Not anti-gun; anti-crazy

It’s pretty clear that the Republican-controlled Legislature will pass Gov. DeSantis’s permitless carry gun legislation, so that any law-abiding citizen can buy a gun without training. I’m sure many moderate Republican legislators privately oppose this crazy idea, but fear a backlash from the governor, Republican Party and NRA if they oppose it.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why the NRA won’t support required training. The NRA website states that “the NRA continues to be the leader in firearms education.” The NRA is obviously not going to oppose legislation that removes ridiculously easy barriers to gun ownership, but by supporting required training, they would give moderate legislators the cover they need to oppose the no-training part of this proposal (HB 543).

I’m not anti-gun. I’m anti-crazy. Gun ownership without training is as crazy as allowing someone to drive a car who has never driven before. A car and a gun are deadly weapons in the wrong hands.

This has to do with saving the lives of the many additional Floridians that will be injured or killed by gunfire at the hands of uneducated gun owners. It’s not only the victim of the gunfire who is destroyed, but also likely the life of his family and the family of the gun owner that used his gun in a moment of rage or by an accidental shooting by a child due to not knowing how to properly store a weapon.

We all agree that life is more stressful than ever, and we are more divided in our beliefs. People anger more easily. Our Governor and the legislators who support his effort to pass permitless carry without training requirement are proving another of Albert Einstein’s observations: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limitations.”

Jeffrey Eisen, Fort Lauderdale