A NATION OF RIFLEMEN NO MORE

Today's The State (South Carolina) reports:

Giving recruits a gun so early in boot
camp and expecting them to carry it almost 24 hours a day, seven days a
week marks a radical change in how the Army trains its soldiers.

The training program is called “weapons immersion,” and its aim is twofold, Army leaders said.

First, the Army wants to instill discipline and the “warrior ethos”
in troops. Soldiers in Iraq must have their weapons handy 24/7, so
recruits should get used to that . . .

Second, increased familiarity with their weapons should help recruits become more safety conscious, preventing accidents. . . 

Learning the correct way to handle a weapon
— checking the safety and keeping your finger off the trigger unless
you’re ready to fire — should become so ingrained during training that
soldiers will do it the right way despite fatigue or complacency, Brown
said. “Second nature will make you do it the right way.”  (Link.)

There was a time in this country when a great many soldiers already knew those things on the first day of basic training.  Those who didn't learned not only from their DIs, but from their fellow recruits. Gun control is insidious in many ways, not least of which it that it chokes the martial heritage and spirit of independence that have contributed so much to this nation's survival and success.

Lv Best of the Web Today. Cross-posted at Stop the Bleating!