On Thu, 21 Sep 2000 13:16:55 -0400 "David Lubkin"
<lubkin@unreasonable.com> writes:
> (Modestly related) I rank gun owners -- your (and Mike's) mileage
> may vary --
> in terms of safety as follows:
>
> Safest: target shooters. Gun safety is inviolate.
>
> Then: military and police.
>
> Next: hunters. Some are fine; others are the equivalent of
> Massachusetts
> drivers ...
> Least: liberals who get a gun for self-defense.
I wouldn't use exactly the same labels as you did, David; but I do think
it's important to recognize the difference between people who are trained
to use a gun properly and who regularly practice that skill; and people
who are not trained and current.
When I was a kid, my father taught me how to use a gun when I was around
8 years old, and I got my first rifle at the age of 10. But my training
(and my brother's) started well before that. From the time we were old
enough to understand, we were taught NEVER to point a gun at anything we
didn't intend to shoot, not even a toy gun. I feel very uncomfortable
when I see kids pretending to shoot each other with toy guns. This is a
first step in the wrong direction away from gun safety.
IMO people who buy guns for self defense but don't learn how to properly
use them are in more danger than if they didn't own a gun, for 2 reasons:
first, they might accidentally hurt themselves or others; second, having
the gun often gives people a false sense of security so they don't take
as many precautions as they ordinarily would to avoid trouble in the
first place. Part of learning how to use a gun properly includes learning
the limitations of the gun and of oneself.
Barbara
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