I attend continental hunts with some frequency. I find this to be the common theme that certainly relates:
Doubleguns = proper attire + proper sportsmanship + proper respect for game + good shooting.
Pumps and Autos = a$$h@le in jeans + crappy shooting + unsafe gun handling.
A properly trained gentleman can shoot anything safely, however stereotypes are telling 95% of the time.
I find the statement above beyond ridiculous. Although I shoot and hunt with doubles 99% of the time now, my Dad and Uncles who brought me into the sport and shaped my attitudes toward safety were all pump and auto guys. I was allowed to use only single shots until I could prove safe gun handling habits and shooting prowess. I was continually warned that even one minor infraction such as swinging my muzzle at any other person for any reason... loaded or unloaded... was grounds to be banned from ever accompanying them again. I had no question that they meant this. They flat out told me they would never hunt with anyone who might accidently shoot someone. No second chances! Period!
Most of the folks I've hunted and shot with since those days also use something besides doubleguns. Very very few have exhibited poor shooting and unsafe gun handling in spite of the fact that many wore jeans and shot pumps and autos. I think the fact that most states have mandatory hunter safety courses now for beginners, some of the bad habits that were passed on from one generation to another have slowly been bred out of the sport. The statistics for accidental shootings and fatalities among hunters and shooters bears this out. To say that "Pumps and Autos = a$$holes in jeans+ crappy shooting + unsafe gun handling" is just wrong and it gives factually incorrect ammunition to anti-gunners.
