Hollywood:
1) I simply mean that using a pick gun is not really the same as manual picking, which is what we are all here for, no? CP appears to be new to lockpicking, and I felt it would be more helpful for him to learn solid picking technique, rather than using a pick gun.
2) I really don't see what any of this has to do with being able to afford tools. I own a commercially produced pick gun. I bought it when I first started learning to pick, and before I really understood much of this stuff at all. I can certainly afford the tool, I own the tool, so I can assure you that my comments were not motivated by jealousy, if that is what you were implying.
3) Canadian Picker is new to this forum, and I tend to be at least cautiously suspect of those who come to this site and start asking about pick guns et al early on. On one hand, there is a novelty and attraction for the beginner to a "magic" tool that can open up any lock without any skill at all that has nothing to do with unethical purposes. On the other, I can certainly imagine many people who might look to us for information about these types of tools for nefarious purposes.
If CP is genuinely interested in hobby lockpicking - which I actually suspect is the case - I simply hoped to convey that manual picking is a more pure skill. IMH?O, pick guns are to picking what cheat codes are to gaming.
If CP is actually someone with less than honourable intentions, I wanted to convey that pick guns are not, as I said, a "magic bullet" that will open "regular locks found on house doors".
And lastly, I think my answer was still more valuable to him than just telling him to use the search button, which I admit was my first instinct.
db