A couple people had expressed interest in this topic, and I have a bit of extra time for a couple days, so here goes:
Bona fides: I am a former infantry NCO and sniper, hunter, competitive shooter, reloader, hobby gunsmith, sometimes firearms trainer and currently work in a gun shop, mostly on the paperwork/compliance side. Back in the day, was a qualified expert with every standard small arm in the US inventory circa 2003 (M2, 4, 9, 16, 19, 249, 240B, 21, 24, 82 etc.), and today hang around the 75th percentile of USPSA classifications. I've shot Cap-and-Ball, Trap and Sporting Clays badly; Bullseye and PRS somewhat better and IDPA/USPSA/UML/Two-gun with some local success. Been active in the 2A community since the mid-90s, got my first instructor cert in high school, and have held a CPL for almost twenty years now.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert in every aspect of firearms, there's huge areas that escape my knowledge base, but if you've got questions I'll do my best to answer.
Technical questions
Gun control proposals for feasibility
Industry
Training
Wacky opinions
General geekery
Some competition links (not my own) just for the interested.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5IhsWamaLY&t=173
https://youtube.com/watch?v=93nEEINflXE
https://youtube.com/watch?v=utcky0zq10E
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Notes -
There is a somewhat obscure bit of the gun control debate I’d welcome a legitimate steelman for: concealed carry on mass transit.
I live in a US city that is rather notorious for high crime rates, and grew up in a family that was…dad and grandpa were hunters held in very high regard, which is a long story, but I grew up familiar with guns. When there was a debate about concealed carry on the mass transit systems here, notably the trains, my instinct was to sneer, because superficially it seemed like bravado. But then past that, it seemed totally unworkable to me, because I just can’t picture myself getting a good solid bead on an attacker in one of those swaying clanking metal tubes.
Put another way, besides “feeling” that guns on trains are a bad idea, it also seems like concealed carry in those situations would end up with more friendly fire accidents than dead muggers. (Note: I’m a big-city liberal but also have absolutely no inherent problems mowing down criminals, especially after a robbery nearby where some bastard fatally shot the victim’s dog while out walking.) As someone who has had proper training, and not just flushing quail: any thoughts?
Well, I support being allowed to carry in mass transit, but it does potentially present a difficult tactical problem. The more people present, the worse it is. Of course, the same goes for any attackers, but presumably they don't care as much about precision and missing the bystanders. It must be left to the individual to decide if his skills are up to the task, or whether it's less risky to lose a wallet.
My main complaint would be that banning carry on mass transit means that people who use mass transit can't carry. It's not really about the trains themselves, it's about all the people who use them to get places. This is the problem with patchwork carry laws. You can carry a gun, but not into state, local or federal buildings, not within half a mile of a school, hospital, library or theater, no buildings that hold over 2,000 people, not on public transport, etc. etc. They may all seem reasonable in isolation, but it isn't long before it has effectively outlawed carry, while technically being "legal".
Edit: As a general rule, concealed carriers hit fewer bystanders than the cops. Whatever concerns you have for private citizens defending themselves, if you're ok with cops having guns, private citizens are safer, more accurate, even more law abiding. There's a lot of stupid stuff that gets done with guns, and very little of it is done by the people who cared enough to get licensed to carry.
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