Everytown’s Gun ‘Training’ Not Going Over Well With Allies

Everytown for Gun Safety’s new attempt to offer gun training isn’t going well. As USA Today reporter Nick Penzenstadler notes, the group has yet to offer any actual in-person training at a range. Instead, they’re hosting Zoom seminars that an Everytown advisor claims is “more like a what a grandfather teachers a grandson than what you get in the back room of a gun shop,” and charging anywhere from $20 to $100 for the lessons. 

Everytown’s attempt to move into the gun training space has been met with derision from Second Amendment circles, as well as hostility from many gun control activists.

For Sandy Phillips, the training is offensive. Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi, 24, was killed in the 2012 Aurora, Colorado, movie theater attack, has long battled firearms and ammunition manufacturers, even going bankrupt after losing a lawsuit against the companies that sold their daughter’s killer ammunition, tear gas and body armor.

“What they’re doing is so hurtful and so insulting to survivors. It’s like ‘oh my God, how could any survivor continue to support them?'” Phillips told USA TODAY. “People are hurt and confused. Our mission is to reduce gun violence and keep people from having guns in their homes and here you are giving a gun safety class that encourages gun ownership. You can’t have it both ways.”

To be fair, this isn’t the first time Phillips has criticized Everytown and other gun control groups for their tactics. But from an anti-gun perspective, Phillips has a point. For all of the claims of moderation and feigned support for the Second Amendment, the bedrock ideology of the gun control movement is that we need fewer guns in this country… and ultimately, an end to gun ownership altogether. 

Deborah Parker, of Arizona, was so enraged by the Train SMART launch she resigned her position leading a local survivor group. Her daughter, Lindsay, 19, was shot and killed in 2006.

“I heard about the program on Facebook. It felt like a kick in the teeth,” Parker said. “All of these years working on expanded background checks and how we know having a gun in the home won’t make you safer… this doesn’t make any sense.”

Parker said she thought Everytown was wasting precious resources on “reinventing the wheel” on training when they could simply link out to politically neutral gun training programs that already exist.

I don’t think Parker really understands Everytown’s strategy here. The group isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to firearms training. They’re looking for another avenue to expand their anti-gun activism. 

In many states, the process of obtaining a concealed carry license specifically requires gun owners to receive training from NRA-certified firearms instructors. Some blue states have already abandoned that language in favor of state-certified instructors (or in the case of Colorado, instructors certified by county sheriffs), but if Everytown is offering gun training than it can lobby lawmakers to require folks obtain their training from the anti-gun group.

If Everytown had a captive audience of gun owners (or would-be gun owners, in states that require a permit and live-fire training before purchasing a firearm) that were forced to sit through hours of anti-gun talking points in order to exercise their Second Amendment rights, they might very well dissuade some of those folks carrying through with their decision. 

At the same time, these Zoom seminars and theoretical firearms training give cover to Everytown’s claim that they’re not opposed to all gun ownership. It’s designed, at least in part, to help with their branding as “gun safety”, not “gun control” advocates.

I don’t think the “Train Smart” portion of Everytown will ever be the primary focus of the group, and I’m skeptical that they’ll ever host any firearms training at gun ranges. Their attempt to move into the gun training space is at least a tacit acknowledgement that an outright ban on gun ownership isn’t a realistic possibility at the moment, and in that sense it’s a tactical retreat for the organization. 

Still, while they’re offering their Zoom courses the group will still be doing everything it can to exercising our Second Amendment rights as difficult as possible. They’re not reinventing themselves, as firearms instructor Rob Pincus told USA Today. They’re just adding another layer of deception to help mask their true agenda. 

Editor’s Note: The gun control lobby is pretty good at playing the long game when it comes to destroying our Second Amendment rights. 

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