We need them.....

From the Firearms Instructor side: As most of my regular readers know (both of you) that in my Army and Police careers I was a firearms (weapons) instructor.  I tried to add up how many Cops and Soldiers I’ve run through ranges and advanced courses… I’m not good at math, so help me out.  For the Army/ Cal Guard we qualified at least once a year, for 19 years (the first year I was too dumb to know anything).  … About 70-100 troops per range. 

A handy off duty weapon: M249 SAW

For police work, 32 years (the first year I was cop, I helped on the range base on having been a grunt).  We’d have ranges about 4 times a year, with between 20-40 per range. 

And then there were the Boy Scout ranges I ran on vacations when my boys were in Scouts.  Round that off to about 200 kids and adults. 

So, I know a little about weapons and teaching others to shoot.   What have I learned?

1.)    Firearms very rarely shoot by themselves.  They need a human to load and fire them.  Most “modern” handguns have 2 or more safety systems built into them- they will not fire unless the trigger is pulled.  This takes a human, or in some cases a monkey. (Firing pin blocks, trigger safety, and some have a thumb safety. the 1911 of course has the grip safety)

2.)    Many Cops and Soldiers do not practice with their duty weapon as often as they should.  In some cases this is due to budgets, in MANY cases it is because they don’t like shooting….and often they suck at it.  This can be corrected with good training.

3.)    Many senior Cops and Solders will not listen to a range master when he/she tries to help them shoot better.  Funny, the civilians who’ve paid lots of money do listen. 

4.)    There are a few citizens, public officials and others who are afraid of all guns.  This is to the point of being a mental illness.  We can’t correct this problem.  If you know anything about phobias, like arachnid phobia, hydra phobia, clown phobia, you know that these people can’t help it.  They are very much afraid of these things and we can’t change that.  However, we don’t like folks who are freaked out by spiders write laws to kill all spiders.  We need spiders. 

We also need guns.  Guns are used for lots of GOOD things everyday.  Today, for example, over 2 million guns were NOT used to commit any crimes today.  Because they are owned by honest, law abiding citizens. 

Today, not far from where I live, there are dozens of good citizens knocking little round clay things out of the sky with some very expensive shotguns.  There are others at another range shooting all kinds of rifles, pistols and shotguns at paper targets. 

Before this day is over, there will be some good citizens somewhere who are legally using some type of firearms to defend themselves or others. 

Remember, the cops are only 6 minutes away, when you need them in 20 seconds. 

The anti gunner nuts never mention the good things firearms are used for.  They want to ban all guns…they’ll start with some now, and work on the rest later.  This year it’s semi auto rifles that they like to call “assault rifles.”  However, most citizens I know who legally own these types of guns, use them for target shooting.  Why?  Because they are very accurate.  The M16’s we qualified with in the Army were able to fire a 3 shot group at 25 meters with the holes touching each other.  That’s accurate. 

The problem is you can’t explain anything to an anti gunner.  When they see or hear “gun” they freak out.  Remember, it’s like somebody who’ afraid of spiders or clowns--- you can’t reason with them…it’s a mental illness.  Their eyes glaze over, they start having fits, frothing at the mouth, a big rise in blood pressure….and their brains shut down. 

It’s a form of mental illness.  I hope the NRA will soon recognize this and start a collection to get these poor assholes some help. 

 I also think that if you study the gun laws in the US, you’ll see that the cities and states with the most restrictive gun laws, also have the highest violent crime rates.  Cities and states that have “shall issue” concealed weapons permit laws have lower violent crime rates.  Why?