yukonjasper wrote:Two points need to be clarified
1. I am not calling for a change in the law - I was talking about self policing- Example: if you are a PTC instructor and you have an obvious squirrel in your class what should you do? - I don't have the answers, just looking for some conversations about how we flush out the goof balls who get guns for the wrong reasons or who probably aren't mature or stable enough to understand the consequences of using them in situations not calling for that level of force.
2. Not all people with Mental Illness are Freaks - But I think I'm safe adding that durrogatory term to people who flip out and shoot someone when a "normal" person and 99.9% of the population would have handle the situation differently. Be sensitive if you want but the if you can't discern truly aberrant behavior in people who have a history of aberrant behavior then we need to talk. Part of the reason these people slip through is everyone is afraid to "label" them as potentially destructive individuals. Somewhere someone has to have the cajones to call the squirrel a squirrel even if its going to hurt someones feelings.
In answer to your questions: I've failed students or rather not "passed" them if they: Demonstrate poor firearm safety at the range or in the classroom, or demonstrate that they have a mental or other issue that jeopardizes the safety of others.
Example: Ex-cop (Ramsey Deputy) in class with his wife (happened around 2005 at a class at Gander Lakeville). She asks a couple of questions, good questions. He tells her to sit there and "shut the hell up. You're embarrassing me." And twice more he was abusive towards her and disrespectful of the instructors we had teaching that day. I stopped the class and asked to speak with him outside the classroom. I told him he may talk to his wife like that at home, but NOT in my class. The ex-cop took a step towards me and said "Do you know who I am? And who the hell are you to tell me how to talk to my wife?" My answer was "As of this minute you're a former student of mine who failed to complete the course." I went back into class and told his wife she was welcome to stay but her husband would be leaving. She opted to leave with him all the while apologizing for him to me and to the class.
So yes - when something as blatant as that was occurs, we (and I'll speak for other instructors I know who do) have told students to leave or not given them completion certificates. BUT IT IS NOT MY JOB TO PERFORM A CRIMINAL OR MENTAL HEALTH CHECK ON MY STUDENTS. That is the job of the Sheriff.