As an American, it is our right and our duty to own firearms. According to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” While the law gives us the freedom to own guns, it is our responsibility to ensure that anyone handling a firearm knows exactly how to use it, how to take proper care of it, and how to make sure that no one could accidentally be injured by it. I have been handling firearms and shooting them ever since I was a kid at my great-grandfather’s farm, and even before that, my father instructed me on the basics of firearm safety, keeping it pointed in a safe direction, and most importantly, to treat any firearm as if it were loaded.
Everyone that has the potential of being in the presence of a firearm should be properly trained in its safe handling and proper function. They should also have the knowledge of its use-an opportunity not everyone is able to experience. This is where shooting simulators can be incredibly effective, giving more people the ability to understand aiming and firing a gun without the use of any actual ammunition. This has two major benefits; the ability to learn to use firearms in a controlled environment, and the absence of any danger presented by the ammunition. While nothing can truly take the place of actually firing a gun, shooting simulator offer a great way to introduce the basics of firearms and their functions. And the easiest and simplest simulator can be a dry fire app, which can be installed on your smartphone, the main thing that it has a video camera.
I personally am the captain of my school’s skeet/trap/sporting clays team, and I am responsible for training the freshman class. Most of the students have fired a gun at this point, but I still tediously teach and reteach basic firearm safety. This is a situation where it would be extremely helpful to have a shooting simulator system, so that I can instruct them on the use of their guns without the danger that new shooters can present. Ultimately, proper firearm training and basic safety protocols should be an important and necessary part of almost everyone in the United States. And plenty of people could use refreshers for their knowledge, especially on the proper storage of their guns.
A large amount of gun related incidents are a direct result of improperly stored firearms, either in which a child was able to get ahold of it, the firearm was not properly emptied and still contained live ammunition, or the unsecured gun was able to make its way into the hands of someone it should not. Unfortunately, it is events like these and other incidents resulting from a lack of proper firearm training that lead to more restrictive gun laws. Training and safety awareness are vital to the continued use of firearms. In order for our sport to endure, and for the safety of the general populace, everyone needs to know how to safely handle firearms.