CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Michigan State House Passes Concealed Carry Without Permits Bill.

Jazz Shaw:

While the idea of more accessible concealed carry is something I support, I’ll confess that even I have a few reservations about another of the bills in this Michigan package. Currently you need to have some basic firearms training to carry but this new proposal would remove that requirement. I understand how gun rights supporters bristle at the idea of any restrictions and the states have given them good reason to be suspicious. States like New York (among many others) have used the training requirement as cover to make it massively more expensive to obtain a permit, and in places like Washington, DC you often can’t even find a certified Firearms Training Instructor to meet the requirement.

The training should either be free or only charge a modest fee, with sufficient instructors available to meet the demand. But eliminating the requirement entirely is worrisome.

Firearms training used to be done at home, and from a fairly early age — and in my home it still is. But in states where that has fallen out of favor, whether due to previous gun control laws or lack of access to shooting ranges, maybe the state does have a legitimate interest in ensuring that carriers have at least some basic level of training.