Gun Laws And 2a
Lunacy: NSSF Head Unleashes On Everytown’s Brand New ‘Gun Safety Training’ Initiative
NSSF slams Everytown's new gun safety program as ironic and counterproductive
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✍️By ZRIntel Editorial Team📍Online
In a sarcastic editorial, the head of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Larry Keane, criticized Everytown For Gun Safetys new Train Smart initiative aimed at educating gun owners on safety. Keane, who serves as the senior vice president and general counsel for the NSSF, lambasted the irony of an anti-gun organization known for advocating for tighter gun restrictions and the disarmament of citizens suddenly claiming to offer firearm safety education. Everytown, a prominent anti-gun advocacy group, has long championed policies aimed at reducing the number of guns in private hands, including calls for universal background checks, mandatory firearm registries, and the outlawing of certain classes of weapons like semi-automatic rifles. Its new Train Smart initiative, however, seeks to change its public image by offering a range of educational programs focused on promoting responsible gun ownership. Keane pointed out that the organizations history of aggressive gun control advocacy made it particularly absurd for Everytown to now offer gun safety training to the very people they seek to restrict or disarm. Keanes editorial, which appeared on the NSSFs website, questioned whether the group truly cared about improving gun safety or if this initiative was simply another attempt to reshape its public image while continuing to push for its ultimate goal: the reduction of civilian gun ownership. The Train Smart initiative, which Everytown launched with a press release in mid-August, includes several segmented lessons. One of the first courses, called The Smart Guide to Buying a Gun, is designed to provide prospective gun buyers with the facts they need to make informed decisions about purchasing firearms. The course covers basic topics like what to look for in a firearm, understanding gun ownership responsibilities, and learning about safe storage practices. Other aspects of the program focus on understanding the role of guns in protecting oneself and securing a home. Despite the initiatives positive aims to educate new gun owners, Keane sarcastically questioned Everytowns commitment to safety given the group's history of pushing legislation aimed at making it harder to legally purchase and own guns. He stated, It would be easy to dismiss this as the stuff of comedy writers. In fact, it was hardly believable until NSSF staff saw it with their own eyes at the recent National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) held in Boston, Massachusetts). Keane further mocked the idea of an anti-gun group offering training classes for gun owners, drawing attention to Everytowns public opposition to gun ownership rights. According to Keane, Everytowns new program was essentially a thinly veiled effort to push more restrictive regulations under the guise of improving gun safety. He pointed out the groups opposition to private ownership of certain firearms, its support for restrictive waiting periods, and its advocacy for mandatory gun storage laws as evidence that its true objective was never to teach responsible firearm ownership, but rather to control and regulate gun ownership to the point of elimination. Keane went on to argue that while Everytowns new Train Smart program may provide useful safety education, it fundamentally contradicts the organizations ultimate goal. If the group truly cared about the safety of gun owners and the general public, it would focus on other means of improving gun safety, such as supporting self-defense rights or increasing funding for existing gun safety programs run by organizations with a long history of promoting firearm training and responsible ownership. Keanes critique highlights a broader divide between pro-gun and anti-gun factions, with each side accusing the other of using gun safety as a means to push their respective agendas. Pro-gun advocates argue that Everytowns initiative is part of a strategy to further infringe on Second Amendment rights, while others believe that it is an attempt to create a more palatable, responsible public image. Regardless, the perception of Everytown as an anti-gun entity is unlikely to change anytime soon, and their training initiative is likely to be seen with skepticism by those who feel that the group has done more to limit gun ownership than to promote safe use.