Quote Originally Posted by Bailey Guns View Post
Can we let this thread die? Please.
This thread has made me contemplate more than any other thread on the site. It's obviously a black and white issue for you Bailey, but for many others, it's simply not. Instead of finding this thread difficult to digest, perhaps you should see it for what it really is, a focused platform for you to have input into one of the most highly debated issues of the CCW process. Both sides discussing this issue have merit, especially considering policy writers don't give a crap about statistics on the matter. If they did, there would be a lot more clear and logical decisions concerning gun laws in this country and state. In light of the amount of press and hubbub over incidents like the idiot that NDed at CU Fitzsimmons, the statistics really impact little to nothing in the law making process. The average citizen and politician simply don't care about what the numbers reflect and I would even go so far as to say they don't even pay attention to anything but what's flashed before their eyes by the TV and internet.

Perception counts and we don't have a friendly media. We also don't have much support in the scientific arena concerning conducting studies into this very issue. Short of Gary Kleck at the FSU Sociology department, the sociologist and criminologists have limited resources to study what the impact on shootings and incidents relating to CCWs would be based on the state's training requirements. The FBI Uniform Crime Report and the National Crime Victimization Survey are the two most utilized to do statistical analysis on firearms studies, and neither capture the data needed to analyze this topic. I have seen a few studies that hit on the fringes of this issue, but have yet to see an actual study that dwells into the issue being discussed. So, although there may very well be no statistical impact from a required minimum level of training, I have yet to see anything either supporting or refuting the claim. One can point to the general numbers of people with CCW's compared to how often we hear in the news of something like the CU ND, but this isn't comparing the amount of CCW induced firearm crimes/NDs from the various state training requirements. So, raw numbers from a single state is a basic numbers comparison within the same testing group. If you have seen an actual study involving this issue, I would love to see it and ask you please post info here to it.

Ultimately, your position is any requirements are too many, but the dangers of unintended consequences from this are just as dangerous (albeit different) as those from disregarding any potential information supporting a minimum training requirement would lessen the impact to gun rights in this country also. The biggest irony of this debate is most who support no training requirements also support showing IDs for voting.

This is a good thread.