'Don't be trigger-happy'

One objective of the Firearm Licensing Authority is to reduce the number of shootings involving licensed firearm holders. An experienced firearm trainer says that when training persons in the use of firearms, it is important to emphasise that 'automatic response' should not involve the discharge of weapon in every altercation.

He says there are legal fees, which cannot be recovered, and the firearm will be seized for an unpredictable amount of time, as there will be an investigation. And the effect on a person involved in a shooting is also unpredictable. The trainer says he has seen licensed firearm holders who have had cause to use their firearms in self-defence being later psychologically incapable of using one again, while there are those who feel no after effect.

While he states clearly that the legal aspect of discharging a firearm is left to a lawyer, he says that if a bystander was shot by a licensed firearm holder and dies, the minimum charge will be manslaughter. For his part, he says "my primary function is to make sure that you are proficient in the use and care of the weapon".

not invincible

And much of that care seems directed at the licensed firearm holder's person. "Carrying a firearm does not give you protection," he said. "What it means, if anything, is that you are able to defend yourself. It does not put steel around you."

When The Sunday Gleaner asked about his perspective on licensed firearm holders intervening in situations to protect other persons, and if this is a case of playing 'off-duty cop', he uses the analogy of someone having car trouble. He says if someone is going home one night and sees a woman having car trouble by the roadside and stops to help her, he is not playing off-duty mechanic or off-duty wrecker driver.

"You have no legal obligation to step into a dangerous situation, but you have a moral obligation if you see someone's life being threatened," he says. "You can walk away, but when you read the paper tomorrow and you see that the person has been killed and you know you could have helped ensure that she goes home to see her children, how would you feel?"

Still, he reiterates that there are consequences to getting involved. "It is a decision to intervene that has to be taken with a knowledge of the consequences that come with it," he cautions.

-M.C.