I don’t really need a gun safety course if I don’t use one.
Similarly, I’m 35 years out of date in my nuclear materials handling safety course. Thankfully, I do not handle nuclear materials. Arguably, most people shouldn’t. I’m not going to claim nuclear materials are useless, but they hold inherent risks and only belong in particular environments.
True, but it seems like you’re far more likely to come across a firearm than nuclear materials. I would also presume, that while you may not be current with your nuclear materials, you have a solid fundamental understanding of how to handle them safely. I don’t use guns, but I have taken classes and have a permit for my state.
I’m speaking in generalities, so it may not apply to you. A lot of people that are afraid of guns, do not know how to handle them. Firearms are prolific enough in American society that a basic familiarization with them won’t hurt. They way some posters are talking in here, you may have need for one sooner than you expect.
I do understand your point, there are lots of things that I’ve taken classes on that I’ve never used and don’t intend on using.
it seems like you’re far more likely to come across a firearm than nuclear materials
Can you present a plausible situation this would actually happen? I’m aware of the many home invasion scenarios people envision, and I even appreciate they’re more likely in rural areas far from police departments. But “coming across” a gun, without having committed any crimes, and needing to know how to use it seems like a wild invention.
A lot of people that are afraid of guns, do not know how to handle them.
I’ve heard this theory before and never understood it. While I rejected the suggestion of learning about guns and feel it shouldn’t be necessary, I do understand some basic gun operation and safety - just off of curiosity and tangential relation to shooter video games. Having that knowledge doesn’t improve my opinion on them at all.
A hundred gun safety courses won’t improve my opinion on the number of gun owners who envision themselves as heroic but are actively irresponsible about their weapons and would never take such a course. Adding another quote-unquote “responsible” owner doesn’t help the world. It’s just a way to advertise the toy and to push someone into that feeling of power.
The other poster mentioned cops/security leaving them in bathrooms. Also you may have a person in your life that was/is a victim of domestic violence or stalking and may choose to arm themselves. I’m not telling you you need or even should get a gun. I just recommend that people take a safety course because they are so prolific in the US that you may not know where you come across one. I’m pro gun education and pro gun control, I also don’t mean to come off as alarmist, like there’s guns just waiting for you find all over the place.
I live in a pretty rural, yet liberal area, so there are lots of hunters around. Some farmers have a “truck gun” for wildlife/pests. So I could(and have) hop ped in a friend’s vehicle and there’s a weapon on the seat.
I make exceptions to my gun views in places where police response times are over 15 minutes. In those places, you’re your own security, there’s dangerous wildlife, and there’s few easy ways for people to steal a weapon for nefarious needs. There, it’s a tool with a use, just like any piece of heavy machinery.
If a specific individual has dangerous experiences with stalking, or had to make a restraining order, that’s also a circumstance that I think merits an exception - but only for the victim in question, not for friends.
So, it still doesn’t answer the question of why you’d ever be the one checking, clearing, loading or unloading a gun owned by someone worried about an ex-lover. Even if the gun happens to be in their house when you visit, that has nothing to do with you or your hands.
To exaggerate my point, I just don’t see why you’d be saying hello to your farmer friend, spotting their shotgun above the cabinet, and then deciding to show them how cleanly you can unload it to prove that you can handle it safely. You’ve brought up a lot of circumstances and factoids, but they haven’t developed a logical “point” where you’d regret not knowing how to use a gun.
Well, it’s accurate that not all gun owners are responsible gun owners. If you come across an idiot, just leave the situation if you can. Like I said before, I’m pro education and control, the NRA is a terrible advocate for guns but has a really solid education program. A video game is a terrible training tool for gun safety.
Anything I offer would be situational or supposition and it seems like you’re very solid on your stance. I truly hope you’re never in a situation where you need to have use of a firearm. I know I don’t want to use one.
A quick search will pull up several stories about police leaving their service weapons in restrooms. It happens, and their chain of command should reprimand them for it, but that may not change their behavior. Don’t need to use it, but familiarity with the manual of arms to secure it is paramount in such a public place.
As for training- I look at it in the same vein as first aid: desperately useful for that one moment, but not otherwise.
That’s still not the scenario you suggested - since the response to finding such a weapon would be to document its location (in case the cop lies) and then report it without moving it. Putting your fingerprints on another person’s weapon when no one is at threat is a recipe for trouble.
I don’t have trouble imagining surprise situations I need to tie a tourniquet on someone. I have a hard time imagining when I need to load, chamber, and fire a gun I don’t own. Even when “good guys with guns” have tried to respond to active shooter situations, they’ve often caused far more harm than good.
I have a hard time imagining when I need to load, chamber, and fire a gun I don’t own.
Then it’s a good thing that that’s not what they mean. Just like how learning how to handle used needles doesn’t involve shooting up heroin, learning how to handle a gun also provides the knowledge of how to ensure that you know whether a gun is loaded or unloaded, and whether or not the safety is on, and in the worst and most unlikely of cases where you actually need to pick it up to move it or something, how to do so safely.
A perfect example of the kind of situation where this would come in handy is for nurses - particularly those in hospitals and psychiatric facilities. Cops are notoriously lax in the US about checking people for weapons before delivering them into the care of medical practitioners, and nurses have had plenty of encounters with loaded firearms and other weapons in patients’ belongings.
