Finally, it’s decided: American citizens do have an individual, constitutional right to bear arms.

Wednesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court wisely ended years of debate with an historic decision: Guns aren’t just for the maintenance of a militia, they have a place in the homes and on the hips of Americans.

Now we can stop talking about whether America is on a slippery slope toward banning guns. It clearly isn’t.

But the decision may have left unsettled more than it settled. The court, again wisely, said that while various levels of government can’t ban weapons, “reasonable” restrictions are permitted.

Reasonable, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. It will now take years of additional litigation to define what is and is not reasonable.

Nothing seems more reasonable to us than requiring gun owners to learn the meaning of safe gun ownership. While Americans do love guns, none of us is born with gun safety and maintenance knowledge.

While no one keeps statistics on this, we’d guess more than half of gun purchasers have had no training whatsoever.

Remarkably, within the past several years in Maine, two police officers have accidentally shot themselves with handguns while off duty. Last month, Sgt. Robert Johnsey Jr. died after his handgun went off while he was working on it at his home in Westbrook.

Accidents do happen, but they don’t have to happen. Gun safety is a habit and it can be taught.

Millions of young people have been through the gun safety programs sponsored by the National Rifle Association. Other adults have taken NRA-sponsored classes through local gun clubs. The NRA produces excellent programs, books and videos on gun safety.

But how many new gun owners avail themselves of the training?

How many buy a trigger lock with their new handgun? How many have a gun safe at home? How many have been trained to clean a gun so it works properly when and if it’s needed? How many people know that a permit is required to carry a concealed gun? How many have been trained to use a weapon when it’s required?

Finally, how many people have given a wit of thought to the personal and legal ramifications of shooting another human being?

The idea of gun ownership may bring people a feeling of security in their home, but that feeling is too often illusory.

Few homeowners may one day be called upon to defend their home or business with a handgun. Tragically, as many or more homeowners – without sufficient training and experience – experience a household gun tragedy.

A child, perhaps, finds a gun and shoots himself or another child. A confused homeowner, suspecting an intruder, shoots a family member or neighbor. Or, a poorly trained gun owner shoots himself while cleaning or transporting a gun.

A very “reasonable” gun regulation would be requiring a gun owner to produce evidence of NRA training before receiving a gun.