• Wahots@pawb.social
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    9 months ago

    I want some sort of driving test for guns. If you fail it, no guns for you. Have to retake it every 5-10 years and it’s pretty easy to pass if you aren’t a moron.

    I’ve seen literally the dumbest shit on ranges. People flagging one another. Accidental discharges a few feet from one’s foot, flagrantly breaking the range rules while the range instructor literally just finished explaining the rules to everyone there.

    Christ, one time (in a rural state) someone didn’t want to give up their CC to run a combat-style range. It was for safety, in case they ate shit on the course. They said they needed their CC in case there was a “terrorist attack”. I looked around the bumfuck, empty desert we were in and wondered where the terrorists would even come from, lmao.

    • chetradley@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Hard agree on the gun safety test. Buying a gun, especially in the US, is way too easy and the number of people walking around strapped with absolutely no knowledge of gun safety, let alone armed self defense training, is terrifying.

      My wife’s family leans very hard into the guns, god and Trump right wing. My father in law set up a shooting range on his property, and it’s a tradition for the cousins to get together and show off their arsenal. I keep a pistol there because it’s a hellava range gun and the 22LR rounds are dirt cheap, but you can imagine the shit I catch in a family where 9mm is considered a “pussy round”.

      The amount of stupid shit I’ve seen on this range would boggle your mind, and I feel a deep responsibility to make sure nobody dies while I’m there. I’ve seen people walk in front of the range with earmuffs on while someone was getting ready to shoot. I had to stop my father in law from breaking his thumb trying to shoot a Glock with his thumb resting right on the slide. I watched my uncle-in-law (a Republican state senator, mind you) hand a loaded AR-15 to his ten year old son, then just walk away.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        You know I think that’s actually the intelligence and responsibility I expect from republican state senators. I bet he screams about how responsible gun owners shouldn’t be prevented from ownership just because of irresponsible gun owners

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      I want some sort of driving test for guns. If you fail it, no guns for you. Have to retake it every 5-10 years and it’s pretty easy to pass if you aren’t a moron.

      So basically a CCW permit for carrying. Problem though with “uneducated or undereducated people shouldn’t have guns,” while I agree in principle, is that it’ll play out affecting poor and marginalized communities which are mostly POC more than say some white people who simply had more privileges growing up.

      Again, in principle I agree, I just don’t trust our legal system not to turn it into racism like they do with everything else.

      • chetradley@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Then the government should fund independent organizations that are committed to responsible gun ownership in marginalized communities.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I agree with you on everything except that that’s what a CCW permit is. I’m sure in some states it’s that. In other states it’s closer to the test you take to get your temporary drivers permit as a kid.

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 months ago

          It does depend on the state, and in some there’s even no permit, but in most that have them they do instruct about basic safety and use of force laws. That is however relegated to the state to form their own policy, and changes all the time. If you feel your state should do more it’s easier to work on that then federal, so it’s probably more effective this way tbh.

          Honestly there isn’t much to gun safety, either, it isn’t actually all that hard and doesn’t really take too long to learn. The hard part is making sure people adhere to it at all times, which tbh is functionally impossible beyond “if you see someone being unsafe, say something” which is common to do amongst gun owners, but doesn’t prevent everything. Accidents can happen at any experience level, it’s also a common saying amongst experienced gun handlers/owners that “complacency kills,” and it does, it’s something you have to be ever thoughtful of while handling one (not always while carrying, I mean, but while it is out of the holster for any reason. Be it defense, range unloading/cleaning, leaving it in the car because of a no gun sign, etc.)

          Also, just as a sidenote, something you can test for yourself: Go to any pro gun forum, say r/firearms or whatever, or c/leftistgunowners here, any one, and make a post saying something along the lines of “Hey I’ve decided it’s time to pick up my first gun, any advice?” I guarantee you many posts will say “welcome to the club,” many more will say “buy you a glock” and almost all of them will say “but it isn’t enough just to get it and put it under your bed, learn how to be safe and learn how to use it at the range. Last thing you want is to kill someone innocent or die fumbling with it because you never learned how.” It isn’t a legal requirement, and of course you could just waltz into a gunshop and avoid most of that, though they will also offer advice most often if they know it’s your first, but at least the culture at large generally is pretty safety conscious already without it being mandated, so at least that’s something.