Only gun owners would need this training. If you don’t desire to own a gun, you don’t have to do the training.
The good thing about this kind of extensive training is that the gun owners would likely act much more responsibly to ensure that unauthorized people or children would not be able to access the guns.
Probably better if everyone gets the training. Non-gun owners still shoot their friends guns from time to time, and it would be good for non-gun owners to know if those handling guns around them are being safe or not. Then they could wise someone up, or know when they need to remove themselves from a dangerous situation.
Education is always good, but not always necessary. If it were illegal for an unlicensed person to handle a gun, there would not be nearly as many guns handed to untrained friends. In the same way my pilot friend can’t just let me fly his plane.
They can come with you, but they can’t necessarily operate the gun. Just like I can go flying with my friend, but I can’t fly the plane.
It might be beneficial if gun licenses had different certifications just like a pilot’s license. Depending on his training, a pilot will be certified for different equipment, flying conditions, and training ability. Gun licenses could be similar. If you’ve achieved your “Gun guidance certificate”, then your untrained friend could use your gun under your supervision.
Background checks in Colorado stop 38 from buying guns who were convicted of homicides, 600 burglars, 1300 who committed felonious assaults, 400 had existing restraining orders were stopped, and 236 showed up to pick up their guns but were arrested because of existing warrants for violent felonies. http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-daily-rundown/51415523#51415523
I have only seen Kable refer to folks who support a ban (or, in some cases, suspect would support a ban) as a gun grabber. He’s a bit more ardent in his support of the second amendment than I am but the phrase gun grabber is no less accurate than pro-choice people who refer to anti-abortion people as anti-choice, at least when referring to people who support a ban.
And 60% of those deaths are suicides, about 35% are homicides committed by people who aren’t supposed to have guns in the first place (we have a really good idea of who is likely to commit homicide and we have laws to keep guns out of their hands).
How about we just make it an elective like driver’s ed.
It can be both. Education, in and of itself, can be good, but can also be a waste of time if the time would be better spent learning more relevant topics. The student only has a limited amount of time. The topics they learn need to be balanced against the usefulness they will receive from them.