Austin, Tex. — “WHAT are you doing?”
I had just shot a gun for the first time. The instructor was yelling at me because he couldn’t understand how a 22-year-old missed a target some four feet tall and two feet wide, standing only nine feet away. But he was completely at ease when, 10 minutes later, he certified me for a concealed handgun license application.I'M WITH THE AUTHOR on this point;
Anyone who is firing a handgun for the first time has no business being 'certified' for a CHL.
Especially after only 10 minutes of familiarization.
Most especially when he can't hit a near-target at ALL, let alone "reliably".
For the debate, I wanted to be able to ask questions about the licensing system. To prepare, I decided to go through the licensing process, even though, technically speaking, I should have had weapons training before I applied. Knowing nothing about guns, I was supposed to fail. But I passed on the first try.
I cannot believe that any responsible firearms instructor, especially one who was responsible for CHL certification, would 'pass' a total incompetent.
Which leads me to believe that this entire story was a made-up effort by the egregiously liberal NYT to posit a "Worst Case Scenario" in support of their own political (Liberal, Anti-Gun) goals.
I'm not sure that this 'story' falls under the motto: "All The News That's Fit To Print".
First The Old Grey Lady puts an opinion article on the front page, now it prints an obvious lie on the opinion page? Why don't they just move the comics section (all of it, not just "Shoe") to the Opinion Page.
Oh, wait. They wouldn't print SHOE ... too conservative.
So the NYT Editorial Staff is now publishing fairy tales on their opinion page?
I must ask the editors ...
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!