Sunday, December 14, 2014

Stagecoach Etiquette #6: Firearms Allowed


Sunday December 14 2014

It's time we review rule number 6 of Stagecoach Etiquette, for the day and time this method of travel returns.

"Firearms may be kept on your person for use in emergencies. Do not fire them for pleasure or shoot at wild animals as the sound riles the horses."

I can see where, in the old days, everybody walked and rode around with a revolver in their hip holster. It was the old days, and the Wild West, after all. Heck, a local Owyhee guy rides every day with his revolver in his hip holster (Is his horse used to shooting? I haven't asked.) Some of the local ranchers wear their revolvers in the local diner for lunch. In fact, I expect there are more guns per capita in Owyhee than there are people in Owyhee. 

But: "Do not fire them for pleasure…" - really? This needs to be a written rule? I can’t think of any passenger within the small confines of the stagecoach that would derive any pleasure from some nimrod firing pleasurably from inside of it, nor would the horses pulling the stage appreciate it, whether or not they are broke to shooting, which I sure want them to be, if I’m riding in the coach!

Besides, there’s the obvious fact that the shooter won’t be able to hit any wild game from inside the stagecoach. Have you ever ridden in a stagecoach or wagon? It’s bumpy. It whips around behind the horses a bit. And it’s often crowded.

So, ride with your firearms in the stagecoach but, use your common sense, and don’t fire them while aboard!


Review the others:
Stagecoach Etiquette #5.

Stagecoach Etiquette #4.

Stagecoach Etiquette #3.

Stagecoach Etiquette #2.

Stagecoach Etiquette #1.

6 comments:

  1. One of those TV shooting shows (I think it was Top Shot) had a competition where the guys fired at targets from a moving stagecoach. Crack shots missed target after target. It was a lot harder than they thought.

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  2. Can't even imagine how much ringing my ears would be doing if a gun was fired in a crowded coach. I guess maybe in the old days it was better to state the rules flat out just in case there was a moron or two boarding the stage coach.

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