Posted on 08/02/2015 10:38:51 AM PDT by Kaslin
Okay. I mean, this shouldn’t be a shocker, but people who have no firearms training didn’t survive the firearms training simulator located at Prince George's County Police Department in Maryland. Another non-surprise is that police officers did well; though some might add that concealed carry holders spend more time at the range than police officers. Regardless, the Washington Post reported on how determining life and death situations–and when to use deadly force–is difficult; something that any gun owner, or person with common sense, would already know:
[A] new study from researchers at Mount St. Mary's University sheds some light on why people don't use guns in self-defense very often. As it turns out, knowing when and how to apply lethal force in a potentially life-or-death situation is really difficult.
The study was commissioned by the National Gun Victims Action Council, an advocacy group devoted to enacting "sensible gun laws" that "find common ground between legal gun owners and non-gun owners that minimizes gun violence in our culture." The study found that proper training and education are key to successfully using a firearm in self-defense: "carrying a gun in public does not provide self-defense unless the carrier is properly trained and maintains their skill level," the authors wrote in a statement.
They recruited 77 volunteers with varying levels of firearm experience and training, and had each of them participate in simulations of three different scenarios using the firearms training simulator at the Prince George's County Police Department in Maryland. The first scenario involved a carjacking, the second an armed robbery in a convenience store, and the third a case of suspected larceny.
They found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, people without firearms training performed poorly in the scenarios. They didn't take cover. They didn't attempt to issue commands to their assailants. Their trigger fingers were either too itchy -- they shot innocent bystanders or unarmed people, or not itchy enough -- they didn't shoot armed assailants until they were already being shot at.
First, the National Gun Victims Action Council (NGVAC) is a pro-gun control group, who seem to be driving home that “police know what to do, average Joe don’t” narrative when it comes to firearms and self-defense. That’s fine. It’s also axiomatic. If you’re not trained to do “x,” you’re probably going to suck at it–and with firearms; that’s especially the case. In fact, without proper safety, it’s downright irresponsible that could get yourself or other around you injured, even killed. As an avid shooter, my first step was to take a safety course from a NRA-certified instructor. It lasted a few hours, but it taught me basic safety, and what to look out for (squib loads, hang fire, etc.) and what to do if such malfunctions occur when I’m at the range.
Regarding self-defense, like the examples in the video, of course, people with zero experience in anything firearms-related aren’t going to fare well. Also, the Post noted that the sample size is also very small, so one shouldn’t cite this piece in future debates about gun control. So, yes, we can agree that folks with zero training will probably die. Yet, the premises of the NGVAC, such fighting the “epidemic of gun violence” and “why gun violence is a direct consequence of current gun laws,” are still painfully wrong. The country is safer, violent crime’s downward trend continues, and gun-related homicides are down 39 percent between 1993-2011, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
If firearms safety and training is what NGVAC is trying to promote, they should work with an organization that does this pretty successfully, and respects the Second Amendment as well. It’s called the National Rifle Association.
Last Note: Yet, there seem to be times when you know that using deadly force is the only way out of a dangerous situation. Even pastors of churches know this.
LOL. my thoughts exactly. A shotgun solves many problems. In one shotgun, I load two 6-shot shells, followed by two 4-shot shells, followed by a coupled buck-and-ball rounds, and then more 4-shot shells.
“Two world wars were won by american boys most all of whom had zero experience...”
They got 96 hours of weapons training and many had hunting experience before joining.
“Anything in those 90 degrees is getting peppered from floor to ceiling at 15 feet. “
Have you ever checked your pattern???
Link shows what she went through.
i'm not talking hypotheticals here, and neither are leftists, when they will seek to impose all kinds of prior restraint on the God-given right of self-defense.
ammo first. training is good too; but I’m agin any
dot gov mandated training.
ammo first. training is good too; but I’m agin any
dot gov mandated training.
you’re reading my mind
dear gator,
I DO know about the videos for sale, and the YouTube clips put out by Thunder Ranch owner Clint Smith, for revolvers and pistols, and ... long arms, too.
I have the revolver one, and found his YT pistol videos to be quite informing.
‘Armed Response’ has a few videos on YT, and are interesting.
SC now allows CC without the former requirement of classes. Loading a weapon, drawing your weapon, hitting the target, weapon safety....
The class Husband and I took was heavy on the laws for this state. Unfortunately, that’s not required, now. There is a fine line between self-defense and murder.
dear gator,
re;
“Do you NOT believe that a person should receive training on the use of a gun?”
NO. Yet when folks, you and me included, use the word ‘training’, SOMETIMES folks believe that others hearing the word, are on the same page, when they are not.
There are some folks, who by their family upbringing, have some aforeknowledge of gun handling.
There are some other folks, that might have participated in Junior NRA, like me.
There are some folks, who by volunteer or by the draft, have spent time in the military, with a firearm strapped to them in some fashion, in a theater of operation, like me.
And, there are some folks, who buy a firearm, for whatever reason fits their psyche, and figures that is enough.
THOSE are the folks that need to be shown ‘something more than what they might know’, first.
I grant that folks are smart enough to figure some things out, or nowadays, click a few buttons, and find out what the minor malfunction is, and how to address it. However, as when we went to junior or high school, and had a class of theory and the accompanying lab class, so it is with firearms.
Michael DeBethencourt has very good, straight forward, and informative YT videos about snubnose revolvers, which with the right tools, you CAN follow and replay, and learn while looking into the computer screen.
BTW, In the Junior NRA, I learned to shoot the Remington XB40 rifle, and on a 1911 frame chambered for .38 Super. In the Air Force, I learned about the M16 rifle, and the Smith and Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece revolver, which I had strapped on in SouthEast Asia.
As with any ‘DIY’, there is always another trick somebody can figure out, and share with the world.
dear trailerpark,
Remember the first rule of firearms?
‘All firearms are loaded.’
Once again, ‘state-mandated’ anything, will prove that ‘subject matter experts’ seldom are. Also, ‘state-mandated’ will walk all over the NRA trainers, and supply a lackadaisical, no good for nothing, state sucking tax money, cousin or nephew or family sumbitch employee, a monkey-could-do-better-job, and the public, another loss of freedom at the hands of the legislature, with the words ‘shall attend’.
I leave it as the responsibility of the firearms owner, to decide which kind of training, and at what level, for their particular chosen environment of operation.
and when state budget crisis time hits, which department's services will be cut? And what, you can't travel across the state to the only town without an airport and spend Tues-Sat at the only training session this quarter?
Leftists aren't interested in making self-defense firearm use safer. They want to prevent it. Agreeing with leftists on anything is tantamount to surrender.
The perfect indoors family defense weapon round.
I said:
“Two world wars were won by american boys most all of whom had zero experience...”
You said:
They got 96 hours of weapons training and many had hunting experience before joining.
I say:
Resolution overcomes reticence
Here is a good one!
Robber loses gun to victim who then loses gun after turning gun on robber.
Now, if you meant the perp...yeah, he could use some more "Robbery with a Handgun 101."
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