Showing posts with label Firearms training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Firearms training. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Why we should really worry about some gun owners


 
Gun fanatic James Yeager
For the most part, the gun-owning-public is a safe bunch using and maintaining their guns properly and are a credit to this lifestyle.  However, in my mind at least, this does not include the cowboys with concealed carry permits that take their firearms out on the street to protect the citizenry of this country.  I don’t care if it is legal—it shouldn’t be—probably none of this group is fully trained as in law enforcement and some have no training at all.  Like in Arizona where all it takes to buy a gun is a warm body.  And there are several other states nationwide that do not require training to purchase a gun.
 
So that’s my soapbox on the concealed carry permit for the day, but there’s more to this story.  It is my way of illustrating the need for more control in the purchasing of firearms, particularly in the training the new gun owner should undergo.  In addition, a written and hands-on test should be given at the end and if the person doesn’t pass, he or she loses their gun until they do.  This should be retroactive to include all current gun owners, an unfortunate demand on states, but certainly worth the effort.  Gun owners will scream but it is the only way to insure responsible gun ownership.
 
And this need becomes so evident on a daily basis through the bizarre things that take place in relation to people and firearms. 
 
As an example, a mother in New York added some interesting items to her 7-year-old kid’s lunch in his backpack.  Along with a peanut butter sandwich, she placed a flare gun, a 22-caliber pistol, a loaded magazine, and 14 extra bullets, just in case.  The mother, Deborah Farley, said she had been out walking the streets of Queens earlier in the week when she had placed the guns in her son’s backpack, forgetting to take them out.  She was arrested for child endangerment and criminal possession of an unregistered firearm.  Police also found marijuana in her home.  So where did she get the gun?
 
And then those who are so eager to protect all of us by packing heat on the streets, can’t even participate in a rally for the support of gun rights without accidentally injuring themselves and others around them with their firearms.  
 
In Raleigh, NC, at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show, Gary Lynn Wilson had brought his 12-gauge shotgun to the event to sell to a private buyer; it discharged when being inspected at the entrance to the show.  Three people were injured.  The show shut down early.
 
Emory L. Cozee was loading his 45-caliber semi-automatic when he shot himself in the hand at the Indy 500 Gun and Knife Show.  What is interesting is that loaded personal weapons aren’t allowed inside the show.
 
Then in Ohio, a gun dealer was checking a semi-automatic handgun he had purchased when he accidentally pulled the trigger injuring his friend when the bullet ricocheted off the floor hitting him in the arm and the leg.
 
Now, I am certainly no expert on firearms but common sense does ring through loudly in all the above cases.  Shouldn’t Wilson have emptied the shotgun of all ammunition before even packing it up to bring to the show?  Shouldn’t Cozee have known loaded weapons were not allowed in the show and removed the rounds from his 45?  And shouldn’t the Ohio gun dealer have had the proper firearms training and known to be more careful in the handling of his weapon in public?  This is exactly why I worry about these gunslingers walking the streets with guns many have no idea how to use.
 
And then the ultimate example.  James Yeager, a wacko from Tennessee who is the CEO of Tactical Response, a firearms and tactical training company, said he would start killing people if further gun control policies are passed.  It was in a video posted on You Tube and Facebook, later revised to take out the killing part.  The Tenn. Dept. of Safety has now suspended Yeager’s handgun carry permit.  He was called irresponsible, dangerous, and deserving immediate attention by the Dept. Commissioner.  If ever there was a case of a disturbed individual with a firearm, Mr. Yeager fits the bill.
 
But all of the above no doubt continue to walk around with their weapons, except for Yeager, who probably still maintains an arsenal at his business and home.  Equally as wacky as Yeager, the head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), Wayne LaPierre, has instilled the kind of absolutist mentality in some gun owners, the gun nuts, that produces the fanatical reactions to any kind of gun control as evidenced by Yeager.  Another fanatic that comes to mind is Larry Pratt, exec. Dir. Of Gun Owners of America, a group known to be even more radical on gun rights than the NRA. 
 
The time for gun control has definitely arrived.
 

Friday, January 18, 2013

Georgia home invasion mom proves need for firearms training for gun owners


First of all, Donnie Herman’s wife, Melinda, deserves praise for the courage she displayed in protecting her two children from an intruder with her husband’s .38 revolver.  Herman talked his wife through the incident while also talking to a 911 operator.  The intruder had a crowbar and was breaking through doors in the house obviously planning to do harm to anyone he encountered.  Until two weeks prior, Melinda had never fired a gun when Donnie took her shooting because he thought she should be familiar with the family’s gun.  “If he opens up the door, you shoot him!  You understand?  Donnie said.
The only way to safely own a gun
Well she emptied the six-shot revolver hitting the guy with five rounds in the torso and face, missing with one.  Well, the guy was not only able to get up, he actually got in his SUV and drove off, crashing just a short distance away.  The gun rights bunch says she needed a weapon capable of firing more rounds.  I say Melinda, and Donnie should have been required to go through strenuous firearms training just to have the .38 in the house.  If she couldn’t bring him down with five shots hitting him in the face and torso, allowing him to escape, she may never have brought him down.

