Do you know how to safely carry a firearm? Do you know how to safely carry a baby? Do you know how to do both at the same time?
Well, a woman from Des Moines, Iowa, is specializing in teaching folks how to do just that, handle a baby and a firearm at the same time.
“We have seen a huge insurgence in young mothers, mothers of young children, wanting to get into firearms,” Melody Laurer, the instructor of the class, told ABC 6 On Your Side.
“And what’s happening is we don’t have instructors that are addressing their needs. So they just do it. They don’t do it right and then they end up having an accident,” Laurer explained.
Thus far, Laurer’s class has received a lot of attention.
“To our knowledge, nobody is doing this yet,” said Barry Snesll, the manager of Crossroads Shooting Sports. “The interest was so great that she actually had to turn off or shut off the registration. Otherwise, we would have had two-three times as many people here.”
Yet, not everyone is sold on the idea. Ladd Everitt, communications director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, slammed the course.
“We find it to be utterly repulsive, further evidence of a modern-day gun culture that embraces, and celebrates, reckless behavior that poses a threat to adults and children alike,” said Everitt in an email to GunsAmerica.
“It’s even more stunning coming after the shooting death of Veronica Rutledge at a Walmart in Blackfoot,” he continued. “There is apparently no tragedy that can overcome the idolatry of firearms in certain quarters.”
“No other free nation would tolerate such dangerous behavior. Hopefully we, too, will eventually come to our senses and act to protect children,” he continued.
Perhaps what Everitt’s missing is that with or without the class parents will still carry firearms when they are around their children. Given this reality, one can argue it’s better to teach and train parents on the safest way to carry with children rather than to let them try and figure it out on their own.
To that extent, Laurer said that as a general rule of thumb, “If you have baby on one side, it’s best to have gun on the other side.”
When a criminal, or potential criminal sees a smaller individual, he (nowadays, we have to include she) sees a victim, when he (she) sees a vulnerable individual, that criminal sees an opportunity.
If a government decides to limit its citizen’s right to carry weapons to protect themselves and their families, then that government first has a duty to eliminate the criminals who would prey on their naked citizenry!
This is the reason our right to carry a weapon and to protect ourselves and our families needs to be protected at all costs!
Remember, a liberal once assaulted becomes a conservative, and a conservative once jailed understands victimization!
For our part, we have a duty to ensure that right is not jeopardized by lack of education and proper training, by irresponsible or unstable individuals, or by irresponsible or unstable products. If you we do not do our part in this regard, a government will restrict those rights in order to protect us from ourselves!
It is good someone is offering training to help those who have small kids and want to protect them.
Cool, smarter, safer Moms.
It’s all about education.
A rarity these days.
This is where proficiency with”old fashioned”single hand shooting would shine.380acp starts looking good as well.better a hit with that than a miss with anything else
This is a great idea. Mothers with infants are vulnerable, as criminals know that the lady is multitasking in everything she does. I’m a believer that there is no such thing as too much training or education.
I can understand why the “Coalition” would not like this type of training. As our “I love America” President continually tries to take all of our guns and ammo away, this would fit right in with other anti-gun groups that are backed by Communist or Muslim countries. You can’t take over America if everyone is carrying a gun to protect themselves and their families. Exactly what other “free” countries are left in the world? Canada, UK, Australia, are few of the “free” countries that come to mind. The governments of those “free” countries have confiscated most all of the weaponry. Good for the Iowa mom, Iowa’s one of the few ‘sane’ states left in the nation. Before all the “boo birds” write their idiotic replies, check out how the gun control laws are working in California, Illinois, Washington DC and the few others that have already given up their freedom to “protect the people”.
I hope and assume that Laurer has carefully analyzed the numerous factors that make self-defense with a baby different and more complicated than straightforward defense of self.
Out of curiosity, what are the numerous factors?
This is a great point!!! Surprised no one has thought of this type of training before. Definitely a great option to have this kind of training available. I see a wide open market here!! Could go a long ways toward preventing further tragic accidents. NO….NOT MANDATORY! But definitely should be available and encouraged.