There is one thing for sure: There are plenty of people online with below-average intelligence, and many of them have adequate typing skills.

The way some people act when they believe they are anonymous almost destroys your faith in humanity. Not too bright when dealing with someone that can write computer code in his sleep. I’m pretty sure aliens fly by Earth, roll up their windows, and lock their doors.

“Sometimes, the key to safety is avoiding idiots.”

For a good reason, I tend to restrain myself from giving online shooting advice most days. If I do, it’s when I see something that’s dangerous. Unfortunately, that is more common than I would like to admit. Even in those cases, I will send a private email—no reason to purposely kick a hornet’s nest.

You would be surprised how many times I tried to politely warn someone what they were doing was potentially catastrophic. Yes, you guessed it. They said I didn’t know what I was talking about. Welcome to the world of online shooting advice.

Many successful competition shooters have come to a similar conclusion. When reputable shooters offer advice, they will speak it once and wash their hands of it. The person chooses to accept help or fly their ego into a crater.

Distinguished shooters will not waste their time arguing with trolls unless they are bored and want a good laugh. Sometimes I wonder if some of these people seeking online shooting advice really want answers or are just being a jerk. I have seen reputable shooters often give online advice, only to be called an idiot.

My first several drafts of this article included incidents I had witnessed. Like clockwork, the moment I put a story on paper, some douchebag would say, “Wait, hold my beer!” Eventually, I removed the entire section from this article. That’s too bad because they were great stories, but people kept upping the buy-in price.

Now the question arises: Why does any of this matter? Simple; a large portion of the advice I have seen is false and potentially dangerous. Trying to help out publicly is about as advisable as visiting Typhoid Mary in the kissing booth.

Let’s be honest; reloading is making small bombs and setting them off next to our face. Do you want to take advice from an anonymous individual disguised as the master of the universe? Chances are that if you do, you have inadvertently removed yourself from the gene pool.

“Simply because someone has a smartphone and a computer, that doesn’t make them an expert.”

Reputable competition shooters are more than happy to help the willing. It is in all of our best interests that someone has a positive experience in shooting. Maybe someday I will look at the person next to me on the firing-line, and it will be someone I had helped in the past.

Seriously, that would be really cool. I would be rooting for them to better me at the match because that’s how I roll.

Are you in need of some advice? Feel free to send me an email. I certainly don’t have the answers to everything, but probably know someone that has the answers you seek.

If you run into some jerks online, ignore them. They think that being obnoxious makes what they have to say valid.

Update: Since the original writing of this article, less than a handful of reputable shooters are making great videos. As of now, I will not recommend them until I meet them. I would hate to recommend someone and find out later. They are the type of person that needs throat punched—been there done that. 

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