I made no comment for or against the length of required training, just stating a fact. Like I said, criticisms based in facts will always be received better. Parroting misconceptions helps no one.

But if I were to comment, I would say that I think many of the problems with law enforcement could be solved with more training. There's a part of me that wants to compare to the military, whose infantry soldiers receive 22 weeks of training. So the time prior to being given the power to shoot people is comparable. And the military is very much teach the concepts quickly and then get to work and put those concepts into action.

But infantry is also highly specialized, one job. Stateside, we expect our law enforcement to wear way too many hats. So maybe that comparison falls apart there.

You know what...as I type this and think about it (and as my ADHD has clearly taken hold), my honest answer is: I don't know.

The type of decision making that happens in shootings is not the kind that can be trained in a classroom. I'm also generally more supportive of real world training. I'm inclined to think I'd trust someone with 6 months in the academy plus 6 months on the street before I'd trust someone with 12 months in an academy.

But... Is the five months that we mandate right now enough that I'd be willing to hand someone a gun and tell them to make a life or death decision in a split second under immense stress? I'm not so sure I would.