GUNS: Editorial on right track
Friday’s edition of The Press is most thoughtful on the part of the Editorial as well as the cdapress.com comments. As one who started teaching use of force training in 1985, when gun carry permits were still issued at the discretion of sheriffs, I agree that standards need to be just that, standard for all. I warned our police students over the years that if they did not support citizen carry that one day it would come back to haunt them, too. When they retire, they no longer have the shield and commission, hence no gun carry for them. Not to mention their spouses and other adult family members whose need to be able to defend themselves is just as valid. Fortunately, in America, the vast majority of police officers well understand that they cannot be everywhere at once so they support citizens being able to defend themselves.
I concur with the Editorial staff’s suggestions to our Legislature. Requiring a different standard, primarily an annual handgun qualification, for retired cops as opposed to something different for others is not right. Bear in mind, though, that these retired officers may also avail themselves of the enhanced carry permit like everyone else. I also agree with recent comments by our local Sheriff Wolfinger, about arbitrarily selected numbers in the proposed legislation. One can’t carry on campus if in a dorm or an area that holds 1,000 people. Why? So 990 people is OK but 1,000 makes carry somehow dangerous? So, the gun gets handled more than necessary going from holster to whatever safe storage the owner uses. Some will place a gun in a vehicle thanks to such arbitrary wording, trying to comply with the law. This will result in more vehicle prowls. The gun needs to be in direct control of the owner, otherwise stored where it cannot be accessed by anyone unauthorized by that owner.
As far as I have seen, training in threat management is still available to citizens. It includes how to deal with circumstances described by some of the nay-sayer’s comments. There have been numerous “saves” in public places, though these instances are not reported in mainstream media as a rule. None have resulted in mistaken identity shoot-outs among carry permit holders. In short, most of these type arguments are addressed by proper training. How does one think we trained cops to avoid mistaken identity shootings amongst themselves? None of this is rocket science.
As a final note, a quote from noted 18th century English jurist William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Common Law: “Self-defense … is justly called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be … taken away by the law of society.”
ROBERT SMITH
Coeur d’Alene