US concealed gun safety teacher shoots student


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A gun instructor in the US state of Ohio has accidentally shot a student in the arm in a class for people seeking permits to carry a concealed firearm.

 

Terry Dunlap, 73, was demonstrating a .38-calibre pistol when it went off and struck Michael Piemonte, 26.

 

He and his wife were taking the day-long class in order to carry guns for their own safety, he told local media.

 

All 50 states allow residents to obtain a concealed firearm permit, though training and other requirements differ.

 

Last month, the state of Illinois became the last to do so, in response to a court order.

 

The Fairfield County, Ohio, sheriff's office listed the Saturday shooting in the town of Lancaster as accidental, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

 

"It took me a couple of seconds to realise that I had been shot," Mr Piemonte told CNN.

 

Mr Piemonte was treated in hospital and released that night.

 

Mr Dunlap has not spoken publicly about the incident.

 

Ohio residents seeking a concealed weapon permit must take an approved safety course or show "evidence of imminent danger", pass a criminal background check, and meet other requirements.

 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23691146

 

The instructor is 73 years old! Well, I'm relieved to know that the folks training our citizens to use firearms are so competent. I feel much safer now. ;)

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Glad your relieved, there are thousands upon thousands of gun safety instructors in the united states and the amount of times something like this happens is exceedingly low.

The number of times an instructor shoots a student should be zero(0), not low, not exceedingly low, not marginal, not virtually none but zero.

And they should probably have an age limit on the instructors as well.

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The number of times an instructor shoots a student should be zero(0), not low, not exceedingly low, not marginal, not virtually none but zero.

And they should probably have an age limit on the instructors as well.

Agreed. The most important component of gun safety is never to point a loaded gun in the direction of a person you don't intend to shoot. No instructor should be making this mistake.

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Agreed. The most important component of gun safety is never to point a loaded gun in the direction of a person you don't intend to shoot. No instructor should be making this mistake.

Exactly.  Especially knowing that a .38 revolver doesn't have a traditional safety lock.

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You don't need a safety "lock" for the firearm to be safe - in fact many double-action concealed carry automatics don't have one. My question is if this revolver was being operated in single-action mode, in which case accidents are much more likely.

Single action: armed (cocked) with a short & light trigger pull to fire.

Double action: un-armed (un-cocked) with a long & stiff trigger pull to both arm and fire.

Also: there are over 115,000 certified non-military instructors in the US.

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Also: there are over 115,000 certified non-military instructors in the US.

Doesn't matter. Because one made a mistake, they are all incompetent and can't be trusted.

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Are you serious... really... or are you just trolling?

 

He's being sarcastic to take the focus away form the fact that the certification for instructors is obviously way to weak and lacking in requirements and re-certification of older instructors as well as lacking a decent upper age limit. 

 

So while his sarcasm is greatly overstated. this case shows that the quality of those instructors can't be known at this time. 

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One accident does not indicate an inherently bad training system. Most often, and especially with very rare instances like this, it just means you had a human being make a very human mistake.

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He's being sarcastic to take the focus away form the fact that the certification for instructors is obviously way to weak and lacking in requirements and re-certification of older instructors as well as lacking a decent upper age limit. 

 

So while his sarcasm is greatly overstated. this case shows that the quality of those instructors can't be known at this time. 

The certification for instructors is just fine. Re-certification may be an issue though, especially if age requirements aren't considered. All that being said, it is telling that with over 100,000 instructors, this is the first time in recent history that I can recall something like this in the news. Given the controversy surrounding guns and how the media jumps on anything they can, 1 accident with over 100,000 instructors is not a bad percentage. Most instructors I know give at least one class a month and many give one every weekend. If you do the math, 1 accident in 1,200,000 classes this year is not bad. Should the certification process be looked at to make sure it accounts for certain things such as perhaps age limits, sure. But all in all, given how we are humans and accidents happen, 1 in 1,200,000 a year is acceptable.

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He's being sarcastic to take the focus away form the fact that the certification for instructors is obviously way to weak and lacking in requirements and re-certification of older instructors as well as lacking a decent upper age limit. 

 

So while his sarcasm is greatly overstated. this case shows that the quality of those instructors can't be known at this time. 

 

Age != incompetence.

 

Accidents != incompetence.

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^^ exactly, and I would add that the majority of instructors I know teach far more classes than ILikeTobacco guesstimated, so his 1.2 million figure is probably quite low.

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I'm taking hunter safety as my old record wasn't digitized. tells you how old I am.. hahaha.

 

But I'm taking the class for the certificate and we learn to ALWAYS handle a firearm as if it were loaded. no questions asked.

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Age != incompetence.

 

Accidents != incompetence.

 

Meanwhile int he real world.

 

Doctors above a certain age can't practice, before that when they pass a certain age, they need to undergo regular qualification tests to make sure they're still able to do their jobb. surgeons are go out of date even sooner. 

 

Drivers need to do visions tests regularly above a certain age, and then they need to have their license re-certified regularly. 

 

While being old doesn't mean you're incompetent. it raises the risk a LOT. you may know the theory, but are you capable of doing the physical act safely over and over and over without mistakes ? 

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Meanwhile int he real world.

 

Doctors above a certain age can't practice, before that when they pass a certain age, they need to undergo regular qualification tests to make sure they're still able to do their jobb. surgeons are go out of date even sooner. 

 

Drivers need to do visions tests regularly above a certain age, and then they need to have their license re-certified regularly. 

 

While being old doesn't mean you're incompetent. it raises the risk a LOT. you may know the theory, but are you capable of doing the physical act safely over and over and over without mistakes ? 

 

Depends what country you're in.

 

You're making a presumption based on a single incident and blaming this incident purely on the instructors age.  In effect, you're being ageist, which makes you a bigot. You sure you want to go down that road?

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Depends what country you're in.

 

You're making a presumption based on a single incident and blaming this incident purely on the instructors age.  In effect, you're being ageist, which makes you a bigot. You sure you want to go down that road?

 

Wow calling someone a bigot based on that? That's a bit of a stretch. 

 

"While being old doesn't mean you're incompetent. it raises the risk a LOT. you may know the theory, but are you capable of doing the physical act safely over and over and over without mistakes ?"

 

Is a perfectly valid non-bigoted opinion.

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The number of times an instructor shoots a student should be zero(0), not low, not exceedingly low, not marginal, not virtually none but zero.

And they should probably have an age limit on the instructors as well.

 

Really?

 

So you are perfect every time at everything you do?

 

We are human, we make mistakes. Relieved that the student was not hurt seriously it appears.

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Depends what country you're in.

 

You're making a presumption based on a single incident and blaming this incident purely on the instructors age.  In effect, you're being ageist, which makes you a bigot. You sure you want to go down that road?

 

Being a factist is not a bigot. 

 

sure it would be awesome if we could go old, and still be as fats to react and clear headed, strong and responsive as when we where 20 and 30. But that's not the real world. Sure, being old doesn't mean you get dull witted or that your mind weakens, though it usually does. it does however slow your reflexes and weaken your muscles and lessens your feeling. and while your mind may be as sharp as it was, it does take longer to get there. 

 

So while an old person can have the job, they should be certified at the very least yearly when it comes to handling firearms in front of people. especially if they're loaded firearms. 

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Really?

 

So you are perfect every time at everything you do?

 

We are human, we make mistakes. Relieved that the student was not hurt seriously it appears.

 

 

If your job is to instruct about firearms, then yes you better be damn perfect, you better be good enough at least that you don't point a firearm at anyone. that's not perfect, that's the stuff the student should know, it's not even being adequate, it's basic gun knowledge and handling. 

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