Dude, I think you just might be projecting a little bit. This is not a firearms issue. This is not a liberal vs. conservative political issue. This is a whineyness & bad assumption issue...one of assuming no one else could be possibly be so enlightened as you and must be spending their days worrying about PPE but otherwise running around under widowmakers, improperly felling trees at night while drunk issue and must therefore, because they are worrying about about PPE, be ignorant of all other things and that you must therefore wade into the fray and set them straight. Perhaps this is simply a disscussion arising from a near miss--the kind many of us have from time to time--that has involved both methods (see my first post in this thread) as well as PPE that might have resulted in less bruising arising from the type mistake that can get any of us, no matter how careful we are most of the time.
No one argues that practice habits are important as well, but it seems that when these issues come up, as sure as Old Faithful erupts forth its geyser, the firearms instructor types come out of the woodwork to create a liberal straw bogeyman and then paint those that are for PPE as unmanly since they did it different in firearms school. Again, this is not guns and the world is not a firing range.
I have worked in many environments where safety, both practice & precautions are paramount, from industrial sites to labs to ballistic test facilities to boomers to tactical training ranges. I've had plenty of gun training, tactical and basic, for offensive and defensive use, in places like Pensacola & Moyock. And while there are folks like Ed Brown & Mossad Ayoob who've forgotten more than I'll ever know, I'd venture to say that practice is more important in firearms than PPE. It's kind of silly to project this on political viewpoints, since it can easily be turned around the other way (e.g. conservative precautions-oriented practitioners vs. armchair liberal academics). Or maybe it's just that the those who can, do, those who can't...well they go pulling out their stories about what they did when teaching one thing or another unlrelated to the topic of discussion.
If I was in a place where arms were my tool, I'd wear a kevlar helmet and body armor. Or in a place where it was nomex and a fire helmet, And if someone came out to point out the obvious--that good habits of not-getting-shot were more important or avoiding being burned were the most important things, and that I sholdn't not worry too much aout having the best protective I would think them unusually obtuse, since for most of us, those things are kind of obvious.
If you think the safest things to do is to avoid dangerous situations where you might be imperfect in your actions, then you're right...that would be safest. Otherwise, if you're willing put on your metaphorical big-boy pants and undertake sometimes dangerous tasks and duties, then there's nothing wrong with trying to pick the absolutely best big-boy pants for you to do the job in. Otherwise, have the decency to thank those that do and have thkeep your mouth shut.
[Whew...what was I doing, and what is this soap box doing here?]
