You end up with more cops who don’t know how to handle guns properly. When even your tactical guys are flubbing their gun handling, something has gone off the rails. But why wouldn’t it? What cadre of shooting enthusiasts can an officer train with in New York City? What kid who grew up with shooting are you going to find in New York City?
No other city, save maybe Chicago, has been so successful at eradicating the shooting sports and gun culture. As bad as LA and California are, there’s still at least a healthy shooting culture from which competent gun handlers can be drawn.
Agreed. Look at what remains of Great Britain. Steeped in firearms history and lore, they’re now relagated to banning breakable beer mugs and pitchers. And, violent crime is more prevalent than ever. And unarmed or incompetant constabulary.
I spent four years in the Marines and never witnessed a negligent discharge. The only one I even heard about in my unit related to an m249SAW (an open bolt weapon) that hit the ground too hard and the bolt released. Actually looking back it is interesting I never saw an ND, but did see a couple runaway guns.
Thank you for the positive shoutout for LA and California. As much as I hate the politics of my home state, I love the geography and the weather (I’m in shorts and t-shirt here on Feb 2). Believe it or not, there are lots of gun nuts here, with collections that would inspire awe (there is a lot of money here). With a population this large and diverse, you have plenty of people from all political backgrounds. And honestly, it’s the Bay Area and LA area liberal idiocy that infects our state politics. In fact there are entire cities in LA county. It wasn’t long ago that Orange County was the most Republican county in the nation (now ruined by LA residents moving south).
As far as shooting culture goes, there are some very well attended USPSA matches in the area. In fact, the USPSA match in the City of LA, or just on the edge, which is a semi-top-secret match, is a who’s who of pro shooters – a bunch of them live in the LA area. The first time I shot this match, I had men’s and women’s national champions of various USPSA disciplines (including 3-gun!), in the squad directly in front of and behind me. At a match of less than 100 people. I’d be willing to bet this particular match might have the highest proportion of A, M, and GM of any regular club match in the country.
And a shoutout to the Norco IPSC match too! 200+ people every Saturday, year round.
Chicago def. has a lot of trouble, like any large municipal departments – though they recruit a lot of folks from the outlying areas.
The surprising thing is that there are a fair amount of events out here… Check my link (WIIL Shoot) for a calendar…