According to Gunviolencearchive.org, within the eight months of 2019 that we have experienced thus far, a total of 35506 incidents have already taken place, resulting in over 9000 deaths. This, as the very first line of this article, is probably a lot to take in. Why, you ask?

Mostly because the narrative has been continuously in favor of the policy of allowing people to carry guns wherever they feel like. In fact, given the fact that the number of deaths by car accidents reaches the same number as deaths by firearms in America, should convince most people to go against guns and indeed man has.

Talk about hunting expedition; there are a lot of people who go unprepared and end up getting injured. It is imperative to learn how to use the firearm so that you keep unforeseen circumstances as bay.

This is the reason why rallies that support gun control are becoming a trend now in the US. However, all this overshadows an essential concept that receives very little attention. This concept has the power to turn around these horrendous stats for a better world.

Firearm Training: The Decisive Factor

This concept is firearm training, a decisive factor in ensuring safe gun usage. An NSSF Five-Star Rating training can teach you the essentials of handling the gun safely, storing it securely and using it safely all while encouraging your right of self-defense that comes with a weapon.

A firearm training session is handled by a professional in the field of gun usage. Thereby ensuring that you understand every minute detail about handling guns. Although this is enough to know why Firearm Training cannot be treated as secondary, some discussions are seated deeper.

Here are some reasons:

1. Self-Defense is only as good as you are

The more significant proportion of the population carries firearms simply because they want to guarantee their self-defense. As a result, most people do not even find a reason to use their weapon throughout their life because they never get caught up in a situation where they might need the help of their gun.

However, you can never be 100% sure that you will not get caught up in such a situation. If you were that sure, you would never have bought the weapon. But since you have, it is worth questioning how good you will be at handling that weapon if such a situation ever arises?

Without firearm training, the answer is straightforward: you will be terrible. The chances are that since you have never really used a weapon, you will not even be confident about drawing your gun in case it ever comes to that. Hence, you will not also draw your gun.

So essentially, without getting firearm training, there is no purpose of getting a firearm.

2. Real-Life Scenario

Carrying on the discussion put forward in the last point, being unfamiliar with the feel of the gun seeps your confidence from you. But it is not just about not knowing the feel of the gun. It is also about being unfamiliar with a real-life scenario.

Any training will teach you the essential considerations in such a case. For instance, you must always consider what is in the background when shooting a target to make sure you do not inflict any third-party injuries.

Having learned these essentials, you feel more confident in using your weapon and can use it without causing any harm to a third-party.

3. Maintenance

Like any other equipment that you use, a gun needs its support too. In fact, not maintaining your firearm can cause serious harm to you or your loved ones. There have been numerous incidents where unmaintained guns have brought harm to people.

For instance, one such incident took place on the set of The Crow when the son of our beloved karate master, Bruce Lee, lost his life at the hands of a gun with an obstructed barrel. Barrels jam because the gun is not maintained correctly and can cause explosions right in the hand of the person firing.

Another potential threat is that a gun that is not cleaned and maintained correctly can lose its aim. This happens due to the copper fouling that can accumulate. As a result, the velocity of the fired bullet will also be affected.

Undertaking extensive training will teach you how to not only handle but also maintain your firearm.

4. Gun Safety

However, we have not even gotten to perhaps the most essential feature of firearm training. A safety feature is more important than learning to fire your weapon correctly, use it for your defense, simulate real life-scenarios, or maintaining it.

This is gun safety, a feature that differentiates between responsible ownership of a gun and reckless life loss. Learning gun safety is not just a requirement for yourself but a requirement by law. As a responsible citizen, you must uphold your security and the safety of those near you in all your actions.

Some of the most important rules concerning gun safety include:

• Ensuring that your gun is not near any unauthorized person.
• Ensuring that you have substantial control over your breathing when operating a gun.
• Keeping your finger off the trigger to until the decision to shoot has been made.
• Never pointing the gun at anything or placing it somewhere pointed at something.
• Always keeping the gun unloaded and the safety turned on even when it is on you.
• Regardless, treating every gun as being loaded when handling it to ensure that it is dealt with cautiously.
• Keeping the arm away from children and concealed at all times.

Final Word

Undertaking firearm training is by far the essential part of being a gun owner. Given the number of incidents that have already taken place, there is no reason to doubt that accidents can happen and keep happening.

The consequences of these accidents can be devastating for every party involved regardless of what the real outcome is. Therefore, it is in your best interests and the best interests of everyone around you that you, as a gun owner, be trained for firearms.

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Author Bio:
Gloria Stokes is a passionate writer and editor who loves to read and write articles over weaponry and loves to travel. She has completed her weapons engineering from the Cranfield University.