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Old March 13, 2012, 06:59 AM   #21
BlueTrain
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Join Date: September 26, 2005
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 6,141
I believe I mentioned this in another thread somewhere. That question about mandatory training parallels the same issue with driver training. The answer is probably too little, too late.

Oh, I know you ought to be "checked out" on some of the elements of basic operation. Handguns, at least, pretty much all work the same way, just like cars. Yet when you first sit in a new car, you can have a heck of a time figuring out some of the controlsl. Same with a handgun. But that isn't the problem.

By the time you're old enough to sit behind the wheel and drive the family car, you've already had over ten years of sitting next to the person behind the wheel picking up all their habits. Of course, you only pick up some of them. The rest are probably invisible. But there's still all of the hands-on things you can only learn by doing and to an extent, you have to sort of learn them all over again when you have a different car.

With guns, you probably spent ten years watching gun handling on TV and in the movies. Add to that the fact that you're an American, and you're an expert on handguns. That's why the adoption of the 9mm Beretta was so controversial; everyone is an expert when it comes to handguns.

Last year I spent a week driving a right-hand drive car in the U.K. with a six-speed manual transmission. A diesel, too, by the way. I managed but the first half-mile was, uh, embarrassing. After than I was fine, mostly. Same with a handgun. The same principles apply to a Glock that apply to a 1907 Savage .32. They just work every so slightly differently.

But maybe I'm assuming too much.
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