That said, as someone who has carried for 7 years, it wouldn’t hurt at all for classes to spend more time on things like holsters, carry positions, how to move and do various things while carrying, etc. I don’t see how you can make this a legal requirement, though, and we would only be placing more obstacles in the way of concealed carry by trying.

There’s also a lot of rank stupidity in this thread. Like concealed carry with a thumb-break holster – WTF? Thumb breaks are for slowing down a person who is trying to take your gun, which is irrelevant if they don’t know that you have a gun to take in the first place. A good quality holster will retain the gun perfectly well under any circumstances (short of someone grabbing it) without a thumb strap, and modern, high-quality guns don’t go off when dropped anyways. And a thumb break may very well cost you the half-second that makes the difference between stopping a thug and being his next victim. People, please use some common sense and get at least some training from someone who knows what the hell they’re talking about before you start carrying.

Here is another recent self-inflicted shooing:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009501296_webpassenger20.html

I don’t know if the shooter had a carry permit.

A pot-smoking MP? That’s a new one. Smoke away if you got ‘em White Helmet, not on duty though. But until someone convinces me that I have no natural right to defend myself and others I happen to be near from deadly attack, you know where you can stick your intolerance, right up there with your s—. Thanks again for your service.

No need to be so cranky, Russ. During the years the Model 1911 .45 ACP was in use, the Services taught the rank and file that it was unsafe to carry the pistol with a round in the chamber. I cite the Bluejackets Manual of 1944 as but one example,”It is dangerous to carry the pistol thus loaded and, except in emergencies, the pistol should be carried with the chamber empty, unless otherwise directed by proper authority.” The pistol was not to be carried loaded in garrison except by military police on duty. It is no surprise that decades of this kind of training to millions of soldiers, sailors, and Marines has lingered in the civilian world of concealed carry. You are correct of course, the 1911 was designed to be safely carried with one in the chamber and full cock with thumb safety on… but this entails lots of training, much practice, and a high degree of personal responsibility. For self-defense, the modern revolver should be carried uncocked with a round in every chamber of the cylinder. It will not discharge when dropped.

The right answer is to live in a responsible society. No-one seems to realize that the point of the big government takeover is to achieve the exact opposite–to promote an irresponsible society. No amount of “gun training” is going to take someone who can’t think their way out of a wet paper bag and make the competent and vigilant. Our society is eating itself from the inside out.

Based on the reasoning I see here, you shouldn’t carry at all. If you think carrying without a round in the chamber is a “solution,” let me ask–what happens when you do “rack the slide” because you “feel threatened,” and then you don’t know how to handle the thing, because the round in the chamber makes you nervous? After all, you never carry that way, and you’ve always treated it like there’s not a round in the chamber. The only time a round is ever there is on the range, and they have a nice backstop for you to shoot at, and nice people to tell you when to shoot.

Or when you “rack the slide” while someone is slitting your throat? Oh, that’s right, concealed carry holders don’t need to draw quickly. You always have several minutes after a threat appears to “get ready.” “Hang on there, buddy, I’ll be with you in a minute on that wallet thing, I just have to get this slide to rack.” With your hands sweating and body going crazy, you’re falling back on fine motor skills to get in the fight.

Bottom line: Train the way you carry and fight. Treat the gun as loaded. And don’t expect a society that’s enamored of television, and filled with churches and schools that no longer teach people to think, to be a safe society, whether guns, cars, boats, or pens are involved. Stupid people do stupid things. You want to solve the problem with firearm training? You have to start by teaching people to think. And the government would then shut you down, because, after all, they don’t want you to think, just emote.

Russ

Gun Control Laws are derived from the insane theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to a cop how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The Truth will out.....]

tell that to a 105 pound woman being preyed upon by a 250 pound man.

http://www.rainn.org/statistics/

or maybe you aren’t concerned personally about someone twice your size forcibly penetrating you.

Last year 37,000 people died on the nations highways, of which 5200 were motorcyclists. Motorcycle fatalities have doubled since 1997, the only stat that shows an increase in the same period. In 2007, the latest year for which I can obtain statistics, 1400 children between the ages of infant to 14 died in vehicle related accidents.

The largest contributor to the reduction in highway deaths in 2008 was $4.00 plus per gallon gasoline, which dramatically reduced total miles driven.

Deathrates for firearm related accidents have declined since 1904, even though the number of firearms in the possession of US citizens has increased dramatically. There are about 500 accidental deaths associated with firearms for all age groups.

And this is our refutation to all of the progressive nannyhood that the writer oozes:

In 2007-2008 there were a total of 1.32 million violent crimes reported in the major cities of the US (100,000 population or greater), including just over 17000 murders. That does not include suicides, the favorite statistic of the gun control crowd, because apparently the Feds don’t count it as a crime. It also does not count injuries and deaths inflicted on perps in self defense, as self defense is also not a Federal crime. It does include robbery, assault and forcible rape. The violent crime rate in this country is just over 13/100000 people per year.

How many more of those crimes were deterred because the perps were afraid that their intended victims were armed and willing to employ deadly force to protect their lives, families or property?

When the police, based on recent higher court decisions intended to free them from tort liability regarding their failure to protect citizens who experience violent crime, are not legally required to protect you, then you can be assured that the police will not protect you. That means that you have to take up the burden of defense of life, liberty and property yourself.