I don't know who looks goofier. Me or that silly target behind me. At an outdoor range with only one other person around, with all weapons/magazines empty and checked by two people, I don't mind acting a little goofy and posing with a couple of guns. You'll notice, however, my finger is off the trigger and the weapon is pointed in a safe direction.
The subject of carrying a concealed firearm isn't goofy, although some people's opinions about it are.
The concealed-carry class I took, which allows me to legally tote a gun under my coat in thirty-five states, was six hours long. The classroom stuff was good, taught by a retired attorney and professional handgunner who really knew his stuff. The "range qualification" was a joke.
When I left that concealed carry, or CCW, class, I had some good information in my head but had been offered no instruction in, nor time whatsoever to practice, the skills necessary to defend myself in a crisis. What kind of holster to buy. How to conceal the holster. How to draw from a holster. How to deploy the handgun from holster to target safely. The tactics to use in a shootout.
There are excellent classes available for people who want to learn how to protect themselves with a concealed weapon but the required-to-get-Florida/Utah-permits CCW class I took, which is generally what's required across the country, wasn't one of them. And that's scary. What's scarier are the folks who believe they should be allowed to carry their concealed weapon on their college campus "just in case" a nutjob attacks, as happened at Northern Illinois University and elsewhere.
Just establishing the proper mindset to carry a concealed weapon takes specialized training. Hundreds of hours have gone into preparing the courses offered to law-enforcement. While civilians could do with less, there still must be attention paid to the psychological, as well as physiological, factors. Reality-based tactical drills need to be practiced until they are second-nature. CCW students need to know when they should shoot, but also when to back down and run if they have even the slightest option to do so. They need to know how to conceal their weapon so that it comes to hand easily and safely yet isn't visible at any other time.
To say anyone with a concealed weapons permit should be allowed to carry their gun into a classroom on the infinitesimal chance that they would happen to be in the right place at the right time to confront a killer is nuts. First of all, even SWAT- trained operatives know that the worst time to draw a gun is when someone already has the drop on you. And second, the vast majority of CCW permit holders probably aren't aware of the first point and don't have the tactical skills necessary to respond anyway.
My suggestions: You should be required to have sixteen to twenty hours of training before you are allowed to buy a handgun and a minimum of twenty-four hours of specific additional training, at least half of it spent with a professional on the range, before you are allowed to receive a concealed weapons permit. If you still want to carry your gun into a classroom, more training and professional certification should be required.
If I were king, I'd also require anyone with a family who wants to purchase a handgun be required to show that family members, even the little kids, have had at least enough professional training to keep them away from the weapons.
And, again if I were king, I would encourage everyone to at least know how to safely handle all sorts of firearms, even if they had no interest in shooting them.
For safety's sake. Just in case.
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