someproteinguy wrote:
gbaji wrote:
Professor stupidmonkey wrote:
The gun as a defensive tool...I find that to be amusing.
Why? Do you know how often each year guns are used to defend people from crimes in the US?
Best defense is a good offense?
When I think defensive tool, I'd think of something like body armor. But that's probably just me.
And not terribly practical either. Interestingly enough, guns are arguably the most defensive of all personal weapons. A knife or club requires that one get close to use, which automatically blunts their defensive effectiveness (once someone's close enough for you to hit them, they're close enough to hit you). A gun can be used at range, allowing one to threaten or harm someone else, while remaining out of harms reach. It also can be used to protect someone else at range, by threatening to shoot an assailant if he doesn't back away. Something you can't do with melee weapons. And the fact that you can fire multiple rounds increases this defensive capability. If I fire my one shot from my bolt action rifle at one assailant, and either miss (or there's more than one), I'm completely vulnerable to attack. Whereas if I've got a number of shots, no one's going to risk approaching me because the odds of me missing all the shots I might get off are low.
I honestly find it strange that someone wouldn't realize the innate defensive properties of firearms. They are primarily used (even by criminals) to keep others at bay, not to kill them. The guy you have to fear when being robbed isn't the guy with a gun, but the guy with a knife. He's vastly more likely to actually use it.
Edited, Jan 10th 2013 3:11pm by gbaji