By Dave Workman | Editor-in-Chief
Anti-gun-rights lobbying groups such as Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Everytown for Gun Safety, have been preaching against allowing such businesses to operate, and against buying firearms, with Everytown declaring in an email blast, “It has been reported that gun sales have been going way up…A flood of guns at this precarious moment compounds the risks of death and serious injury during this incredibly stressful time.”
While these gun prohibition organizations want to discourage gun ownership, the National Rifle Association has taken a different course. In an email blast of its own, the NRA announced, “In response to the growing number of first-time gun buyers during the coronavirus outbreak, the National Rifle Association’s Education & Training Division is pleased to announce the launch of four new online gun safety courses.”
Joe DeBergalis, executive director of NRA General Operations, says in the NRA email, “The NRA recommends that all new gun owners seek professional training at the range, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a head start on learning the basics of firearm safety at home. New gun owners, old gun owners, it doesn’t really matter. Taking one of these classes moderated by a certified NRA instructor can only make you safer, and that’s our primary goal.”
According to the NRA message, the courses include:
Gun Safety Seminar
NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course – Distance Learning
NRA Basic Rifle Shooting Course – Distance Learning
NRA Basic Personal Protection In The Home Course – Distance Learning
Each course, lasting from one to eight hours, is available at NRAInstructors.org.
Recently, Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, welcomed all the new gun owners to the shooting fraternity and encouraged them to seek training from firearms instructors.
“We encourage all new gun owners to seek competent training,” Gottlieb said. “Learn to handle your new firearms safely, and remember it’s up to all of you to protect your rights. It’s sad and at the same time uplifting that so many Americans will no longer be fence-sitters. They’re joining the ranks of gun owners and will soon understand, if they don’t already, why so many of their friends, neighbors and even family members have remained so zealous in their efforts to protect the rights you now hope to exercise and enjoy.”
Meanwhile, the Michael Bloomberg-supported Everytown for Gun Safety has been urging people to pressure the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security to reverse course and declare gun stores “non-essential.”
Second Amendment activists have frequently argued “If you’re not teaching gun safety, you’ve got no business preaching about gun safety.”
There is no evidence that any of the gun control groups has firearms instructors offering courses on safe gun handling. Instead, they simply caution gun owners to lock up their firearms and ammunition separately.
