VinnyP
09-07-2006, 10:26 AM
Hi,
I am from the UK and in law enforcement and at work frequently carry a handgun. This is unusual over here. Law enforcement aside why would you carry a handgun? I know the law is different but if I was allowed to carry one as a civilian no matter what the crime level or level of firearms usage I just think a handgun is a very poor self defence weapon, if I was seriously considering a self defence firearm it would be a wrist mounted derringer affair a-la Travis Bikle and we all know what happened to him.
Yes it's great as an offensive weapon and as a retailiatory weapon but when faced by a threat if your weapon is holstered (which it usually is) if you are very good and don't panic in the heat of the moment, you need at least 10 yards of seperation from an opponent without a drawn firearm and need to be out of effective range of someone who has got one already drawn. In those cases nearly always the best self defence is the 100yd dash screaming wildly.
We see time and time again well equiped and highly trained individuals coming up second because real "self defence" nearly always only kicks in once an attack has begun and, except in the movies, the first blow, stab wound or shot is completely unexpected and does connect with sufficient ferocity that it's rare that anything will help. All our self defence training now is based on surving/recovering from being hit by surprise. If confronted by a mugger armed with a knife or gun in order to draw a weapon you have to create enough time and space to do that, in attempting to make that time the risk of being shot or stabbed is much more than just handing over the wallett car etc. In circumstances like this carrying a weapon just means you are more likely to provoke the mugger into attacking you or even adding to his arsenal.
I really don't want to upset people and am not crusading to try and change peoples views. I certainly don't think gun control has much impact on the criminal use of firearms but does carrying a firearm for self defence make matters better or worse?
I am from the UK and in law enforcement and at work frequently carry a handgun. This is unusual over here. Law enforcement aside why would you carry a handgun? I know the law is different but if I was allowed to carry one as a civilian no matter what the crime level or level of firearms usage I just think a handgun is a very poor self defence weapon, if I was seriously considering a self defence firearm it would be a wrist mounted derringer affair a-la Travis Bikle and we all know what happened to him.
Yes it's great as an offensive weapon and as a retailiatory weapon but when faced by a threat if your weapon is holstered (which it usually is) if you are very good and don't panic in the heat of the moment, you need at least 10 yards of seperation from an opponent without a drawn firearm and need to be out of effective range of someone who has got one already drawn. In those cases nearly always the best self defence is the 100yd dash screaming wildly.
We see time and time again well equiped and highly trained individuals coming up second because real "self defence" nearly always only kicks in once an attack has begun and, except in the movies, the first blow, stab wound or shot is completely unexpected and does connect with sufficient ferocity that it's rare that anything will help. All our self defence training now is based on surving/recovering from being hit by surprise. If confronted by a mugger armed with a knife or gun in order to draw a weapon you have to create enough time and space to do that, in attempting to make that time the risk of being shot or stabbed is much more than just handing over the wallett car etc. In circumstances like this carrying a weapon just means you are more likely to provoke the mugger into attacking you or even adding to his arsenal.
I really don't want to upset people and am not crusading to try and change peoples views. I certainly don't think gun control has much impact on the criminal use of firearms but does carrying a firearm for self defence make matters better or worse?