Jason Kilgore of Cease Fire Oregon is an idiot and he’s not afraid to show it!
As the gun guys like to chide, in their oversimplified way, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I agree. People with guns kill people. And sometimes they unintentionally kill themselves and others.
There’s a nice little “Gun Death” reference right there. Jason knows about the “Gun Death?” Files, yet he says things that fly right in the face of that information. Yep, guns are the cause of death, get rid of guns, you get rid of death. Yeah right!
It is a simply truth that the pro-gun guys live in denial about. When faced with reports of gun owners who unintentionally shoot themselves and others, pro-gun folks simply write it off, suggesting that those are rare examples and that those gun owners simply didn’t understand the 4 Rules of Gun Safety and had not been trained properly. (Personally, I prefer the 11 Rules of Gun Safety, but for some reason the gun guys never cite those).
First up the 11 rules of gun safety are overly complicated, and have some serious flaws. Its easy to remember and cite 3-4 rules…when you double that number it starts becoming intellectual masturbation. Also I HATE rules like “Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to shoot.” I will NEVER teach rules like this because its bullshit. When I put my carry gun away in the safe at night when I sleep, its loaded. Its also locked up. I’m not “ready to shoot it”, but it poses no danger. Plus superfluously unloading it just to adhere to this rule adds additional dangers. Also when I put my gun back on in the morning, I’m still not “Ready To Shoot it”, I hope I won’t NEED to shoot it, but if I do get attacked, I don’t think my assailant will be willing to wait while I load and make ready.
Still the bigger point he makes is more guns = more gun accidents, and he cites a bunch of stories to “Support” this.
It just isn’t true. Accidental deaths by firearms have been going DOWN over the last several years, meanwhile gun ownership has been going UP, as well as more people are choosing to be armed and go armed. Also despite all of this the “Gun Death” rate has been a flat 30,000 deaths per year for DECADES. Linoge further shows this.
Its just not true….but because he WANTS it to be true he says it anyway.
Good luck at winning support with arguments like that. You’re simply showing the REAL truth, people who oppose the 2nd Amendment are no rational or sane people.
You slightly mistated rule three as expressed by the NRA. It is “Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.” The gun sitting on your nightstand is in use. Your carry gun is (presumably) still in it’s holster in the safe, in use.
That one word makes all the difference….
Yeah, I’ve heard that explanation. I still find it cumbersome (and vastly more cumbersome than all the arguments about Cooper’s Rule #1)
In the end they all DO work, and they never tell anything patently unsafe.
I personally just find the Cooper 4 to be the easiest to teach and understand.
Jeff Cooper made his rules for intelligent people. The hard truth is that idiots can’t be trained out of their idiocy, and they’ll find a way to hurt themselves and others, no matter what object is around to use. Kilgore wants the world to be made safe for fools. If that were done, he could feel comfortable in it.
Well Kilgore’s view is that the rabble *cannot* be “trained properly”.
Part of the same neo-feudalism view that sees the commoners in need of the stern-but-loving hands of the Lords and Ladies.
I mean if the common person can’t be trusted with a gun, then how the hell can she be trusted with a vote?
The NRA teaches that rule about keeping it unloaded until ready to use and I agree with them. When it is locked in my bedside safe, it is in use and any NRA trainers I’ve dealt with (I am one) agree with that same sentiment. It is in use. Notice it does not say “until ready to shoot”. The rule that DOES say “until ready to shoot” is the rule that says “Keep your finger straight and off the trigger until ready to shoot.”
They are very very specific on “shoot” vs “use” and for good reason.
KEEP YOUR GUN UNLOADED UNTIL READY TO USE! Locked and ready in your bedside safe is IN USE for its intended purpose.
We had those 11 Rules crammed into our head when I joined the High School Rifle Team back in the day. (Yes, Virginia, Guns in Schools used to be a GOOD Thing)! But the Four Rules are the Distilled Essence of the 11 Rules, and that’s why they cover the same Territory in less time.
Thank You, Col. Cooper.