I don’t really need a gun safety course if I don’t use one.
Similarly, I’m 35 years out of date in my nuclear materials handling safety course. Thankfully, I do not handle nuclear materials. Arguably, most people shouldn’t. I’m not going to claim nuclear materials are useless, but they hold inherent risks and only belong in particular environments.
True, but it seems like you’re far more likely to come across a firearm than nuclear materials. I would also presume, that while you may not be current with your nuclear materials, you have a solid fundamental understanding of how to handle them safely. I don’t use guns, but I have taken classes and have a permit for my state.
I’m speaking in generalities, so it may not apply to you. A lot of people that are afraid of guns, do not know how to handle them. Firearms are prolific enough in American society that a basic familiarization with them won’t hurt. They way some posters are talking in here, you may have need for one sooner than you expect.
I do understand your point, there are lots of things that I’ve taken classes on that I’ve never used and don’t intend on using.
Can you present a plausible situation this would actually happen? I’m aware of the many home invasion scenarios people envision, and I even appreciate they’re more likely in rural areas far from police departments. But “coming across” a gun, without having committed any crimes, and needing to know how to use it seems like a wild invention.
I’ve heard this theory before and never understood it. While I rejected the suggestion of learning about guns and feel it shouldn’t be necessary, I do understand some basic gun operation and safety - just off of curiosity and tangential relation to shooter video games. Having that knowledge doesn’t improve my opinion on them at all.
A hundred gun safety courses won’t improve my opinion on the number of gun owners who envision themselves as heroic but are actively irresponsible about their weapons and would never take such a course. Adding another quote-unquote “responsible” owner doesn’t help the world. It’s just a way to advertise the toy and to push someone into that feeling of power.
The other poster mentioned cops/security leaving them in bathrooms. Also you may have a person in your life that was/is a victim of domestic violence or stalking and may choose to arm themselves. I’m not telling you you need or even should get a gun. I just recommend that people take a safety course because they are so prolific in the US that you may not know where you come across one. I’m pro gun education and pro gun control, I also don’t mean to come off as alarmist, like there’s guns just waiting for you find all over the place.
I live in a pretty rural, yet liberal area, so there are lots of hunters around. Some farmers have a “truck gun” for wildlife/pests. So I could(and have) hop ped in a friend’s vehicle and there’s a weapon on the seat.
I make exceptions to my gun views in places where police response times are over 15 minutes. In those places, you’re your own security, there’s dangerous wildlife, and there’s few easy ways for people to steal a weapon for nefarious needs. There, it’s a tool with a use, just like any piece of heavy machinery.
If a specific individual has dangerous experiences with stalking, or had to make a restraining order, that’s also a circumstance that I think merits an exception - but only for the victim in question, not for friends.
So, it still doesn’t answer the question of why you’d ever be the one checking, clearing, loading or unloading a gun owned by someone worried about an ex-lover. Even if the gun happens to be in their house when you visit, that has nothing to do with you or your hands.
To exaggerate my point, I just don’t see why you’d be saying hello to your farmer friend, spotting their shotgun above the cabinet, and then deciding to show them how cleanly you can unload it to prove that you can handle it safely. You’ve brought up a lot of circumstances and factoids, but they haven’t developed a logical “point” where you’d regret not knowing how to use a gun.
Well, it’s accurate that not all gun owners are responsible gun owners. If you come across an idiot, just leave the situation if you can. Like I said before, I’m pro education and control, the NRA is a terrible advocate for guns but has a really solid education program. A video game is a terrible training tool for gun safety.
Anything I offer would be situational or supposition and it seems like you’re very solid on your stance. I truly hope you’re never in a situation where you need to have use of a firearm. I know I don’t want to use one.
A quick search will pull up several stories about police leaving their service weapons in restrooms. It happens, and their chain of command should reprimand them for it, but that may not change their behavior. Don’t need to use it, but familiarity with the manual of arms to secure it is paramount in such a public place.
As for training- I look at it in the same vein as first aid: desperately useful for that one moment, but not otherwise.
That’s still not the scenario you suggested - since the response to finding such a weapon would be to document its location (in case the cop lies) and then report it without moving it. Putting your fingerprints on another person’s weapon when no one is at threat is a recipe for trouble.
I don’t have trouble imagining surprise situations I need to tie a tourniquet on someone. I have a hard time imagining when I need to load, chamber, and fire a gun I don’t own. Even when “good guys with guns” have tried to respond to active shooter situations, they’ve often caused far more harm than good.
Then it’s a good thing that that’s not what they mean. Just like how learning how to handle used needles doesn’t involve shooting up heroin, learning how to handle a gun also provides the knowledge of how to ensure that you know whether a gun is loaded or unloaded, and whether or not the safety is on, and in the worst and most unlikely of cases where you actually need to pick it up to move it or something, how to do so safely.
A perfect example of the kind of situation where this would come in handy is for nurses - particularly those in hospitals and psychiatric facilities. Cops are notoriously lax in the US about checking people for weapons before delivering them into the care of medical practitioners, and nurses have had plenty of encounters with loaded firearms and other weapons in patients’ belongings.