I can’t drive my car without a license that I can get only if I have had sufficient training to properly operate the vehicle.  It is beyond me how they can allow an individual to own a gun without the necessary training to use it.  I did a post back in May, “Gun deaths versus car crash fatalities…who wins?” revealing from a report that gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in 10 states.  A car is designed to provide transportation from one place to another.  A gun is designed to kill.  The Hermans have two guns in their home but it isn’t clear whether that is a benefit or an obstacle to their safety.
The CNN article on this issue states, "It's more common for an armed homeowner in the United States to be a victim of suicide, homicide, assault or an accidental shooting than it is for that person to shoot an intruder," according to Dr. Arthur Kellermann, a senior health policy analyst at Rand Corporation, a non-partisan think tank.  And many experts agree, contrary to being a protection to their safety, crowds of people rush out to purchase a gun but never properly learn how to use it.  The FBI conducted about 2.8 million checks for gun purchases this past December, a record high for a month.     

Wacky Wayne LaPierre’s National Rifle Assn. (NRA) strongly opposes requiring any firearms training connected to obtaining a concealed carry permit.  As an example, the NRA objected to a requirement of only four hours training for a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin.  There is no doubt why gun control advocates just shake their heads at this kind of ignorance and complete disregard for the rights of those who don’t want to die in gun violence.  Unfortunately, some of this group reacts with apathy and the attitude that it only happens to others, not them.
As far as I can determine, only 3 states require any firearms training in connection with owning a gun.  They are the District of Columbia, Maryland and Ohio.

ThinkProgress spoke with a number of NRA members at their St. Louis convention last April and found that many supported gun safety training to acquire a concealed carry permit.  I agree with this, although I think the CC permit itself should come with restrictions based on need.  But let’s be honest, wouldn’t it be a safer America if everyone who owns a gun was forced to learn how to use it?  Remember, there are 300 million firearms on the streets of the United States.  How many owners are trained on how to use them?  My guess is a very sparse number.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Gun owners need “rigorous training” according to the experts

Ariz. Wis. gun bubba
Don’t know about your state but in Arizona you can buy a handgun and carry it around anywhere you want to, even concealed, and you don’t have to have 1 second of training.  You can imagine the danger running around the streets of this state, gun worshippers with a gun in their pocket who don’t have the slightest idea how to use it.  Concealed carry advocate, Todd Nehls, wants the gun population better trained, no doubt recognizing the stupidity of Arizona gun laws.

Nehls is the Sheriff of Dodge County, Wisconsin, and although I disagree with his support of concealed carry, he has made some good points that should be considered seriously by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its membership.  Nehls asks all gun owners, “Are you ready?” meaning have you had sufficient training that would allow you in an emergency in your home to act responsibly.  I replace his reference to a “store” because I believe guns belong at home.

Nehls offers that “In Wisconsin, the state Department of Justice has received more than 108,000 applications for concealed carry permits…” since the state made it legal in December of 2011.  And I thought Arizona was gun crazy.  But the training these people will end up with is nothing compared to what law enforcement officers will receive.  Here’s the difference according to Nehls:

“…law enforcement officers go through several hours of incident simulation training a year to prepare them for pulling the trigger on another person. They face off with instructors or other officers, firing high-speed paintball shells at each other. Military personnel also go through rigorous training so they know the ramifications of pulling the trigger.  {The cops} can be put through any of 350 different scenarios that they might encounter on the street.”


Is this a joke?

OK.  Let’s stop right here for a bit of debate on whether or not these cowboys who claim that they need a gun in their possession to protect themselves in case of an emergency are ready for the challenge.  Unless you are a former cop or were trained in the military, you are not!  One of your own has just made my point and you can quote all of the NRA garbage you want, even bring Wayne LaPierre to my house to argue, but your premise is still pure crap.

Wisconsin’s Trayvon Martin was an innocent 20-year-old black man by the name of Bo Morrison who was killed by Adam Kind.  Morrison had fled from a party being raided by police and hid on a fully enclosed porch at the back of Kind’s home.  In this instance the intruder was in someone’s home, but the question is to what extent was Kind in danger to make him shoot in supposed self defense.  Nehls said a trained cop would have yelled a challenge.  Did Kind?

Brian Dorow, associate dean in the department of criminal justice, homeland security and counterterrorism said, “Generally, deadly force - intentional use of a firearm that could result in a death - is justified only when someone reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm.


Stand Your Ground Law
 Did either Adam Kind or George Zimmerman believe this?  It’s doubtful based on the information we have in both scenarios.  But it would be most interesting to know how much training each had in the handling of a handgun.  My gut tells me again that a sufficient amount is doubtful.

Donald Trump Says He Will Be Indicted On Tuesday

  THAT'S TODAY... Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought the case to this point, now looking at a possible indictment. Trum...