As Jerry Maguire Said, “It’s a Mission Statement.”

I just had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine, a woman who is seriously into guns and at that point along the Path where everything is still new and interesting, she has a lot of questions. I said to her, “Post them on the message board.” Her reply was, “I don’t want to come across as stupid.” I said, “You won’t seem stupid.” (Let me mention, BTW, this woman is a high-end computer programmer who gets paid well into six figures a year to handle corporate accounts with global implementation. “Stupid” is not a word that will ever be applied to her.) Then she expressed concern over something that is common on many other message boards: those people who have been on the board forever, who have a really high level of skill and experience in a particular area, who are snotty and condescending to newcomers. “Do some research before you post on this board.” Basically, they are mean people exercising their egos at the expense of those of lesser experience levels.

Let me make this very clear: that will never happen on my message board. Never. I have no use for, and no tolerance for, to put it bluntly, prima donna assholes who think their time and energy is so important it can’t be “wasted” helping beginners. And if that ever actually does happen on my message board, I guarantee you I will be having a conversation with that person shortly thereafter, and they will either straighten up and fly right or leave. Voluntarily or through being banned, I don’t really care. “Do some research before you post on this board”? Screw that. One of the main purposes of the board is to BE research.

Another of her comments was, “If I have a question, I can just ask you.” And while that’s very true, I am under no illusion I am the sun source of all gun knowledge. I have some knowledge and a certain skill level I am perfectly willing to share, but posting a question on the Self-Defense-Handguns.com message board can net feedback, and ideas, and help, from a whole bunch of people, with different experiences, and ideas. If nothing else, informed, courteous discussion can be entertaining, enjoyable, useful, and spark the thought processes.

What I want from this message board is for it to be a place that shooters, whether competition oriented, self-defense oriented, or simply enjoyment oriented, of all different skill levels, can come together to ask questions, to improve their knowledge base, and know they will be treated with respect, and receive courteous answers. An oasis of civility on the Internet. The topics may be as esoteric as a discussion of the chemical myelin, and how the body works at a cellular level to ensure a very experienced shooter’s skill level survives under the stress of a life threatening encounter – which is admittedly a bit advanced – to “What’s my best first gun purchase?” That’s all a tall goal. But I think we can do it together.