I have had the privilege of competing in shotgun clay target tournaments across America and Europe for the last 40 years. I'm routinely in the company of hundreds of people, all carrying firearms and ammunition. I've fired several hundred thousand rounds in practice and competition. In all that time and experience, I have never seen nor heard of anyone being injured in a firearm- or shooting-related incident.

National data reflects that there are rarely firearm-related accidents at shooting matches. Why? Simply, because recreational and competitive shooters (shotgun, rifle and handgun) are trained in safety, they practice with their firearms, and they hold each other accountable for behaving in a safe manner. In other words, they know and follow the rules.

Rather than focusing on banning certain types of firearms or further restricting ownership, I believe a better approach is to make sure people who own firearms understand how to handle them, use them and keep them safe.

A simple analogue is automobiles. We require young people to take driver's education in high school and then pass a test to get a license. Who in their right mind would let kids get behind the wheel without knowing what they are doing? An automobile is inherently dangerous and should be respected and operated under the rules.

Firearms are no different. They are inherently dangerous and should be respected. Just like the automobile, firearms need to be operated by people that know what they are doing. When operated properly, both automobiles and firearms are safe.

Middle school and high school is a great time to orient young people to both automobile and firearm safety. It is also a good time to help kids realize that the way firearms are portrayed on TV and in video games is unsafe and misleading. You can't fire hundreds of rounds into a crowd and hurt no one, nor can you hit reset and bring players back to life. Young people need to be aware of the realities of firearms.

Not every person needs to or should own a firearm. They should, however, know how to be safe around them. This is one of the reasons I'm encouraged that the shotgun sports (such as trap, skeet, sporting clay) are among the fastest-growing high school and college sports in the country. At the varsity and club levels, thousands of young people nationwide are learning how to safely handle and enjoy firearms.

I have the opportunity to be around many young shooters. When I speak with their parents, I hear the same thing over and over again: "Since my child started shooting, he or she has become more confident, more respectful and more mature." These are characteristics we want in kids. They are brought out by learning to be responsible for themselves and those around them and by being trusted by the adults who are coaching them.

Additionally, the shooting sports don't require competitors to be the biggest, fastest or strongest. One of the rapidly growing demographics in the shooting sports, both youth and adult, is female participants. In many cases I speak with mothers who tell me that since their children are learning to shoot they feel they need to as well. In other cases, parents and children use shooting sports as something they can do together. Anyone can learn to shoot safely and excel at the sport.

These experiences lead me to suggest that rather than focusing on "control" and "restriction" we emphasize education and engagement. There are lots of laws that prohibit unqualified or dangerous people from having firearms (and autos, too). It's perfectly fine to enforce those. I don't want an idiot standing next to me with a gun any more than anyone else does.

My hope is that our goal in the "gun control" debate is really firearm safety as opposed to more government control and restriction of our constitutional rights. The way to reduce firearm-related accidents and abuse is to educate people so they can safely deal with firearms, whether they ever intend to own them or not. If "safety" rather than "control" is the objective, then I believe most firearm owners would be supportive.

Michael Higgins is president of the Higgins Branchini Shooting Foundation in Irving and an accomplished helice shooter. Email: Michael.Higgins@HBShootingFoundation.org