The gun-training class that teaches students to keep firearms under the bed, loaded

[n2doc]

By Justin Peters
Slate

NEW YORK — A North Carolina doctor named Ty L. Bullard recently published an alarming op-ed in the Charlotte Observer about his recent experience in a state-mandated concealed carry handgun (CCH) class. To get a CCH permit in North Carolina, you have to complete one of these classes, which are supposed to teach students about gun safety, shooting technique, and their legal rights and responsibilities. But, as Bullard tells it, his class was dominated by random questions from the students - "What if my ex-husband tries to come to the house?" - and reckless advice from the instructor - "If he doesn't have a right to be there, then you do what you gotta do. . . . Remember, they don't have to be breaking in for you to shoot."

"Perhaps most shocking," writes Bullard, "was the advice we received from a practicing law enforcement officer regarding the storage of firearms: under the bed, preferably loaded." This is very, very bad advice, especially if you have children in the house. (It also directly contradicts North Carolina's child access prevention laws.) And it raises a broader question. Though concealed carry is now legal in all 50 states, many still require aspiring concealed-carriers to take a basic training class before they are issued a permit. But if all CCH classes are like the one Bullard describes, then what's the point? Was Bullard's experience typical?

"My kids asked me about that article," David Harrington, a North Carolina firearms instructor, told me last week. "And I said, 'Hey, that wasn't my class.' " I called Harrington to get a sense of how these classes are supposed to run, and to try to figure out why Bullard's class was so bad. (Bullard did not identify his instructor by name in his Charlotte Observer op-ed, so I wasn't able to contact him or her to ask about how that specific class was run.)

A longtime police officer in Matthews, N.C., Harrington teaches the same sort of CCH classes that Bullard wrote about in the Observer. He was chagrined to read about the tenor of the discussion in Bullard's class. Leaving a loaded gun under your bed "is the most foolish thing you can ever do, in my opinion - other than having it under your pillow," he told me.


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http://www.record-eagle.com/community-news-network/x2112919521/The-gun-training-class-that-teaches-students-to-keep-firearms-under-the-bed-loaded

[RKP5637]

1. How absolutely fucken stupid and ignorant. Idiocracy in full bloom. n/t

[Hoyt]

2. Typical gun love stupidity.

[Lizzie Poppet]

3. Man, that's just industrial-strength stupid.

My CCW class was very different: an excellent presentation of Oregon's laws regarding employment of lethal force and some sound (if very basic) gun safety rules. That said, I advocate considerably more stringent standards, mainly a requirement that the applicant demonstrate competency at the range and re-qualify annually. More-or-less the same that is required of police officers...

[rustydog]

4. stupid is as stupid does

Perhaps this is why, if you keep a loaded firearm in your home (under the bed!!!??) chances increase 500% YOU'LL KILL A LOVED ONE WITH THAT FIREARM.

[kcr]

5. See, it never made sense to me to buy a gun for self defense

and then lock it away safe and unloaded somewhere. Which is why it doesn't make sense to buy guns for self defense. Keeping it loaded under the bed makes for quick, easy access, which is what you'd need for it to be effective. Which is exactly why I don't have a gun for self defense.

[shedevil69taz]

7. Mine is in a safe under my bed

mounted to the underside that I can open in about five seconds with a fingerprint scan, or about ten seconds if I (or someone I allow to know the combination) need to use the cypher lock function of it.

[kcr]

9. It's still in a safe, and it's going to take you longer to get to it.

Precious seconds that could easily matter. I'm sorry, but I can't get over the reaction to what was basically the logical and correct advice from a self defense point of view. Get guns for self defense. But don't use them in the way that would be effective and efficient for self defense. Because that would be stupid advice! Well, of course it would be stupid advice. Because guns are dangerous when they're used most effectively as a self defense measure. But it's clear many don't like that pointed out.

[gopiscrap]

6. yeah that's fucking safe

[seveneyes]

8. Home invasions on the rise in Philadelphia

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/special_reports&id=9321530

There may need to be a balance of when, where and how to be prepared to defend against a growing threat of bad players. A good start would be for the authorities to focus their efforts on eliminating the people willing to harm other for gain rather than spending most of their time chasing weed smoke. Things like eliminating poverty are great for honest people, but there are too many outstanding violent people to put all the faith in that action.

Everyone has their own way of preparing for the dangers in life. Bad people make it hard to depend on trusting all humans to not harm you and your family.