mr m.marino: You make an excellent point about LEO training, pencil whipping training requirements, and the fact that law enforcement and the military shoot the wrong people all the time. You're making the same points I've been making on these forums. If people who routinely train in tactical shooting scenarios frequently get it wrong, what makes you think that as an untrained citizen you'll get it right? There is only one way you'll be effective as that "good guy with a gun"; training and practice. Lots of practice. If you don't do that, then you're just hoping that you'll come to the rescue. Hope is a lousy strategy. I know training like that is expensive. I was lucky and did almost all of mine on the government nickel. I would like to see our government and/or gun enthusiast groups like the NRA step up and create fairly low cost training programs. Talk to your reps about that one!
As has already been explained and cited to you, armed citizens shoot far fewer innocent bystanders than supposedly more trained officers. The most likely reason is that citizens arm themselves to protect themselves, where officers have other reasons. There are also a number of papers that have questions the effect of training for permits, specifically stating there is no measurable benefit.
Did you know that the NRA runs a deficit on their training material that they print? That's right, they lose money to facilitate their training program. This organization, that you have become a member of, has also offered numerous free seminars on the best practices and legalities of OC. Hey, but that doesn't stop you from opening your mouth about something you don't understand.
Tracking serial numbers so as to track conduits from good hands to bad hands is something law enforcement officials have been asking for for years. We have to start somewhere. Progress will be incremental. But if we start choking off the flow of guns to the wrong hands, illegal gun prices go up. Supply and demand. You'll price the street thugs right out of the gun market.
Essentially A does not lead to B like you assume. As proof, I again offer Michigan as an example. After decades and decades of registering pistols, our database has yet to be used to solve a single crime. That's right, not one. I also again offer Canada's registry that they just abolished for the same reason as another example.
Choking off supply to criminals would be a good thing, but registration will not get you there and I haven't even brought up the harm registration causes.
That starts by making gun owners more aware of their very sober responsibility, that what they own is a deadly weapon with the potential to do an incredible amount of harm, and they should treat that firearm and its ownership with the respect it deserves. We have an epidemic of gun owners who don't do that. The other day I was reading a story of a guy who was using his laser sight to tease the cat. He set the gun down, left the room, and one of his kids shot another kid. That's a fairly normal occurrence in our nation, the kind of base level stupidity that we need to address.
Such incidents are tragic for sure, but they must be put into perspective. Accidental firearm related deaths for children are at an all time low and only account for
1.4% of unintentional fatalities in children under 14. Essentially, firearm owners are pretty safe and getting safer.
Our friends over at MGO were given an award for their work with Project Childsafe this year and I have personally taught numerous classes where we've covered properly storing a firearm. What are you doing?
I firmly believe in the right to bear arms. With that right comes a lot of responsibility, responsibility I don't see being exercised very often. Living in a free society with our fellow citizens requires compromise. But I'm not talking about compromising just to do something. It is very evident to me that our current gun regulatory system is broken. Most people agree. So how do we address the issues of gun safety, criminals, crazies, and the merely stupid? We the gun owners are the experts and have the most skin in the game. If we put our heads together, we can come up with smart solutions that balance 2A rights with the need for public safety.
But living in denial and saying no to everything won't work, long-term. Despite what some people believe, public opinion is not turning in our favor. There are large, increasingly well-funded groups out there who would love to ban guns. If we are not pro-active, if we continue to say no to every change, we cede the decision making to people who are anti-gun and we won't like the results.
An armed society and safety are not antithetical to each other. That is your most fundamental error.
What can we do? As I have previously told you, start by enforcing our current laws. The NRA has been screaming this for years. Gun owners agree that criminals who would use a firearm for harm should be taken off the streets, but our government by-and-large won't enforce our existing laws leaving these people free to do more harm.
Will you actually read my responses this time or ignore them again?
