America's Top Gun-Control Group Is Teaching People How to Use Guns. Survivors Are Furious.

"On Sept. 2, Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, announced a new firearms training initiative called Train SMART. Everytown's website describes a program "created by veterans who bring the military's proven principles of firearms training, safety, and responsibility to the civilian market." It promises accessible, affordable preparation for new and current gun owners who want to protect their families or to hunt and shoot recreationally."

"At first glance, Train SMART may seem like a pragmatic move in a country with more than 400 million firearms distributed ( unevenly) among roughly 30 percent of adults. Maybe, the thinking goes, if gun ownership isn't going away, the next best thing is to make it safer. For decades, hard-line 'gun rights' organizations have dominated many large-scale training offerings, increasingly promoting an absolutist, deregulated vision of gun ownership while largely ignoring vital principles of safety and suicide prevention."

September saw another brutal month of mass shootings and politically motivated violence across the United States. On Sept. 2 Everytown for Gun Safety, funded by Michael Bloomberg, launched Train SMART, a firearms training initiative described as created by veterans who apply military firearms principles to the civilian market. The program promises accessible, affordable preparation for new and current gun owners seeking protection of family or recreational shooting. Train SMART emphasizes de-escalation and secure storage, diverging from large-scale trainings dominated by hard-line gun-rights groups that often ignore safety and suicide prevention. Many original Everytown supporters and survivors view the shift as a betrayal. Originally, the organization defined itself by a simple, evidence-based premise: Fewer guns in fewer hands.

Read at Slate Magazine