Now wait a minute in your first post you essentially said you thought it was important to both protect non-involved parties around the shooting and to be sure that people knew the law regarding shootings. How do those not apply in my home? If you need to spoon feed me the law for concealed carry, why don't you need to spoon feed the law for defending myself at home? If you're worried about the guy next to a person getting shot at, aren't you just as worried about the neighbors in the apartment 4 sheets of dry wall over?No. That is not the extension of my logic. Carrying a loaded weapon in public carries a greater responsibility with it than merely having a loaded weapon at home. At some basic level though, I would like to know that the person preparing to use the weapon in a public area has a basic level of proficiency.
Way back in the day I thought concealed carry was a bad idea no matter what. I couldn't imagine that the general public could be trusted to carry use guns safely. I went looking for statistics to support my position and found that my guess was just wrong. What I worried about happening just didn't happen. Does what you worry about happening actually happen?Honestly, you see those people at the range that can't hit the target two feet in front of them? Do you want to be standing next to that "target" when they have to defend themselves in public? I'm not saying I expect everyone to be an expert shooter, but I would expect people to be able to hit center of mass from 7-10 feet. There's some people who are so bad, they can't even do that.
I suppose this comes down to opinions but I disagree strongly. To most of us a couple hundred bucks for training classes, background checks, an afternoon off work to visit the sheriff's office, etc are no big deal. Some people, often the people who live in areas with high crime rates, might find the costs and hoops very prohibitive. Again I ask, what problem is there in alaska and vermont that we need to fix by having permits?A CCW class is not an infringement. It's a pain in the neck at worst.
You'll forgive me if I take that as a half-hearted statement given that you're supporting them.Folks, I'm not enthralled by the idea of a permit.
No infringement you say.... They're expensive (at least in Texas) and a pain to get (11 hour class in Texas).
Great we're getting to the heart of the matter at last. I want to see the tangible benefits. What stats can you provide that show that the training classes in Texas make carrying in Texas better than in states without such requirements? If its just better because you say so, your claim doesn't seem any more valid than the brady group saying that the assault weapons ban makes things better.But the class isn't worthless.
Just like all the other threads on the issue, plenty of gun owners support licensing, mandatory training, testing, etc but no one can step forward and show any evidence that supports the notion that those infringements make concealed carry any safer or fix any problems. Don't be like the brady group guys, look for facts and evidence before you say that gun control is a good idea. Its hard enough fighting the antis, we don't need gun owners giving up ground voluntarily too.