Deaf folks and guns.

[TD2K]

hang in there, and do NOT stop carrying!!! You need it now more than ever in my opinion. If the threat is there, you'll know, and you'll still be able to stop it.

one of my very first students at our "Girls Night Out" is deaf. She's a tiny little lady in her 70s and lives alone, she brought an older 38 special revolver to shoot and was determined to learn how to use it (and she's a pretty good shot). She comes to nearly every event we have, took my Basic Pistol class, just craves learning. She keeps me on my toes too. I have to go over everything at least twice. Once with her reading my lips, once with her watching what I'm showing her. She is truly a blessing to our group, we love having her there.

with all that said, with your background and experience, you'll be fine. I'd worry about you too much if you hung the guns up.

[Bawanna]

I should start a bawanna's ailment of the week thread. Gosh darned if I didn't have to go to the hospital at 4 am this morning feeling like I needed to have a bayonet removed from my lower back. I have a high pain threshold except for teeth but danged if I wasn't hurting.

Turns out I got my very first Kidney stone, actually guess I still have it. Guess I have some pain to endure yet. They finally gave me some magic potion that made the hurt go away and a bunch of Oxycodin (street value 80$ a pill).

Feel like its time for a complete rebuild but at least I got to hang out on Kahrtalk all day without work interruptions. Kind of foggy but still good.

Probably do the same tomorrow. Have a ton of sick leave accumulated, guess thats what its for huh? I always feel guilty though. Missouri work ethic I guess.

[TucsonMTB]

Ouch! I wonder if they can they break it up with ultrasonics?

http://www.livestrong.com/article/13...moval-methods/

Yeah, then you won't have a souvenir, but . . .

[CJB]

Sorry to get into this late...

Bawanna, keep carrying.

I don't think your problem is one of inbound verbal cues, but inbound non-verbal cues - signs of danger that should get your Spidey senses tingling.

Increased awareness via visual input.... help keeping potential threats at bay.

If you think about it, the verbal cue is most easily faked. "Its ok, its ok" as they're reaching for theirs. Actions speak louder than words, you already know this.

In the gravest extreme.... the ability to focus visually is a plus.

In a lot of places.... home and out... a dog can be your ears, and your early warning to something not right.

God bless ya B-man.

[QuercusMax]

I have a stupid staff meeting in about 10 minutes, my least favorite thing in all the world. I've tried for years to get out of them but they just won't let me.

Nothing ever accomplish, bosse's just showing they are still the bosses and an hour or more of my work day down the drain.

Plus it's 9 women and little old me. Lots of fingernail polish and hair talk, not much gun and kuchri talking.

Wow, you really DO have a tough row to hoe! Maybe there is a tiny bright side to hearing loss...

My wife works at a mostly-female business, and I can't believe all of the petty squabbles and hurtful things that go on there. It's like an intense psychological battlefield for her every day. It seems that men and women actually are different, despite what the Utopian left-wingers would have us believe.

[QuercusMax]

And back to the original question:

Loss of one's hearing is a very difficult thing. There is the obvious loss of a key sensory input that we all rely upon to live and survive. But perhaps an even worse difficulty is that deaf or hearing-impaired people are often perceived as "stupid" because they *appear* to be normal, but often cannot partake in conversations. If a person has an obvious physical impairment, others will usually cut them some slack, but in my experience this does not happen for the hearing-impaired.

That said, I will venture a minority opinion here (as I often seem to do) and say that anyone with a serious hearing impairment should be extremely cautious about carrying a gun - if they carry at all - for the reason I mention above. With imperfect hearing, a person does not have all of the sensory perception of a normal person thus might lack some key clues about a developing threat and thus might misjudge the situation. Also the hearing-impaired person might be misunderstood by others, leading to an unnecessary escalation.

Just urging caution and common sense here.

Sorry for weighing in late - as usual, I don't have as much time to hang out here as I would like, for the same reason I don't get as much shooting time in as I would like.

[LorenzoB]

Great news! Too bad about the stone... they can be a real pain.

Here is a joke just for you...

An elderly couple was attending a church service. About halfway through the wife leans over and says, “I just did a silent fart, what do you think I should do?”

The husband replies, “Put a new battery in your hearing aid.”

[HalfCocked]

Man Bawana, I think Plague of Locust is the only think left for you.... seriously, sorry about the stone. Hope you get back on the road soon. Maybe a little hearing humor....

302566_323340734346088_100000104911336_1536724_1464219935_n.jpg

[Starbug]

Oh man, bummer about the kidney stone! I'd look into that ultrasonic blasting mentioned above by TucsonMTB. Hopefully it makes it far less painful and quicker to be rid of.

[Bawanna]

Doc said it was very small. Who knows when it'll go away. At least I don't hurt right now. I might go to work tomorrow, my inbox pays me every day I'm gone. Darn that sounds like a caring worker huh? We'll see what the morning brings.

[CJB]

Been there Bawanna.

First hurt, then the feeling I hadda pee, but I didn't

Finally after several gallons of water, cranberry and beer....

Out they came. Like little black pieces of coral! Instant relief.

[Scoundrel]

I'm going to chime in on the "keep carrying but be extra cautious" side of things, when your hearing does actually go and it's not just a hearing aid glitch + infection.

Sure, you're impaired. That just means you have to be slower to act while you make extra sure you need to. But that only applies in situations that are not obvious, and need figuring out. If a couple of thugs start harrassing you and after sizing you up, one of them pulls out a weapon and approaches you, you do not need ears to figure out what's going on.

It's your hearing that is going away, not your judgement (yet). The fact that you are even considering hanging up the gun belt because of physical impairment is proof that the mental side of things is still working. So keep carrying, and just be more reserved about drawing than you might have been before.

One thing's for sure - if you stop carrying, your ability to defend yourself and your wife is hugely impaired.


How many people that have been shot by police for not following verbal commands were in wheelchairs, I wonder?

[ptoemmes]

Bawanna...blasted stones or not you might ask the doc about pissing through a strainer so you can 1) know you are passing the bolders/sand, 2) they can be analyzed to see if it's a diet thing - like maybe too much beer.

[Bawanna]

Bawanna...blasted stones or not you might ask the doc about pissing through a strainer so you can 1) know you are passing the bolders/sand, 2) they can be analyzed to see if it's a diet thing - like maybe too much beer.

They got me doing that. I've drank enough water to float the Titanic.

They did say they were small compared to some, no need to blast em.

Guess I'm lucky, I don't drink much water, lucky this is my first time.

Had an officer here who drinks lots of water and they had to go in and get his. Guess it really hurt, I can relate to the pain part.
I think this infection in my ears and head isn't helping the situation either.

Guess I'm not a very good multi symptom tasker huh?

[HalfCocked]

they can be analyzed to see if it's a diet thing - like maybe too much beer.

I am not able to comprehend this idea of "too much beer" :001_tt2: Sounds vaguely like a Communist plot to me....