markj said:
How much training? I said a person should know how to load, unload, and shoot a target 7 yards or so in a safe manner. Thisis the qualifier here in Iowa and Nebraska too from what I have heard.
I feel this is enough for most CCW people....
Swell. But as OldMarksman said -
OldMarksman said:
"Know how to", or be able to? How quickly? Under what circumstances?
And as I've said -
The reality is that since you don't know what will happen, or how, you have no idea how good you're going to have to be. The better prepared you are, the more likely you'll be successful.
Again, were not talking about legal requirements for getting a permit or whether there should be such requirements or not. They are what they are in various States.
What we're talking about is a conscientious and responsible gun owner's choice to voluntarily do what he can to be safe, competent, skillful and knowledgeable in the use of his gun in self defense. How good is good enough? The point is that no one knows. But more training is better than less. Since you will never know what will happen, you can never know how good you'll have to be to prevail; but the better prepared you are, the better your chances for success.
BlueTrain said:
...I've been in a couple of car accidents (I lived) and was first on the scene at another one (he didn't) and believe me, things happen quickly. You can forget about how well your car handles in an emergency...
Not really. I've been in some dicey situations behind the wheel and been able to avoid disaster. Yes, things happened quickly. But how well my car handled, and some skills I've acquired made a difference. Then again, a couple of time, I wasn't able to avoid a collision. So sometimes my skills weren't fully up the the challenge presented by the situation.
Nonetheless, I would have been worse off over the years with less knowledge and skill. Since you will never know what will happen, you can never know how good you'll have to be to prevail; but the better prepared you are, the better your chances for success.
booker_t said:
...the self-proclaimed 'sheepdog'...
I think that some folks miss the point of
the "sheepdog" parable. The point, as I see it, is that to the sheep the sheepdog is pretty much indistinguishable from the wolf. So if you're inclined to be a sheepdog, don't necessarily expect everyone to appreciate you; and if you manage to mess up, don't expect a gold star for effort.