NY State Wants the NRA to Train Gun Owners - Sort of

The new Governor of New York, David Patterson, wants the NRA to be the agency responsible for training gun owners in the Empire State. Though Patterson is recognizing the NRA's history and reputation as the gold standard in firearms training and safety, the request is buried within a bill that would further restrict the rights of the state's constituents.

Paterson is proposing a gun safety bill that, in part, requires buyers of guns to first take a firearms safety course...Ironically, the NRA opposes the overall Paterson bill, saying it imposes too many financial and regulatory burdens on the industry.

While a mandatory safety class is an undue burden on owners, it should be of some solace that the reactive anti-gun politicians of NY state at least agree that the NRA is best equipped to handle the training, right? Wrong - it turns out that many are furious that the Association is even mentioned in the bill:

While the NRA training program is well-regarded, its inclusion in the bill has angered a number of legislative Democrats and anti-gun activists. Jackie Hilly, executive director of New Yorkers Against Violence, said the inclusion of the NRA in the legislation gives the group state-sanctioned support.

To add a little insult to injury, the story in the NY Daily News adds some editorializing right off the bat to scoff at the NRA being a group responsible for safety:

Gov. Paterson wants to give the National Rifle Association - of all people - a state-sanctioned role in training would-be gun owners in New York.

Acknowledging that the NRA is one of the largest and most successful educators in firearms operation (over 50,000 NRA certified trainers in the US) and children's safety is a compromise that the Daily News and many NY politicians are not willing make. Doing so would hurt their ability to demonize the organization and its members whenever a bill is proposed to further restrict people's rights in the name of public safety.