Posted on 11/09/2003 9:08:06 PM PST by WoofDog123
Choose The Right Gun
If you saw the recent video of "Old Mr. Grump" shooting the "Lucky Lawyer" in Los Angeles, you can learn a valuable lesson about which firearm to choose for self-defense.
The press rarely reports what kinds of guns are used in crimes, and usually gets it wrong when it tries. Nevertheless, I have concluded Mr. Grump used a .22-caliber pistol. Otherwise, the Lucky Lawyer would not have remained on his feet for so long.
Now, a .22, a .25 and a .32 will kill you, provided the bullet strikes a vital organ. Sometimes the person will bleed to death if the wounds are not treated promptly. But in a self-defense situation, you will not be comforted by the fact that your assailant bled to death an hour after he cut your throat or blew your brains out. And, as Mr. Grump demonstrated on camera, hitting a vital organ is not that easy for an untrained pistolero.
By the way, the numbers used to describe bullets refer to the diameter of the bullet. We use the English system, the Europeans use the metric system, but the diameters are the same.
Most people who know anything about guns recommend as a minimum the .38 special, preferably the .38 Plus P with hollow-point bullets, for self-defense. I have always personally favored the .45, either the .45 ACP or the .45 Long Colt. Of course, the .40, the .357 Magnum, the .41 Magnum, the .44 special and .44 Magnum will also more than do the job, but there are disadvantages to those weapons.
Firing a .44 Magnum in a close room is likely to make your ears ring for weeks. There is also the danger that the bullet will pass through the assailant, through a wall and into some innocent person. After all, most of us no longer live in stone castles, but in places built with cheap wood and plasterboard.
I am not recommending that you run out and buy a hog leg for self-defense. That's too important a decision to be made on the basis of a newspaper column. If you are, however, thinking about it and you are not familiar with firearms, you must first do three things.
One, you have to prepare yourself psychologically to take a human life. It's one thing that can't be undone. As my father said repeatedly when he was teaching me to shoot, "After you kill somebody, it's too late to be sorry." And so it is. In a life-and-death confrontation, you can't afford to conduct a debate on whether to pull the trigger or not. So, if you can't visualize yourself killing a human being and then living with it, you're better off buying a can of pepper spray.
Two, you must learn the laws in your state regarding self-defense. They are both easy and tricky. It's easy in that the law states that if you, as a reasonable person, believe that you and/or another person are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, you can use whatever force is necessary to defend yourself. If you are inside your own home, you do not have to retreat.
Now the tricky part. Outside your home or place of business, if there is an escape route, you must take it. Even if someone walks up to you and spits in your face, slaps you or even punches you, you cannot whip out your gun and shoot the person. Killing for the sake of honor is no longer allowed in our decadent society — more's the pity, as it would greatly improve manners. Nor can you claim self-defense if you initiate the confrontation. For example, if you start a fistfight and your opponent whips out a knife or gun and you shoot him, that's not self-defense. Even in your own home or business, if the assailant turns tail, you cannot shoot him in the back and claim self-defense. If you plan to use a firearm for self-defense, you had better know the law, or you'll see the inside of a prison.
Third, you have to buy your gun and then practice diligently to become really proficient in its use, so proficient that you can use it in the dark when you're scared and caught by surprise.
And finally, a politically incorrect word of advice passed along to me years ago by a veteran cop: If you have to shoot somebody, make sure the judge will hear only your version of what happened. In other words, kill; otherwise, your assailant will probably sue you.
Freepers who dislike CReese for his Middle East political views flame away on this one...if you can.
This is the point that gets missed by many gun buyers; when the time comes, they hesitate and wind up having their own gun used against them.
As my Daddy always said: "I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6."
Reminds me of a book I read where a big man was confronted by a smaller man with a small pistol. He told him, "If you shoot me with that little thing and I find out about it I'm gonna get mad."
Most of those are antiques. 10 gauges only came back briefly a few years ago for waterfowl hunters who had to use steel shot per environmental regulations. Updated 12 gauge shells changed all that and sent the 10 gauges back to the museums.
Not. Still quite popular and a variety of loads, buckshot, birdshot, slugs, are readily available. I Keep my 10 guage beside my bed with 3 1/2 inch #4 Buckshot loads in it. Been looking for an 8 guage (picked up some slug loads for one cheap a while back), but they seem to be pretty much obsolete. And I'd really, really like to get my hands on a 4 guage (I've only seen one and I've wanted one ever since. Looks a bit like a small recoilless rifle that needs to be mounted on a jeep or something). Now, a 4 guage is my idea of adequate home defense.
I am a instinct shooter with a pistol, I shoot better when I give no thought to the matter, point it, and blaze away. When it comes to aimed slow fire with a handgun, I am not that hot, but for quick reflex popping, I excel. And for that kind of work, nothing in MMHO can compare to my 1911A1 .45 ACP.
As my mind is made up beforehand on what to do when it comes to a confrontation with a perp, so I shall not be burdened by uncertainties of the conscience if such an occasion should arise.
Even a blind PIG finds an acorn now and then.....
BS. Suddenly deciding a firearm had a distinctly different caliber in order to bolster an opinion isn't very bright.
Most of those are antiques. 10 gauges only came back briefly a few years ago for waterfowl hunters who had to use steel shot per environmental regulations. Updated 12 gauge shells changed all that and sent the 10 gauges back to the museums.
Not entirely.
Ithaca Roadblocker:
-archy-/-
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