| | | quote | Originally posted by 8Ball:
Thanks everyone.
As for the required class, I am of two minds. I firmly believe I should be allowed to carry without a permit... But I also (obviously) know how to handle a gun. Some of the folks in my class scare the hell out of me. One lady kept pointing her unloaded 357 revolver at my head during class. She was trying to get the hang of using her sights.. Yes it was unloaded but you NEVER point a gun at something you do not intend to shoot. I eventually smacked the gun out of her hand and I formed her of some basic handgun safety... Primarily, if she pointed it at me again I would take it and pistol whip her with it.
Carrying a gun is not the same as public speaking. You can't blow someone's head off by speaking. So I have mixed emotions about the mandatory class. I learned a lot in it and others learned even more. So I am kind of glad we have it. Otherwise she might be pointing a loaded gun at someone in the future. She is also the one who failed because she pointed a loaded firearm at the instructor. |
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I'm actually surprised at the instructor, if they allowed people to sweep others with the business end of a gun, even if unloaded (a gun is _always_ loaded, even when it isn't, is my rule of thumb...except when it is completely disassembled on the bench in front of me for cleaning.)
I would have been pretty verbal at that woman, and then at the instructor, for allowing it to happen. I'm surprised there was much handling 'in the class'. The training I received was bordering on 'super paranoid', where the gun was at the firing booth, pointed down range at all times, magazines (if applicable), set aside. NOBODY handled a gun (except a 'dummy' training prop) in a classroom setting, and even then, the instructor was very pointed about people getting swept with the barrel.
On the others: I see freedom of speech and press as more dangerous than and individual with a firearm. It is very easy to destroy a person with libel or slanderous talk. Take a look at the whole 'Trayvon v Zimmerman' issue. The media has caused an almost incalculable amount of damage with its false reporting. People are being beaten (probably killed) from the racial hatred that has been a direct result of that biased reporting. Politicians use speech to create wars, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes on purpose. Speech is what motivates and demotivates crowds of people into action.
Again, I'm in favor of training. Education is generally a 'good thing', but when it comes to a right that is supposed to be 'inalienable', it should never be 'required'.
