Interesting discussion, albeit a bit off track. Guns are a contentious issue in many countries, I agree. Before the post-Dunblane legislation, I used to own handguns, I’d shoot at a local club for recreation and found the concentration involved shooting at targets helped clear my mind, all in all, a relaxing hobby.
Occasionally I’d hire our club guns so I’ve experience in shooting just about everything from .22 to 44 Magnum (popularised in the “Dirty Harry” films of the time) and 10mm pistols.
I’d like to think I was a responsible gun user, as opposed to a “gun nut”, but I’m a firm believer that guns should not be widely or easily made available to the general public for “self-protection”.
Most “civilians” are unable to cope with the stresses involved in making life and death decisions involving fire arms, and that includes me. I was a good shot in my time, but it’s one thing shooting at targets on a range and completely another shooting in stressful situations.
The club I was a member of once organised a “bodyguard” course which included a simulator which ran you through 10 scenarios of dealing with the possibility of armed attack in a “real life situation”, first however, the instructors ran the participants ragged doing what is now trendily called high intensity training, while constantly screaming in our ears. When we were sufficiently out of breath and disorientated, we had to field strip our pistols, reassemble them load and cock the weapons, then deal with whatever series of “crises” we were presented with. To cut a long story short, in the 10 scenarios, I managed to “kill” 8 innocent bystanders, 1 hostage and 4 bad guys; and I ended up 3rd best in the group!
That experience taught me “gun-fighting” is best left to professionals.
Yes, without guns, people will turn to knives, clubs, rocks, etc. but it’s far more difficult to stab someone than it is to shoot them; you must get up close and personal with a knife or a rock, and if your opponent is similarly armed, that could be a disincentive to do so.
Interestingly the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania carried out a study of gunshot/stabbing trauma victims in 2014 and found that 33% of gunshot victims died, compared to only 7.7% of stabbing victims.
Personally, I’m happy, and feel much safer, living in a society where guns are tightly regulated, just my point of view, thank you for reading.
