Imagine telling an IPSC champion that you don't trust them to set up a stage 😂. Only a fudd could do such a thing.

I think of a Fudd as a gun owner who only cares about the rights to own the firearms they prefer. An example, a coworker said to me once, "I don't care if they ban AR15's, it's actually probably for the best - I'm just worried that they will keep going and they will ban MY hunting rifle".

Would have been honored to have the distinguished Mr. Ben Stoeger, esquire, extraordinaire, to personally set my stages up for me. What a fudd

Reminds me of some incident years ago, dude who didn't even work for the range got on my case for working on target transitions on a rifle range with a bunch of steel at 100 yards claiming it was dangerous (absolutely nowhere close to any kind of 180 issue), I was maybe 19 or 20 at the time and basically said "Well sure, I don't want to do anything unsafe, but can you explain why that's unsafe? I don't understand" and dude just got mad and stormed off lmao

A Fudd is a Karen wandering around in the wild at the range

Damn, @ 6:30 was spot on. It's like all the fudds speak to each other and have a specific way they are required to act.

The most Fudd answer I ever received was from A6D & DNROI when I asked why thigh straps weren’t allowed in USPSA. Was it a safety issue? Competitive equity issue? No, they’re not allowed because “we don’t want people thinking we’re militia training”. 😑

You brought up a good point on there being two sets of "rules". By having this unwritten special set of rules for a select group it will eventually lead to people getting upset, choosing to disregard any rule and general poor range behavior. Once this rules for thee but not for me starts the word "rule" by definition goes out he window and now it's just a who has privilege and who doesn't. To new shooters who see this it's often confusing certainly does not make for good moral on the range. It's everywhere you go though sadly and there is little chance it will change. Another good reason why going out on your own to a place away from any rules is likely the best and safest option.

I've been enjoying this discussion on Fudds. There's been a ton who have stopped me from training, organizing events, and brining in instructors. My working definition of Fudd is "anyone who thinks other people need more than 4 laws of firearm safety."

Only issue when you give in is you’re allowing them to do what they want when they want. They will continue to do so.

That's Karen, not Elmer.

My older brother is a proud fudd and he’s only 40

Fudd thing is also to invent some range rule that is read nowhere and makes no sense, just to "be sure". I had one guy claim you cannot put targets against the backwall. Because shooting directly at the backwall is not ok. While it LITERALLY is the only place at the range that the bullets are supposed and allowed to go. But no targets there, no, cannot have that. I had to show him screenshots of rules (military range, so I had to read the whole stack just to get all the right parts) and pointed out that I can put targets even more liberally than before was interpreted. You could not never anticipate what these guys come up with but when they open their mouths you pretty much know what's up..

Same issue here at our city range. The set up for Saturday is done by midday Friday. Nevermind that some people have limited time during their week to get to the range. And the setup process probably takes a couple hours and a chimp can do it. It's like range control guys in the army. Control not common sense.

Never split the difference, especially with bullies.

had a similar encounter. was in the bays, this guy wanted to set up a match, but there were plenty of other bays to set up, but he wanted a cold range. Gaslighted by asking for my creds, I had mine, although he didn't even have a current membership. Whatever, I told him we're running 2 more drills and we'll be out. He said that's not good enough. I told him, it's my day off, you don't have the bays, I'm running my drills, so you can have the bay in 30 minutes and walked away.

At the local range our previous range master would tell the range officers not to apply those posted rules to us shooters that were actively shooting matches.

Inflexible

Reminder to self...dont be a fudd...dont be a fudd...dont be a fudd!

I literally watched this exact same thing happen at south river gun club. The guy giving up the bay wasn’t as kind as you thought. It almost came to blows. Fudd vs Fudd in my case

It’s hard to learn new shit when you already know everything.

Should have stood your ground and filmed FUDD reaction for content! Could have gone viral!

Perfect Fudd example.

Always remember what FUDD stands for. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Did you wash your socks in the sink and leave them on the heater to dry out?

Good example, Ben. My home range, same as my practical shooting club's home range, we set up day-before as well. We always use the same bays, we always have them marked off day-before, and the range use scheduler deals with requests for classes etc on those bays during a match weekend. Sounds like that guy was one of those guys who doesn't delegate well and doesn't trust others. Sounds silly that he'd not accept your stage build. Sounds like he had his day planned and it had to go his way or else. Why would he not trust someone of your background and accomplishments to build the stage? It's just as arbitrary as "Fudd," but I prefer "Rent-A-Cop" as a shorthand for people like that guy. Like every mall security etc person I ever encountered as a teen or young adult. Acting like they are the Lord of the Land, since they're Security. I had one such Rent-A-Cop fabricate a complaint to the po-po that I was drag racing and doing burnouts in his mall parking lot. I had to respond in court to this bozo's fakery. He insisted right up until he lost, that he was correct. All he had done was heard an engine rev and tire squeal. He assumed I'd done it because, apparently, he assumed my car was the kind of car that would do this. Rent-A-Cop.

