Recently I wrote a blog post for the American Rifleman website about the foolish practice of carrying an auto pistol with an empty chamber. I almost didn’t post it because I really thought that most people were smarter than to try this. Boy, was I mistaken!

I am beginning to realize that we’ve got a lot of people who are playing at personal defense. They buy any old kind of pistol and then they make up a justification for what they carry and how they carry it. I’m sure that they also search the internet chat rooms until they find someone who supports their cockamamie ideas. It’s pretty scary when you realize that these fools are running around out there with loaded guns and a head full of screwy ideas about guns, the law, and tactics of personal defense.

I mean that is really a lot like running out there, buying yourself a car and deciding that you are going to teach yourself how to drive. No need to bother with learning traffic laws or the common driving courtesies. And you can just forget about safety techniques because those are just for sissies.

Let me be real clear about this… I am not in favor of mandatory testing before a person can own or carry a firearm. Governments will just screw this up like they have screwed up everything else. But people ought to have enough sense to see the value of seeking training before they elect to defend their lives or those of their family. And reading the words of some nameless fruitcake on an internet chat room is not training.

What makes the whole situation even sadder is that we live in a time when defensive training is available from quite a large number of sources. I have personally attended Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, and the Sig Academy… I recommend them highly. In addition, I hear very good reports about the classes put on by Tiger McKee, Dave Spaulding, Grant Cunningham, and Marty Hayes.

If you are serious about carrying a gun for personal defense you will make quality training a part of your shooting budget. If you aren’t, then you might fall into that fruitcake category whether you will admit it or not. I know a number of lawmen and ex-lawmen (myself included) who have been in harm’s way and continue to get quality training at every opportunity. I wonder what we might know that the fruitcake gunfighters don’t know… never have experienced… and won’t admit.

We worry about the nut cases who are out there committing heinous crimes with firearms. Well, I am beginning to wonder about the nut cases who are carrying guns with no training and their heads full of seriously ridiculous ideas about what to do when confronted with a violent criminal attack. Which category do you fall into?

Thanks for listening to my rant. I feel better now (but only just a little).