Most people that purchase a gun for self or home protection really can not afford the gun or ammo that is necessary for training or practice to become proficient with the tool they obtain to protect themselves or their families. Putting food on the table and a roof over the heads of their family, is a more important goal for the majority of gun owners out there. Should that mean that they should not have the right to protect themselves? Should that mean that the only people that can purchase guns be those that can afford the training and instruction?? I think not. It would appear that many of you on the forums "staff" overlook the reality of everyday life and the demands placed upon members of this forum in taking care of their families.
Jim,
Let me re-state something I said earlier: my husband and I raised five children on one, very small, salary. We never took a dime of gov't money, but we were eligible for food stamps and almost every other type of assistance, by a shockingly wide margin. We never missed a meal -- by the grace of God and some
serious penny pinching -- but it was close more times than I care to think. Lots of thin broths and homemade breads and ramen noodles to fill those hungry tummies.
Pretty sure that I'm well aware of the reality of everyday life and the demands placed upon members of this forum in taking care of their families.
And I still say that anyone who makes excuses
not to get as much good training as their lifestyle and circumstances will afford, is being penny-wise and pound foolish -- pinching pennies and throwing dollars to the wind. Professional training costs some money up front, but it
saves money in the long run.
What got me was the way numbers are tossed around here, on one post it was stated that 16,000 ADs was a reason for need for instructional training, while in and of itself that seems like a large number, it is really only 2 ten thousands (0.0002) of one percent of all the gun owners out there. Twice that number die from heart attacks each year and five times that number from auto deaths.
Small clarification: not 16,000 ADs.
16,000 serious injuries from ADs. This does not include minor injuries that are fixed up without a trip to the hospital, and it sure does not include all the close calls and near-misses (such as you might read about
here).
As you point out, that's not a high number compared to the millions of gun owners. It is, however, comprised almost entirely of
completely preventable injuries and deaths -- most of them from a deadly combination of ignorance and arrogance. People truly don't know as much as they think they do. Worse, they don't know
that they don't know and they don't know
what they don't know. They do, however, get deeply offended whenever someone suggests that perhaps their gunhandling can be improved. Or that there's more to competent and reliable self defense than just being willing to kill someone.
My heart goes out to those who, like me, suffer from the restrictions of limited resources. When someone says "but I'm too broke for training!", that hurts my heart when it comes from someone who owns only one or two guns. When it comes from someone who has a safe full of guns, plus reloading equipment, and components, and multiple thousands of rounds in stockpiled ammo, and who drives an expensive SUV, it's a little less believable.
Mine isn't the only family that ever had scraped icebox and boiled dishrag soup for dinner, I'm sure.
But if I sound a little cranky on the subject, it's because so many people who've looked me in the eye and said they're too broke to take a class are people who have far more money and resources than I ever did.
Re the mentor program: I agree with you. It is wonderful when people who
know what they're doing and
know how to teach take others to the range and get them started! That's one of the reasons I volunteer and give away my time as much as I can. That's why I've given away so much of my hard-earned knowledge so freely on my website, and why I give away cases of books every year even though I can't much afford it. It's also one of the reasons I
LOVE getting new instructors started -- because nearly all competent instructors give away a whole lot more training than they get paid for.
Passing on knowledgeable skill is far better than passing along bad habits and sub-optimal ideas.
For those who are serious about mentoring others, a good place to start is by making sure that they themselves have something worthwhile to pass along.
pax,
Kathy