Complaints after Top Gear Stig shooting

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You're missing the point if you see my statements to be only "My feelings." The point is, taking irresponsible risks with firearms shows that you should not be handling a firearm at all. To do so on television when the firearm is being depicted as real shows a disregard for younger viewers, who someday may find themselves in a situation where they have access to a gun.

Edit: I don't care if it's a tv show, it's still wrong to point a firearm at yourself. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of a very large number of gun owners. I actually hope that Ofcom finds them in violation for this. It's morally irresponsible.
 
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I agree it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do. I think it's one of those things where it's so over the top as to show how comical it really is. And that "Hey look at me! I'm being an idiot!" Clarkson things.
 
Mr. Nice said:
... The point is, taking irresponsible risks with cars shows that you should not be handling a car at all. To do so on television [...] shows a disregard for younger viewers, who someday may find themselves in a situation where they have access to a car.
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See what I did there? ;)

Next you're going to tell me driving a truck through a brick wall isn't safe either ;)
 
It must be said, I didn't agree with the suicide depiction in the Volkswagen advert episode. The VW advert was done differently, and not made to look to be serious. That said, such a depiction could still result in the accidental death of a child. In the case of this episode, Clarkson is shown to be picking up a handgun and loading the clip, then some footage was botched in of him pointing it at his head. Now, the fact that he was most likely handling a gun that wasn't loaded does not make it okay for him to be pointing it at his head. The way it was depicted, many will be fooled into thinking it was a loaded gun he was pointing at his head.

Loaded or not, pointing a gun at yourself is not okay. The depiction on a show watched by children, especially in what is a more serious setting than in the VW advert, is morally irresponsible.

http://gunnuts.net/2009/08/25/all-guns-are-loaded/

http://thefiringline.com/Misc/safetyrules.html
 
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That American Girl said:
Let's be honest. If you're watching Top Gear for gun safety tips, you have other issues. :p

It's a TV SHOW! :p
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If I had a dollar for every time I saw someone at a gun range holding their handgun sideways like someone they saw on TV, or in a movie or music (if you can call that crap music) video, I would be able to pay off my motorcycle.

People mimic what they see. Especially stupid people. Now think of all the people who, unlike me (and I suspect Mr. Nice), did not grow up hunting and shooting, and have never seen a gun other than on TV or in a movie. They haven't been fortunate enough to have learned firearm safety from their father, much less from a licensed NRA instructor. What are they likely to do if they get their hands on a gun? Joke around and point it at a friend or themselves, of course.

Postscript: Fortunately, the people who hold their guns sideways at the ranges I go to are corrected by a Range Safety Officer. If they don't comply, they're kicked out.
 
So are you saying you didn't like Clarkson's gun handling?

But seriously, you made your point. Let's learn from that and move on.

I find it funny that Americans are thought of as a bit uptight but yet here is this story over there complaining about a cardboard cut out gunned down in the prime of life. IT'S CARDBOARD! IT'S NOT REAL!
 
Just as a point: Clarkson wasn't pointing the gun into his mouth or whatever. He was doing what's been shown in a thousand films -- blowing the "smoke" from the barrel. A simple "look at how stupid I am" thing. I admit, his mucking about with a gun could send seriously wrong messages, but there's no reason to get all hung up on it. Write a letter to the BBC ("I'm going to write a letter to the BBC and I don't care if they don't read it!") if you're so upset, and move on.
 
Perhaps you should write a letter of complaint to the BBC Mr.Nice. Who knows, maybe you'll get your own article also.
 
Emarline said:
Just as a point: Clarkson wasn't pointing the gun into his mouth or whatever. He was doing what's been shown in a thousand films -- blowing the "smoke" from the barrel. A simple "look at how stupid I am" thing. I admit, his mucking about with a gun could send seriously wrong messages, but there's no reason to get all hung up on it. Write a letter to the BBC ("I'm going to write a letter to the BBC and I don't care if they don't read it!") if you're so upset, and move on.
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Most gun owners who have in the past regularly gone, or presently regularly go out shooting have similar feelings to the feelings that I have in regards to gun safety. You'll also find that many of us are outspoken about it. The reason for getting hung up on it is entirely valid. Violating the first and second rules of gun safety can and sometimes does end in death. With that said, I feel that with this post I've concretely made my point.
 
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OK, look.

We know that Clarkson can handle guns -- he did an episode of "Greatest Inventions" featuring the gun, and he shot quite a number of weapons.

In addition, he shot an H&K during the Top Gear Olympics, and shot a tin of Spam during the Polar Special.

Since no production company ever -- EVER -- allows presenters and performers to use a weapon on-air without a safety briefing, it seems a logical deduction that the boys did in fact receive one -- off-camera.

So why did Clarkson "clown around" in that shot? Simple -- that wasn't the safety brief proper. At a guess, I'd say Clarkson got bored with the idea of an on-air safety brief and decided to fool around a bit, with an empty weapon, in front of the cameras. He probably got lectured about it afterwards, but that lecture wouldn't have been shown for timing purposes.
 
Everyone has their line, if someone crosses it, it becomes unacceptable.

