States should require a person to complete safety training prior to purchasing a gun or carrying a gun in public. Training ensures that gun owners are educated on the responsible practices for handling and using firearms, storing them securely at home, as well as carrying guns in public.
It is common sense that before using a gun, a person should receive training on how to do it safely. But research shows that 39% of gun owners have no safety training. Before buying a gun, all people should be required to receive comprehensive firearm training, which should include live-fire training experience. The training should also include instruction on how to responsibly store, handle, use, and transport a firearm. Education on self-defense laws, how to de-escalate arguments, and the risks associated with children and people with suicidal thoughts accessing firearms are essential knowledge for gun owners.
Firearm safety training provides gun owners with the proper education on how to handle, use, store, and transport guns, and all gun owners should be required to complete safety training prior to buying one. In a self-defense experiment involving a firearm simulator, participants with lower levels of firearm training and experience performed worse than those with higher levels of training. Many accidentally “shot” innocent bystanders or unarmed people. Firearm safety training is also crucial for gun owners who desire to carry their guns in public. In fact, law enforcement experts, firearm trainers, and military personnel overwhelmingly agree that people who carry concealed weapons in public should take firearm training, including live-fire training.
