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The Bad Person won't wait for you to remember the safety. I'm not in favor of safeties at all. Every person in the home that has access to the gun MUST be trained in safe handling. No safety switch, lock or chain will make a gun safe in the hands of an idiot or an unsafe gun handler - same thing.
Many people think that shotguns have shot that spreads, to send out a wall of lead, and that you can't miss with a shotgun. That is BULL.. The longest distance most of us will be able to shoot in defense, inside our homes, is about 20 feet. At that distance the size of the circle of shot from a shotgun is about two and a half inches in diameter or less. It's easy to miss with a shotgun, but not as easy as it is to miss with a pistol. Some people want to get all sorts of specialty ammo for a shotgun to use in home defense. That is not needed. The cheapest "bird shot" is the best for home defense and the least likely to go through wall after wall after wall through your house and into the sleeping rooms of the rest of your family and the neighbors up and down the street.
By the way, most pistol ammo will go through three or four walls, perhaps more, before it stops if you miss the person you are shooting at in self defense. Where are the kids? Think about it before you get a gun. In fact thinking is far superior to shooting, regarding self defense. In modern homes, made of foam insulation, wall board and vinyl siding; a pistol bullet can easily penetrate both sides of five or six homes before stopping.
Guns are expensive and good guns are very expensive. There are some ways to beat the system however. There are lots of used guns on the market, especially police guns, because everyone, especially the police, want to have the coolest and most awesome and most new gun that is being advertised. So they trade in the old guns and often the older guns are the better guns although less cool. Silly aren't they? There are lots of good used pistols, revolvers and shotguns in the gun shops of America and many of them are superior to the new stuff in reliability and accuracy. Go figure! J Or you can purchase a new gun.
No matter what you get, make certain that you learn how to use the gun correctly and get some training from someone who really knows guns and safe handling. Most men think they are genetically endowed with gun smarts and they are not. In fact most men who are first time or infrequent users of guns are far more stupid and far more dangerous than women and no more likely to hit what they aim for either. As a matter of fact, women are usually better shots than men at
first, according to my experience. I have taught several hundred people how to shoot for the first time and have helped a few dozen others shoot better. By the way I'm not a professional firearms instructor, just a willing friend and neighbor who has shot a lot and owned a lot of guns over a lot of years.
IF you do get a gun, and I'm not at all certain that you should; keep your defensive firearm handy but secure and practice, practice, practice. Practice often enough to be dangerous to the Bad Persons and often enough to NOT be dangerous to yourself and your family. At a minimum that will be weekly for a few months and then monthly for several months and then at least every two or three months thereafter. Even those who hunted all the time 30 or 40 years ago but not much in the last 10 years, are not to be trusted to be safe and accurate with a firearm now.
Q: WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF AMMO FOR MY GUN AND FOR SELF DEFENSE? IS IT BEST TO USE THE BULLETS THAT COST 2 OR 3 OR 4 OR EVEN UP TO 12 DOLLARS PER SHOT?
The silly news shows, the major media evening news is fond of showing off all sorts of buzz saw bullets and bullets that will penetrate bullet proof vests and all manner of other nonsense. Almost anything on the evening news about guns, ammo, self defense, etc. is a lie or at best BULL. Now, regarding ammunition; you don't need a lot of ammo for self defense. In a defensive situation if you need more than ten or twenty shots, you are likely going to die anyway as there are either too many people for you to defend against or you are too bad a shot to defend yourself. However, under the stress of self defense, it is not unusual for police to miss every single shot from a 15 shot
pistol when shooting at a Bad Person that is only 15 or 20 feet away. In shoot outs where trained police are shooting at BPs who also have guns, it is not unusual for several hundred shots to be fired for each person that is killed. Think about it. They need to practice a LOT more don't they. Luckily BPs don't practice much, if any, either. What you need lots of ammo for is practice.
How about all these wonderful and special self defense bullets? There are bullets that cost $6 each or more that are supposed to work better and faster for self defense. The real truth is that it doesn't matter a HOOT how expensive the bullet is, if you miss a vital spot in the attacker. What you need is practice, practice, practice, so that you can certainly hit what you are aiming at and STOP an attacker. REAL experts say: It is better to shoot the attacker 6 times quickly and accurately when you need to stop the attack than it is to hit them with one super-duper-Cowabunga-pooper bullet. So practice. It is bullet placement that will save the life of you and your family; bullet placement that STOPS the Bad Person fast enough to stop that BP from hurting you or a loved one.
Q: GUNS ARE NO HELP AGAINST AN AIRPLANE AIMED AT YOU, OR SOME ANTHRAX SPORES. WHY ARE YOU SO SET ON HAVING GUNS?
Some folks are concerned about potential social turmoil, rogue bands of harmful burglars, perhaps dangerous riots, and there is a certainty that, for the first time, this war is happening here and there are no safe zones, at least no certain safe zones. As members of a community, we seek to support our community with personal and community commitment -- a price others are and have been willing to pay. Now it MAY be our turn. I'm not saying this is correct or right or even necessary; I'm just saying that is what some people feel and think.
Owning a weapon is a personal decision. Some people have swords, canes, baseball bats, pepper spray, potato mashers and even hornet spray or a water pistol full of vinegar for self defense. Years ago almost all women carried a few long hat pins for defense and almost all men carried a stout umbrella or a walking stick. In many countries, even today, it is considered sensible to carry a dagger, a dirk, or even a pistol (such as in Israel) or a rifle all the time for self defense. I don't take a position either way for whether or not YOU have a weapon or decide to defend yourself against those who would rob or harm you and those near you.
I do take one position however. I think that those who say guns are bad and no one should have a gun and no one should protect themselves with a gun should have signs on their clothing, their cars and around their homes and businesses. That sign should say "I do not believe in guns or other weapons, and I do not have any weapons, and I will not defend myself, and I do not believe in anyone protecting themselves against an assailant." If you are really against self defense and against guns - prove it and post the signs!
Otherwise, for those of intelligence; Take care, prepare, practice and be safe.
By www.JodyHudson.com Copyright 2001
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