In the interests of forum harmony, I was prepared to let this particular sub-thread die quietly, but since you insisted on resurrecting it, I figure ? wotthe?ell?

1. My apologies for having offended anyone; I simply made a statement based on my military training that I naively assumed everyone else already took for granted. I was wrong.

2. I never made any statements that indicated I felt people should not be allowed to own or carry firearms - I simply stated my opinion that those who choose to exercise that right should also accept the responsibility of doing so in a safe and prudent manner. The fact that some people interpret this as an "anti-gun" stance is something I find a little disturbing. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

3. In the interest of total disclosure, I did state my experience and training level wrt firearms, but I'm not totally clueless about them; I just never had any burning desire to own one in civilian life. I spent 12 years in the military and was trained to use semi-automatic small arms. All the training I received emphasised that you never put a round in the chamber unless you intended to fire the weapon. When you picked it up in the morning, you checked to see that the chamber was empty; when you put the weapon down you checked it again; when you picked it up again, you checked it again; when you handed it to someone else you checked it; when you received it from someone else you checked it; when you went inside a building you checked it, and you never left the range until the range officer had checked it. Until this thread started, I assumed that was standard procedure for any responsible gun owner. Apparently I was wrong; sorry for offending you.

3. The argument that "I've been doing this since I was in short pants, therefore I know what I'm doing and I don't make mistakes" simply does not impress me. I have no way of knowing who trained you, what their qualifications were, or whether they passed on any bad habits.

To quote from Laurence Gonzales's book "Deep Survival", "The word 'experience' often refers to someone who's gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have." I know far too many people who've been driving for 30 years who still routinely change lanes without doing a shoulder check, run yellow (or red) lights, and tailgate on the freeway (or the Canadian equivalent). This doesn't (IMO) make them safe drivers, it just means they've gotten away with it for 30 years.

In some cases, they haven?t even done that; one driver, who came within inches of rear-ending me when I had to make an emergency stop, pulled up alongside, rolled down his window, and gave me the finger <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Shortly thereafter, when we were both stopped at a red light, he opened his door, leaned out, and repeated the gesture - just in case I'd missed it the first time, presumably. Obviously, he didn?t think he?d done anything wrong, so I guess it was my fault for trying not to hit that jaywalker.

Firearms are extremely dangerous and deadly - they're designed to be. It's not like boxing or snow-boarding, where a mistake results in you getting a whack in the head that makes your teeth rattle and encourages you not to do it again. Your first mistake with a rifle or a pistol could easily be the last mistake you ever make. Those who forget or ignore that do so at their own peril and the peril of others around them. So yes, I do expect people who handle firearms to do so responsibly. My definition of ?responsible? is based on my military training; I didn?t realise that it wouldn?t be shared by others.

4. The notion that someone who has "neither experience nor qualification" is not entitled to an opinion doesn?t cut it either. A young woman of my acquaintance died in a plane crash last year because she failed to question the pilot's decision to take off. The fact that she was not a pilot and had never before flown in a light plane did not mean that she had no business questioning his decision. I am a pilot - though not a very experienced or highly qualified one - but I would never have taken off sandwiched between two weather fronts on a flight through a mountain pass, as this moron did. As a pilot, I would expect and encourage a non-flying passenger to question my decisions if they felt uncomfortable, and to consult others with more experience; and I would not take offense if they elected to catch the bus home instead. I would expect a rifle, shotgun, or pistol owner to show the same attitude to someone who was unfamiliar with firearms.

5. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We have a bigger country, a smaller population, a lower crime rate, and better National Parks than you do, so there! <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> So I have no real incentive to come south of the border to get my hiking jollies. That means the chances of me going into the woods with you, teddy bears? picnic or no teddy bears? picnic, is pretty much nil. So the whole darned discussion is moot and I personally have nothing more to say on the topic.

Again, my apologies for offending anyone. I thought I was merely stating the obvious, and it turns out I wasn't. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />