DanieltheAnvil,
Statistics show that it's the COPS who need the (actually, MORE) training, not armed citizens. Armed citizens perform quite well as they are.
But I DO agree that the popular (but as usual, ignorant) public belief is quite the contrary...
"Statistics" rarely,
if ever, impress me. They are even less likely to do so when the statistic itself is not present, or when there is no citation supporting. Based upon my
personal observations (for which there are
no supporting statistics) over the past half-century I will say the following:
1. Virtually ALL LEO's receive
some self defense training. P.O.S.T./Police Academy training is required in
most jurisdictions prior to certification. The training includes both armed (lethal and non-lethal) and unarmed (hand-to-hand) self defense. Since my experience is only with one agency. I obviously cannot speak to
all LE agencies, but Utah's POST was quite comprehensive 25 years ago, and the Davis County Sheriff's Office had semi-annual IST and firearm qualification requirements.
2. Citizens who choose to OC presents a completely different set of circumstances. There is no training
required for the exercise of this Constitutional right, and subsequently any 'training' is voluntary. And here's where things get a bit clouded... I
assume that those of us who frequent
this, and other
related forums (CC, 2A, etc.), are responsible gun owners, who have either educated ourselves through hours/years of research, and thousands of rounds expended in practice, or we have spent
significant amounts of money at places like Frontsight, Top Gun, Bullseye or Gunsite to be trained by "professionals" - or both.
The question is: "Are we in the OC Forum
truly representative of the 'average' gun-toting civilian?" People - as do water and electricity - have a natural tendency to take "the path of least resistance", and that's completely understandable. Why expend more time and energy than you
must in order to accomplish your goal? In terms of the application of human effort we refer to this approach as "efficiency". But. the carrying and implementation of a sidearm is only efficient if, like any other
learned physical activity, it is practiced frequently and with consistency. Because of this, I believe that we are the exceptions to the rule. We do these things not only from a heightened sense of responsibility, but because
we enjoy our time on the range or in the desert/prairie/woods. We have a deserved sense of pride in our abilities to safely and efficiently carry and employ (if necessary) our handgun(s).
Personally, I don't believe the 'average' owner of
one handgun (which probably spends most of its time on a nightstand), who doesn't
frequently OC, lacks the same 'qualifications' that we enthusiasts have.
The above is
nothing more than my
opinion on this subject. It is based upon anecdotal evidence, rather than statistical support. I have greater faith in what I have personally observed, than I do in numbers compiled by somebody whose agenda I know nothing about.