Well Said
Posted on 12/11/2007 6:14:03 PM PST by Kaslin
People for whom indignation is a way of life — and there seem to be an increasing number of such people — repeatedly have outbursts of outrage whenever the police fire a lot of shots at some criminal.
People who have never fired a gun in their lives, and have never had a split second in which to make a decision that could mean life or death for themselves or others, are often nevertheless convinced that the police used excessive force.
As someone who once taught pistol shooting in the Marine Corps, it has never seemed strange to me that the police sometimes fire dozens of shots at a criminal.
While an expert shooter can run up impressive scores in the safety of a pistol range, it doesn't take much to make shots go off into the wild blue yonder in the stress of life-and-death shooting.
Even on a pistol range, it was not uncommon to see shooters miss not only the bull's-eye but the whole target, which was the size of a man's torso.
Among other things, this suggests that a pistol may not be the best firearm to keep for home protection. A shotgun is far more likely to hit the target — and far less likely to have to be fired in the first place.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
The guy can’t seem to stick to a single topic. If there is one its that nobody but cops can have an opinion on the amount of force used by cops.
BS
I do remember a day when my 45 instructor told me “if you keep shooting this way you will set a new record” and then I proceeded to put the next five shots in the dirt at 15 yards. To much stress.
Many people believe you don't have to properly aim a shotgun. That myth is cleared up when they fire at a paper target at 10 yards. The hole is just a little larger than your thumb. At 15 yards, the pattern may spread to 10 inches. That still requires a reasonable aim. Distances inside a house are more like 3 to 7 yards. There isn't going to be any usable "spread" at those distances with a legal length shotgun barrel.
“The guy can’t seem to stick to a single topic. If there is one its that nobody but cops can have an opinion on the amount of force used by cops.”
A. Thomas Sowell is a good writer. He uses widely accepted literary tools to make a salient point. Regrettably, his writing surpasses your understanding.
B. He knows of what he speaks, as do I. He is spot on here.
C. I’m not a cop, nor have I ever been one, but I have an educated/experienced opinion on the art of combat arms.
D. Your anti-cop attitude will probably play better over at DU.
E. Have a great day.
Thanks for the comments. The handgun explanations were well stated, and I agree. Let me address the shotgun comments.
The issue of the shotgun for me is one of it’s ammunition not going thorugh common walls into another residence causing harm to an innocent.
There are other factors though. Can you grab a shotgun easily, wheel and put a round into someone before they’ve put one in you. My thought is that a handgun is far more appropriate for close quarters shooting under duress.
You mentioned the spread on the shotgun and I would like to address that. Wouldn’t the spread depend on barrel length and particular shot? I have a very hard time thinking a short (legal size) pump shotgun would hold to a thumb’s spread over ten yards (30 feet).
Give me some feedback on that. I may be all wet, but that doesn’t sound right to me.
Your typical 18” “cruiser” shotgun throws 00 Buck at a radial dispersion rate of one inch per linear yard of travel.
In other words, at 10 yards, the shot spread will be in an approximately 11” circle.
To be honest, I didn’t find this to be one of Walter’s better offerings. I did appreciate his comments on the use of weapons and those that second guess officers. IMO, he addressed that quite well. When he started popping off on those who express opinions he didn’t narrow the focus appropriately, and in fact seemed to broaden it inappropriately.
I would like to have seen him limit his commments here to support for police officers and explaining why. If he wanted to chastise folks who don’t understand that topic, it would have tied in nicely.
That’s more in the range I had thought it should be. He may have been thinking of feet or another type of shot. Probably feet...
I appreciate your comments.
Sowell’s just giving a side you’ll never hear from the MSM...open your mind, you might learn something.
Thanks, you said it better than I did...
Well Said
Granted, not Sowell’s best, but the point is made. That said, the poster I was responding to was way off and deserved a verbal pummeling.
On the other had, pistols are always easy. Even a small automatic, or a Chief’s Special. Further for your run of the mill, skank thief, any gun will scare’m. Especially if you express in a command voice that you have it and will use it. Personally, I might hold off on shooting some one, as I won’t be excited until afters, but the percentage play is to shoot first.
I just think get the size firearm you are going to have around the most. Any little old gun is better than a big perfect none.
Right, and people hit by a load of buckshot aren't really lifted off their feet and blown out through the side of a building or a plate glass store window like they are in Steven Segal films and similar action type films. The idea that a hit from even a powerful centerfire rifle can throw a 180 lb man across a room is so ridiculous that it's hard to believe that many people who aren't familiar with guns actually think it happens that way.
I have heard combat veterans who have seen enemy soldiers hit by a .50 BMG say that the big fifty slug will knock a standing man backwards several feet on impact. That may well be true, but a .50 BMG round that can deliver roughly 10-12,000 ft lbs of kinetic energy into a man's body is an altogether different category of cartridges than a 12 gauge buckshot load delivering approx 15-1600 ft lbs of energy or a .308 cal rifle bullet at approx 2500 ft lbs.
who’s Walter?
Even when I think he's wrong about something he's still "Mr. Sowell" to me.
He's a brilliant and acomplished conservative writer.
What is a bigger and wider problem is that too many people feel no hesitation to go spouting off about things they know nothing about. People who have never run even a modest little business assert with great certainty and indignation that heads of multinational corporations are paid much more than they are worth. People who know nothing about medicine and nothing about economics unhesitatingly declare that pharmaceutical drugs cost too much.
Pretty impressive if you ask me.
who’s Walter?
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