I'm not a gun person Tom which I'm sure is no surprise to you. When you buy a gun is there any kind of test you have to take to make sure you know how to operate one safely? There are no temperament/character tests though are there? How could you possibly put together a substantive test that would measure that? Are you a gun person? Once when I was ten years old I held a gun in my hand and I started crying. My dad worked nights and I had a baby sister and my mom was a fragile woman. I was always "mature" for my age so my dad asked me to join him in a bedroom, reached up on a closet shelf and brought ahandgun down. He was simply going to show me how to handle it. I started shaking and crying. He took the gun back, put it back on the shelf I guess...I don't remember. I was too busy crying. We never mentioned it again. That is my only up close and personal experience with a handgun..any gun. I associate guns with death so knowing how to use one doesn't appeal to me. Thank you for your reply m'dear! :)
I was around guns since I was a youngster going hunting with my father who taught me how to use a gun safely and never to shoot anything I'm not going to eat. ( never kill for the sport of it ) I have had Military training with weapons and law enforcement experience . Years ago most people with guns were hunters and used them safely, today too many people have hand guns with no idea how or when to use them or the temperament needed to use it safely and not to use it to settle arguments etc. Too many people have hand guns that shouldn't have them because they feel macho and are willing to use them for all the wrong reasons. To answer your question as to training it's minimal and does not address your mental stability so any wacko can carry.
Aye, I'm highly pro 2nd but this is truth. Lack of training and discipline doesn't even cover it all though. Too many people choose to become involved with firearms merely as a symbol and an accessory. Their gun isn't really for protection, sporting use, hobby, or collector value. It's an image. That mentality is dangerous and flawed when dealing with any tool that has lethal capabilities. You can even see this reflected in the volume of sales of certain types of firearms to others. Especially when you compare that to the capabilities of the firearm in relation to the shooting capabilities of the shooter.
Me too neither pearl. Guns represent death to me. I'm not attracted to them. They scare me and so do those who carry loaded weapons. Thank you for your reply! :)