ruined over the decades. Of course they present their advice as being "for entertainment purposes only" - as does Yahoo Answer's This keeps the lawyers out of their butts.

Answer 18

I myself have given out wrong info or bad answers in the past, and I have never turned down or gotten mad for being corrected. I don't think any of those answers would be considered dangerous, but I agree. There have been some off answers. Example bear vs. a .40 caliber, .22 for defensive purposes...

That is why those who do give great answers (and there are so many out there) keep on sharing your knowledge.

Answer 19

I just hope that the people asking questions know enough of the basics about guns to ignore the dangerous answers.

Answer 20

If I see an answer that is dangerous or just wrong I make a point of informing the questioner that the answer is wrong, dangerous and why.  

Answer 21

I just delete the ones that you are describing for safety and common sense sake.*

Answer 22

Of course it could be potentially dangerous. When i see answers that are so incorrect that it could cause harm, I usually use the "Report Abuse" button.

It is not enough to assume that the question askers will be smart enough to take such stupid advice.

I've been on enough forums and internet board rooms to know that these things are sort of popularity contests for people... who can answer first, the most, funniest; trying to be cool or sound like they know what they are talking about.

Fortunately, I think that there are enough quality, intelligent people on here to negate most of the idiots. But it still does not entirely negate the fact that bad advice is just that: bad advice.

Answer 23

Anyone that just accepts an answer from a website, that anyone can join,  then does something stupid as a result deserves what they get.

Sites like this are great for getting pointed in the right direction but you should always check multiple sources to insure the validity of answers before you act on any information.

This site would do Darwin proud.  

Answer 24

I see your point, but in the end, anyone can post anything here.  Only an idiot would take something they find on the internet as the gospel.  I ask questions here, too, but you have to do a mental 'sanity check' on any answers you get!

Answer 25

Remember that you get what you pay for. These answers in general are worth just that.  Much the same happens in home and garden for electrical repairs.  And about dangerous humans having guns and their reckless actions. A woman was killed by a 14 YO hunter last weekend. I thought I was shooting a bear. 120 yards a killing shot.  

Answer 26

I find the tendency most disturbing and annoying.  I take the matter much more seriously than some responders seem to take it.

I do not claim to be an expert in anything.  I'm just an old gun crank with 40 years experience in shooting, and in the study of firearms.  I've had the great honor to be associated with some of the most outstanding shooters, and gun writers of the last half of the 20th Century, men who have blazed the trail in many facets of firearms and ammunition development and I've learned a lot from them.  And I had the opportunity to write a regular column for one of the best of the early Internet firearms websites.  I came here not just for the sake of entertainment, but to share some of the knowledge and experiences that I've gained over the years.  It really burns me up to see people recommending dangerous loads, highly inappropriate firearms recommendations, and so-called self defense advise that is guaranteed to get them killed or arrested..

It also bothers me that so many of the experienced shooters on this forum are positively rude to beginners asking serious, to them, questions about how to get started in our wonderful world of shooting.  Sure there are times when I'll give a glib or even smart arsed response, but that is generally in response to a gun grabber or bunny hugger.  When these youngsters, and novices ask a question, it doesn't matter that the same question has been asked 10,000 times in the last six months.  These folks are asking for information.  They are new to firearms and we OWE it to our sport, to the defense of our God Given Right to Keep and Bear Arms to give honest, insightful, and helpful answers.  If a questioner followed some of the advise I've seen given, they will rapidly loose interest in firearms and might even join the dark side.

Often, I will spend half an hour or more preparing an answer.  If I don't have the answer on the top of my head, I generally have a reference book handy, or know a website where I can find what I consider to be a good answer.  And what happens, my personal Thumbs Down Fairy comes along and trash talks about my answers or even tries to get a violation for me.  And I have a good idea who my Thumbs Down Fairy is, and he is rated as a top contributor on this forum.  He is also a person who I consider to give ill-advised, unreliable, and often dangerous advise to novices.

Lots of folks who give answers are like a fellow a friend told me about.  It was his wife's first husband.  He took Randi, who had never fired a gun before, to the range, handed her a .44 RemMag revolver and told her to shoot.  She needed stitches in her forehead.  Needless to say, it took Cay a long time to get her over her flinch.

One of the posters in this thread opined that anyone who takes advise without investigating it deserves what they get.  I heartily disagree.  How will a beginner know that the advise they get is highly flawed?  How can they know that the advise that supports the bunk they've picked up from movies and video games is not only lousy advise but possibly dangerous?  How will a beginner know where to investigate that advise?

We OWE it to the future of our Shooting Fraternity to pass on the best possible advise.  We OWE it to the future of our Shooting Fraternity to welcome and educate beginners, not to turn them off with tart answers and rudeness.

There are two types of answers that especially annoy me.  First there are the clods who answer nearly every question with some variation of "Deagle" or Desert Eagle.  I suspect that those folks have no idea of what a Desert Eagle pistol really is, all they know is that it is big, mean looking, and chambered for a large caliber cartridge.  They make me want to crawl through my DSL and poke them in the eye.  The other type of answer that really torques me off are the ones who answer a question asking what to get for a first firearm and these people jump in advising .500 S&W Magnum, or .44 RemMags or .45 ACP's.  I'll bet when their kids are ready to learn to drive, they'll toss 'em the keys and tell them, "Be back before curfew."  I'm a great believer in learning or teaching the basics before starting with big bores.  I know y'all are probably tired of seeing me write some variation of "I've never know a good shot that didn't start with a .22."  Tough, I will continue to preach "Learn the basics first!"

I guess it comes down to the point that if people are not ready to take the time to give an honest and helpful answer, they should not answer at all.

OK, now I'll let someone else have the soap box and see how long it takes my Thumbs Down Fairy to strike and how many different accounts he will use.

Doc

Answer 27

As with anything else if some people shoot a gun of any kind one time they are expert.