Safe or unsafe?

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oamfg

Registered
Messages
10
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Location
Virginia
# of dives
25 - 49
Recently I experienced my first contact with a few spear fishermen. I would like to ask an experienced crowd a question or two. I have many years hunting experience with shotguns, rifles and archery equipment I love to hunt and after another year or so of diving and my diving skills are a little more honed, I plan on trying the spear gun out.I also have several years of on the job weapon handling experience and I feel that any weapon should always be treated as being loaded and ready to fire. In other words watch where you are pointing it and never point it at another person or thing unless they are your intended targets. That being said on several occasions in one day I had a spear gun pointed in my direction (a few times underwater, once in a store by a totally different person, to include some loose handling in between). Whether it was armed or not I really do not care as it made me very uncomfortable. I can only imagine how much it probably hurts to get shot with a spear! :(On one occasion when I asked a gentlemen to watch where he was pointing it his reply was it is not armed. To me this all seems sloppy and careless. My question is are there different rules for spear guns?
 
I aree 100% even if a weapon isn't "loaded", whether it be a side arm or speargun, It should NEVER be pointed at anything you dont intend to shoot and i would have made that VERY clear to whomever was holding the "unloaded" weapon. A a weapon should always be treated as if it is loaded, even if its not....Rather be safe then sorry
 
I personally could not care any less if the rules are different> I am with you. I am an avid shooter and gun owner and feel like a spear gun, whether it is armed or not should be treated as though it is. Just like with a gun if you NEVER, EVER point it at anything you are not willing to destroy then you will never have to think about whether it is loaded or not, nor will you ever have to deal with shooting something that you REALLY didn't want to (like say someone at the LDS, or a kid, a dog or a damn T.V. for that matter)
 
I really woulnt care if it were very plainly unarmed.Other weapons are different.Underwater at distance to where I coulnt tell Id be pissed.In a dive shop standing beside them I wouldnt care unless there was any question if it were armed or not.For that reason its best to point it in a safe direction.
 
I think the problem is that if you never do it you will never make a mistake. It is not that I am afraid of a clearly unloaded or unarmed weapon, its that the person holding it should teach themselves to never allow themselves to be so irresponsible with a weapon so that they never have to worry about making a really costly mistake. I know full well when my gun is loaded or not, all of the time, Bbut I still would never point it at anyone unless I intended to harm them (god forbid).
 
A gun is a gun, regardless of the projectile it fires. In scuba we teach and preach to "learn it the right way", "build muscle memory", we teach to treat each dive with the same respect and attention to safety. Pointing ANY gun at any target you do not intend on shooting is wrong. It is not the right way, it buils poor habits, and is not safe practice.
 
The only weapon I would allow to be pointed in my general direction is a bow.. No arrows present or nearby... haha

Anything with the word "gun" falls under the rules above.

Knives and pointy things fall under the above gun rules. Just good habit. Bad habits make for headlines..


Now that we have that out of the way.. Anyone up for some old fashion lawn darts?!
 
I really woulnt care if it were very plainly unarmed.Other weapons are different.Underwater at distance to where I coulnt tell Id be pissed.In a dive shop standing beside them I wouldnt care unless there was any question if it were armed or not.For that reason its best to point it in a safe direction.

the thing is you DONT necessarily know. I was in dive shop two weeks ago talking to one of the employees. Suddenly we hear a loud noise from the back of the shop where the spearguns are. Turns out a couple of teen boys decided to look at it and accidentally pulled the trigger...The unloaded gun went off with enough force that parts of the speargun and went flying across the shop making dents in the wall and a wooden board. The moral of the story is...treat every weapon as if it is loaded because you NEVER know.
 
I would add something brilliant, but I would be repeating what these guys said. But I will add that if you're going to beat them with the gun, make sure you use the butt. For most guns you can buy a replacement butt. If you use the stock, it's more likely to spinter and cause a greater mess.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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