CCW for the sight impaired

[Fat_46]

http://kmsp.tv/news/story.asp?1649783

A Minneapolis gun shop owner thinks the blind should be able to carry guns.

So, starting in December, Koscielski's Gun Shop will be offering a training course to the visually impaired or blind.

But is it safe?

Koscielski's says the disabled should be allowed to protect themselves just like everyone else.

If approved, the course would help blind people qualify for a right to carry permit.

By the way, there is no Minnesota law prohibiting the blind from having a gun.

 

[halvey]

Ugh. This can only be perceived as bad.

 

[pax]

Heh.

It's not against the law here -- not a disqual for getting a carry permit. You don't even have to take a class or pass a test here.

pax

When asked whether his vision was an impediment in the gunfight, he [Harvey Faulk] answered, "I wasn't trying to see him clearly. What I was trying to do was save my life." -- from a newspaper article about a one-eyed man who shot an armed intruder

 

[Coronach]

Rule 4: Know your target and what is beyond it.

 

[halvey]

Mark Koscielski is real good at p*ssing the politicians of Minneapolis off. Of course they deserve it. This may just be another one of Mark's ways to generate news.

 

[benEzra]

Someone can be legally blind but still able to see...my grandmother is (macular degeneration), she just has to look peripherally at something to see it.

 

[rick_reno]

No testing here. A few years ago I asked a Fish and Game fellow if a blind person could get a hunting license - he said they could. Maybe they use shotguns.

 

[Ian]

I have a blind friend who shoots pretty darn well. Like most "blind" people, he does have some vision (in his case, extremely severe tunnel vision, basically comparable to looking through drinking straws). If he didn't like in the PRK, I bet he would have a carry gun.

 

[Byron Quick]

Rule Four: Know your target and what is behind it.


Depends where the blind (totally, not legally) person is. If he is in his quarters, hears an intruder, and knows that there is a wall behind the intruder, he's complied with the safety rules as long as he has chosen the correct weapon and ammunition.

Have you ever spent time around a person that had been totally blind for years? I've known a couple that I believe could identify people who were strangers if they were tiptoeing.

 

[Coronach]

I couldn't agree more. However, one does not need a CCW to carry a gun in such a place.

Mike

 

[Lupinus]

I would say sure why not but I would also say they have to adapt to use it. If someone is not flat out blind thats one thing but if they cant see a thing it should be used to put a few in the belly durring a struggle.

 

[ElTacoGrande]

http://kmsp.tv/news/story.asp?1649783

A Minneapolis gun shop owner thinks the blind should be able to carry guns.

By the way, there is no Minnesota law prohibiting the blind from having a gun.

I know this news article sounds bad to someone with no tactical training, but actually, the blind may be better at gunfighting than the seeing.

• Real gunfights are more likely than not to occur in the dark. Blind people have a lifetime of experience of being in the dark. Sighted people are afraid of the dark.
• Gunfights usually occur at contact or near-contact distances. Despite whatever training we may have had, in a gunfight, most of us will end up point shooting. Blind people have a lifetime of experience of using proprioception (internal feeling) to position things. We rely on our eyes, which aren't what we need for point shooting.
• A key aspect of gun safety is to identify your target. Who would be better at identifying targets in the dark, a blind or a sighted person? A blind person can recognize people by the sound of their walk, their breathing, their movements. I can't do that.

Gun training happens mostly in nice well-lit ranges at ranges of 7 yards to 25 yards. Gun fights happen mostly in dark spaces at ranges of 7 yards or less. I submit that a blind person may be better prepared for many real gunfights than a lot of seeing people.

 

[bubbygator]

There's a similar thread on the Crimsson Trace Forum. I just posted this there:

What happens when a blind person shoots & kills an innocent by-stander? Does the victim's family sue the blind person or (since the blind person can't be held accountable for not seeing the by-stander) the state that permitted the gun to be legally in the blind person's hand?

Many of us are visually impaired. In fact, when my old eyes couldn't focus to see the front sight, I quit shooting for 10 years - until CT came along!! I couldn't responsibly assure where my bullet would hit - - so I didn't carry or shoot. Just because a person might be more susceptible to becoming a victim doesn't remove the responsibility to society of shooting safely.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Koscielski's says the disabled should be allowed to protect themselves just like everyone else.

I have far more faith in law-abiding citizens who can't see or can't see well than criminals who can.

 

[bakert]

I've seen a couple of "legally blind" people that can hit the chest area of a man sized target pretty well. As far as I'm concerned give 'em the license to carry. Hell, I see others with good vision that can't do that well at the indoor range I shoot at but they can sure empty a HiCap magazine fast.

 

[Byron Quick]

Even a person who is totally blind could benefit from CCW with the proper mindset, training, and cartridge selection.

A blind person is more likely to have the assailant come into contact with them. A bearhug, for example. Use Glaser Safety slugs. Put the barrel into contact with the person that has grabbed you, pull the trigger. Not able to obtain barrel contact; don't pull the trigger. Heck, don't draw.

I've seen blind boxers and martial artists who could do very well in the ring about twenty years ago. I've seen a couple that I wouldn't want to fight. When I was a kid, there was an old lady next door to my grandmother who had been blind from birth. I've seen her pick up a dropped sewing needle with unerring accuracy from the tiled floor. I had 20/10 vision at the time and couldn't see it. She located it from hearing it fall.