Plenty have said this already, but I'll weigh in. There should
not be any mandatory training requirement in order to use a right acknowledged and protected by the U.S. Constitution. Imagine: A state decided to mandate certain training that is only offered semi-annually, schedules it in the middle of the day and at the busiest times of year so few can take off work, and charges an exorbitant rate so most cannot even begin to afford it. Bam, nearly no one gets a permit and it's all nice and legal. This, of course, has pretty much been done. The training requirement opens up way too much liability.
I was once addressing gun-rights and gun-safety to a class of seniors ("snow birds" who were wintering in my area). Many of them were in favor of mandatory training. I asked what if, in order to exercise the 4th Amendment Rights, one had to show he/she'd passed a mandated course in Constitutional Law and had tested successfully on the year's updates? Oh, hey, wouldn't it be
great if we only allowed "properly educated" people to vote? --- Suddenly no one in the group wanted mandatory training for
any right.
I'm all for training, don't get me wrong. I've trained more people than I can remember. I worked hard to set up a regular public training class in my old city, wanting it offered at minimal cost (I mean like $10). My chief was all about it, the mayor was all about it, but, alas, the city attorney mentioned the "L" word (liability) and despite the full-page waiver I'd drawn up, the city council shot it down (no pun ... wait ... yes pun
). SO, then, I'd just take folks for free, a couple at a time, whenever I could and work with them. I've also helped a buddy of mine who runs a shooting school. His courses start at about $150 or so but that's, IIRC, a 2 or 3 day course and is quite intensive. If someone
wants training, I'm all for it, and I think it behooves the local constabulary to offer up as much help as they can. It's
great PR and nets them a lot of allies. But
required training is something to be avoided. My state used to be a "may issue" (which was treated pretty much like a "shall issue" so long as the sheriff didn't have a problem with you). We went to "Shall Issue" several years ago. We don't have a bunch of folks putting holes in themselves or others due to ignorance.
I remain against any further infringements on our 2A rights, or anything that can be used as a road to further infringements.