Hahahaha roflol ... I can soooo relate to your comments Ben ... especially the ones about the rules and the "other" rules.

My home range has a 600yd rnage that is all but off-limits to anyone except the hi-power/service rifle guys. The club president flat-out REFUSES to create a training program to allow anyone else to use it. Yet the dues increase every year.....

Ben, maybe the FUDD just didn't like your flowing hair. 😂

No matter what it seems some classic "Richard" always gets control of a range or club. The nick name for Richard is "Dick".

If the range was rented for the purpose...I guess Mr. Elmer Fudd would have to cover the cost of moving/change...? But it sounded like someone who wanted to be right no matter ! Not very cooperative

Dear Fudds, Ignorance ain't bliss.

Where are you in VA?

Lmao this sounds just like my old man. I wouldn't call him a fudd, but he bitch his ass off if someone kept him from setting up his match when he wanted. Luckily our club doesn't run into these issues often.

Awesome. I learned another word for asshole! 🤣

for the memes you should get a stoeger pistol, the cheapest one you can find and get ben etched into the slide before the word stoeger, im assuming its somewhere on the slide lol

Elmer

You should have given the Funt's name

He doesn't sound like a fudd, necessarily. He does sound like a Democrat, though. Thanks for the share!!

Sounds more like a narcissistic tyrant having a tantrum when things aren’t going his way, based off the given description.

Are you THEE Ben from Ben Folds 5???

This is why I feel that this word - "fudd" is absolutely meaningless at this point. Everyone has their own deffinition. Not that I have a problem with your definition, if it was the only one out there. But it is not. Based on the most common context it is roughly - "Someone I disagree with on the subject related to firearms who (in my opinion) knows less than I do."

Cider House rules. Why don't they just say stay off the damn roof?

You and Trench Grenade really hate Fudds lol

hey brother, I’m a true appreciator of your thoughts, coming from a long background nobody needs an explanation of, but also a nobody who’ll keep being a nobody, so I have the convenience of being able to speak as I would to any good friend, just chillin on the couch… (incidentally that how I speak with most people and, no, they’d not always the direct line to winning) I 100% relate with and embrace the frustration, but I just don’t think that’s the essence of the word when Most people use it, which is the only reason we care about the word of we’re not folks who walk around sorting the world into fudds and chads or whatever. “fudd” is a particularly firearms-related concept. I’ve gone years- or decades-deep into a fair amount of fields, and I can’t think of a direct “fudd” equivalent in other fields, at least until you get so abstract that the word “fudd” isn’t meaningful anymore. that annoying dude rolled in with momentum and an expectation of zero friction and ran into a wall, and he didn’t process it well. part of that was his mental rigidity, and part of it was his sense of authority (I’m generally the person on the range who knows what’s up). These are both profoundly common. That dynamic happens in circles of human children who can’t yet legibly write the full alphabet with a pencil. There’s a lot of reasons he could’ve been that way and acted bossy: - he could be sincerely mistaken about right and wrong (range schedule, override authority) and just be dutifully managing what he saw was some mistaken people loitering in a range that was needed for his important business - he could neurologically not amenable to variation from routine (some famous contributors to human progress got through life like that, and millions and millions more exist) - he could be an asshole who literally doesn’t care what the calendar said and was just glad to run into a scenario where he could try to sht on someone - etc …but none of these things are what “fudd” means. that exchange has happened between soccer moms, between teachers sharing class and lab space, between kids on playgrounds, between gamers online eating doritos and yelling slurs at each other. that’s just the intersection of Calendars and Misunderstanding and Territorialism. it’s not far from one dog being mad because the other dog took away what’s usually the first dog’s toy. “fudd” (a term I don’t find use for, but mostly get when people say it) is a concept within firearms society of what a life in firearms Should be. it’s a term of contrast that emerged during the solidification of “the tactical shift”. plenty of fudds can be plenty adult about scheduling and use of space and adapting to change, and plenty of tacticools can be little bitches about confused administrative territorialism. so I know “fudd” has connotations of being a downer, buzz killington, etc, but those are more general notions. this guy was attempting to impose administrative authority unduly (with or without knowing it), and that’s a classic Administrative concept (all the way back to whose turn it is on the swingset) and not a Firearms concept. humbly, -nobody

the Fudd mentality seems incredibly similar to the baby boomer mentality....

Sounds like classic boomer entitlement. They are so use to getting their way.

Neuroplasticity

9:19...cool

My friends and I call it "Animal House" theory lol. Not all animals are created equal...

