I’m not trying to downplay your statement or be Debbie Downer. I know that Vermont, contrary to the idyllic, postcard setting people think of, it has more than it’s share of issues. Especially with pills and heroin. Your state is 98.8% WHITE, my bad if anyone is offended by that statistic. Vermont is a vacation and retirement destination for folks. On a side not, its black population is.... .5%....Anywho
I’m all for the 2nd Amendment, people being able to protect themselves and their families and own anything damn thing they want. Trump being elected was wish #1, coming true. Wish #2, would be the elimination of the Class 3 stamp’s for SBR and cans.
I’ve been in law enforcement for over 15 years, was a security contractor in Iraq for 4+ years. Have been a firearms instructor for 12 years.
With that being said, I believe that the right to own a gun is a God given right. However, I’ve seen trained “professionals” barely qualify. I’ve seen trained “professionals” have to go thru remedial training. I’ve seen trained “professionals” unable to take apart and put back together, their assigned duty pistol. These people I speak of, were required to go thru at least 2 weeks of training and then concurrent training throughout their careers. They’re not allowed to go thru their academies and never prove their proficiency. They have to qualify.
There were something like 26+million NICS check year. If you’re gonna carry a gun in my presence, whether you have a permit or not, you damn sure should be required to demonstrate you know where the bullet is going to go. Sorry. I don’t care what you’re trying to stop. It’d be damn shame if someone cranked off a round, only to learn that they got the gun 6 months ago, shot 50 rounds and never went thru any training on the MASSIVE RESPONSIBILITY that comes with carrying a firearm, whether it be actually shooting or the legal aspects.
I’ve heard the argument that driving is a privilege and carrying a gun is a right. I get it. But, you can stop a car. You can turn the car out of the way. You can swerve the car away from an object. Unless I missed the class with Angelina Jolie about how to curve a bullet, once it leaves, it ain’t stopping til it hits something. Recently I had a conversation with a salesman at a local gun store. He just shakes his head when he tells me about the people that have been coming into the store.
Lets the bombs start dropping. I can take it.
If you said the same thing about voting, perhaps a literacy test on the text and meaning of the Constitution, I might agree with you.
Training up with firearms used to be a part of culture. As a kid I could take my shot gun tio school and huint my way walking home. Back then people hit what they intended to.
Every town should have a simple range to which its citizens all have free access.
I agree with you 100%. Vermont is white because its colder than hell 6 months of the year. The Vermont immigre city folks control the vote, but rural Vermont is much like Wyoming.
I read your whole statement and get it, to a point. In the country here (VT), most kids start learning about firearm safety when they’re five or six. Recently we had two cases of DUI death resulting; case one was a former Burlington police officer who was over the limit for alcohol and killed a man. Second case was a heroin addict who shot up, drove her truck at over 100 mph and took out two folks going to the grocery store. I’ve had so many close calls on the roads, I’ve installed a GoPro and turn it on for every trip we make.
When you turn a corner and someone’s in your lane at a relative closing rate of 100+ mph, you can’t stop, and you sure as hell can’t ‘swerve out of the way’.
The addict who killed two? Sentenced to 2-12 yrs, will likely be released in April at sentencing with time served.
The police officer? Same sentence.
The message? If you want to kill someone in Vermont, get drunk or high and slam into them.