For some the line is the depiction of cars being driven fast on public roads, for others it is a tongue in cheek comment that all truckies murder prostitutes. Whatever it is, everyone has a line.

You can make a valid argument for each and every "line" and why it shouldn't be crossed, but in all times common sense and proper parenting should overrule the television.

Who is going to be handling a firearm without proper weapons training? Do you think a ten second clip of someone cocking about with a gun on TV is going to overrule the weapons instructor?

Don't think the viewing public are this obtuse, stupid or ignorant.

And if they are, getting killed by a gun would only be a coincidence, if it wasn't a gun that day, it would be cracking their head on the steering wheel because they didn't do up the seat belt.

Those who are moronic enough, the people you are trying to protect with your gun safety crap, are moronic enough to kill themselves in a billion other, even more moronic ways.
 
Gun safety is not crap. There are actually other members of this forum who own guns and believe in gun safety. And, just as Censport stated, many people who go out to the firing range or go shooting somewhere do EXACTLY what they saw on TV. This is largely why so many who practice gun safety are outspoken about it.
 
Let me chime in with a story...

3254683437_f08d994b16.jpg


Last month i fired a M4 (pictured above) at my fathers gun club range in ohio, On my second magazine i took aim at the target, shot my 30 round magazine (mistake one, i lost count of the shots) i expended the magazine, opened the bolt ("empty", mistake 2) and set the rifle down... on the charging handle (mistake 3). Instinctively i grabbed the rifle to stop it from falling, right onto the trigger (mistake 4)...

...A round discharged downrange.

I've never been so ashamed in my life, i was practically born with a gun in my hand, shooting real rifles from age 7 or so, i had never made a mistake like that with a gun before. It doesnt matter, it could have easily ended someones life. I did not know that pulling back the charging handle took the bullet out of the chamber with it, or that the safety is easy to mis-set in a middle position that appears safe but allows you to fire.

A disaster is really just a series of simple mistakes all happening at once. A 5.56 round cut through the november ohio air, harmlessly into a tree trunk. Luckily i did one thing right at least, i kept the gun pointed downrange (unlike clarkson, who i suspect has much less experience with firearms than i do). But what if someone had been going there to check on some targets they shot at? I would have killed someone.


Guns are not toys. You do not joke with guns. You do not play games with guns, you do not point them at anything you're not willing to shoot.
 
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Mr. Nice said:
It must be said, I didn't agree with the suicide depiction in the Volkswagen advert episode. The VW advert was done differently, and not made to look to be serious. That said, such a depiction could still result in the accidental death of a child. In the case of this episode, Clarkson is shown to be picking up a handgun and loading the clip, then some footage was botched in of him pointing it at his head. Now, the fact that he was most likely handling a gun that wasn't loaded does not make it okay for him to be pointing it at his head. The way it was depicted, many will be fooled into thinking it was a loaded gun he was pointing at his head.

Loaded or not, pointing a gun at yourself is not okay. The depiction on a show watched by children, especially in what is a more serious setting than in the VW advert, is morally irresponsible.

http://gunnuts.net/2009/08/25/all-guns-are-loaded/

http://thefiringline.com/Misc/safetyrules.html
Click to expand...

It isn't irresponsible. I've been watching action thrillers since I was a kid, you see people all the time in those movies point guns to their heads, why should this be treated any different? This is of course assuming that a child will in fact just blatantly copy what they see on tv. If you have guns around in the presence of children, and you fail to properly educate them on proper usage of said guns, and then they go and blow their brains accidentally, then whose fault is it? It's up to the parents to educate their children, especially in the presence of deadly weapons. if they don't, then it is the parents who are irresponsible.
 
I agree entirely with the "It's your own damn fault" approach.. If someone is acting like a moron, LET THEM DIE. Darwinian selection is there for a reason. If Clarkson, or any of the idiots stupid enough to copy him die, it's purifying the human species. We are living in a world where chainsaws have notices telling you "Do not attempt to stop with hands or genitals", and we should stop mollycoddling people like babies.

Okay, mistakes happen, as Matt said. But that was a MISTAKE, not him trying to copy off TV.
 
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So as the guys shooting with me were bleeding out and screaming 10 miles from any hospital i should let them know in their final moments thats its darwin in action? How many of my nights in jail would be made better by reminding myself that i was purifying the human race?
 
Did you see my edit? You weren't trying to stupidly copy something you'd seen on TV, you just made a bit of a fuck-up. Darwinism only applies to self-harm, really, which is the main point of this "issue" (pointing gun at self). We could go in to a big debate at hand on other things, but I think we agree that anyone who shoots themselves in the head by being stupid, probably had it coming. Maybe death is a bit harsh, but then they shouldn't have shot themselves in the head.
 
NOTE: I am addressing the original topic, and not firearms safety.

They were shooting cardboard cutouts with (arguable levels of) supervision. Haven't we seen plenty of sitcoms where a character drives pins through a dolly mocked up as another, or where darts are thrown at, or a knife stabbed through, a photo of a hated rival or enemy? I'm dismayed to learn Ofcom's received so many complaints.

I'd bet that if they'd done something else--say, used darts, or paintballs--they wouldn't be getting more than a peep out of the usual batch of complainers.
 
/facepalm
 
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