Fudd = Gun Karen

Ben, I’m surprised at the sentiment you just expressed about “rules not running ranges” at 6:12. Wouldn’t you agree that personnel who are charged with running a range should have the discretion to allow certain activities and make exceptions to rules? You are the classic example of someone who is highly experienced at controlling and running a class. I know, I’ve been to one of them. The basic rules are enforced to keep the lowest common denominator shooters safe. That said , I don’t think the rules should be so hard, fast and inflexible to not allow well reasoned exceptions. Gotta disagree with you my friend - one size DOES NOT fit all. As to your Fudd experience, I completely agree with your perspective. Sometimes the shooting community can be its own worst enemy when we fail to get along in our rapidly shrinking sand boxes

It bothers me to see people using Airpods as earpro, because I know they aren't NRR rated. Does that make me one?

Sounds more like a Karen than a fudd. I thought fudd was more like u only need 5 rounds and a revolver and if you gotta shoot him more than once you can't shoot!

Ben, now to me your talking about Jerks and Hypocrites and they have been at all Gun Ranges, Jobs, Churches, Military (they have a great number of Them) and everywhere else. Now to me a Fudd is someone who asked Captain Combat (the black gun kid) to slow down and thinks because, THEY have already pointed the gun at me and now THEY are killing the wooden blind Above the berm, but they can use their nice target again because there are No holes in it. I have some of your books and watch the videos, there very good. Ben, you also selective disciplinant, meaning you do the right thing when it will benefit you, that's also nothing new, but it would make you painful in the military and or on the job. That's why you run your own company, so you can be your own boss. My old man comes to mind, same mentality, he was self employed all his life. :)

Fudd=Karen

Weird that you guys moved. Psychologically you’ve just validated that man’s wrong behavior.

I think you mean boomers haha. "He is going to get his way" = entitled (most boomers are)

It would be outrages to think that insurance overhead for a range would be a factor in some "Fudd" range owners mind. I have no horse in the race or in any way condone what you guys call "FUDISM" but imagine having the actual figures of what a range costs verses profit based off of insurance coverage alone. Its easy to cry and complain about what people do and don't allow at their ranges but it doesn't take a bachelors degree let alone a GED to understand that to even get on a ranges insurance plan as an instructor is a huge privilege.

hey brother, I’m a true appreciator of your thoughts, coming from a long background nobody needs an explanation of, but also a nobody who’ll keep being a nobody, so I have the convenience of being able to speak as I would to any good friend, just chillin on the couch… (incidentally that how I speak with most people and, no, they’d not always the direct line to winning) I 100% relate with and embrace the frustration, but I just don’t think that’s the essence of the word when Most people use it, which is the only reason we care about the word of we’re not folks who walk around sorting the world into fudds and chads or whatever. “fudd” is a particularly firearms-related concept. I’ve gone years- or decades-deep into a fair amount of fields, and I can’t think of a direct “fudd” equivalent in other fields, at least until you get so abstract that the word “fudd” isn’t meaningful anymore. that annoying dude rolled in with momentum and an expectation of zero friction and ran into a wall, and he didn’t process it well. part of that was his mental rigidity, and part of it was his sense of authority (I’m generally the person on the range who knows what’s up). These are both profoundly common. That dynamic happens in circles of human children who can’t yet legibly write the full alphabet with a pencil. There’s a lot of reasons he could’ve been that way and acted bossy: - he could be sincerely mistaken about right and wrong (range schedule, override authority) and just be dutifully managing what he saw was some mistaken people loitering in a range that was needed for his important business - he could neurologically not amenable to variation from routine (some famous contributors to human progress got through life like that, and millions and millions more exist) - he could be an asshole who literally doesn’t care what the calendar said and was just glad to run into a scenario where he could try to sht on someone - etc …but none of these things are what “fudd” means. that exchange has happened between soccer moms, between teachers sharing class and lab space, between kids on playgrounds, between gamers online eating doritos and yelling slurs at each other. that’s just the intersection of Calendars and Misunderstanding and Territorialism. it’s not far from one dog being mad because the other dog took away what’s usually the first dog’s toy. “fudd” (a term I don’t find use for, but mostly get when people say it) is a concept within firearms society of what a life in firearms Should be. it’s a term of contrast that emerged during the solidification of “the tactical shift”. plenty of fudds can be plenty adult about scheduling and use of space and adapting to change, and plenty of tacticools can be little bitches about confused administrative territorialism. so I know “fudd” has connotations of being a downer, buzz killington, etc, but those are more general notions. this guy was attempting to impose administrative authority unduly (with or without knowing it), and that’s a classic Administrative concept (all the way back to whose turn it is on the swingset) and not a Firearms concept. I’m normally not the lexicon guy, so I only mention it because you led the video with context that you were specifically clarifying for the curious precisely What a fudd is …and then just described a territorial and uptight administrator of a shared facility, which is the commonest thing in the world. humbly, -nobody :)