I am a longtime Montana Hunter Education instructor, something I am immensely proud of and take very seriously. We do an outstanding job of training kids to safely handle firearms, to be ethical hunters, and to respect the tradition they are entrusted with. I use the term “kids” literally – my students average 12 years old and some are as young as 10.
Under Montana law a hunter education card satisfies the firearm training requirement when applying for a concealed carry permit. Hunter ed classes don’t cover anything remotely related to concealed carry. In fact, we are forbidden to have any handgun in class, even certified inert ones. Yet, our lawmakers promote the illusion that this equals concealed carry training, and will make all of us safer.
Now, with the introduction of HB 102, the current Legislature is attempting to promote a more dangerous illusion: that allowing virtually anyone to conceal-carry firearms, without any training, will make us even safer still. This defies common sense. HB 102 should not become law.
Jim Watson
Kalispell