A real gun license

Gail Collins writes in Arms and the Duck in the New York Times:

[I]t’s only in movies that people are good shots during a violent encounter. In 2008, Al Baker reported in The Times that the accuracy rate for New York City officers firing in the line of duty was 34 percent.

And these are people trained for this kind of crisis. The moral is that if a lunatic starts shooting, you will not be made safer if your fellow average citizens are carrying concealed weapons.

I’ve been kickboxing for ten years.  I’m a muscular macho guy in great shape.  When I began sparring I had the false confidence of the pro-gun crowd, as well as the oil rig workers in Collins’ article, and got creamed.  I could barely last one round.

The first lesson any fighter must learn is to conquer your fear.  A combat situation is fundamentally different from any exercise, class, or simulation, including shooting at defenseless animals.  It’s biologically impossible to keep your wits about you.   The natural adrenaline rush is conducive to running, not effective fighting … not thinking … and absolutely not firing a gun. Be very afraid of those with concealed guns.

Now if you really have to have a License to Kill, there should be a way to qualify where you’re trained and have proven you can be effective under extreme pressure.  Perhaps a Marines Boot Camp.  With copious live and accurate return fire. That ought to cull the herd.

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