ToddG reveals something that many wouldn’t like to know — the truth about police shooting qualification courses.

For the non-gun public, I think the thing they’ll probably be shocked to realize is how little many police forces actually shoot their guns, and how when standards are made “more realistic” lots of cops can’t pass the minimum requirements.

The anti-gun folk say things like only police should have guns… you know, people with training and skill. You would be shocked to see how many don’t have either. Just because your job requires you to have a gun doesn’t mean you can use it (effectively). Conversely, just because you’re a normal Joe Citizen doesn’t mean you don’t have nor can’t acquire good gun handling skills, and their skill level can surpass those who have “gun” in their job description.

This is not to say it’s this way across the board. Many police officers are good shots, and a lot of PD’s are realizing a need to up the ante — which is ultimately the crux of Todd’s article.

What’s sad is when people blame the test instead of looking at themselves. It’s like anything in life. If something fails or goes wrong, where does the blame first go? It ought to be on you, to examine yourself and see what you can do better.

But it’s like any sort of mandated government “test”, be it a police qual or be it standardized testing. There’s lots of politics, lots of wrangling, and lots of weight put onto the test — even if the test has nothing to do with anything in the real world. But because such weight is put onto the test, all “education” then becomes is prepping for the test. So we don’t prepare people for the real world, we just prepare them for a test that really doesn’t matter much in the world — but it matters to some pencil-pusher or politician somewhere.

Well, at least in this area of life it seems some are trying to get it and improve the way things are.