The chances of hitting your target is dependent on your state of mind more then anything else. IF you are going to carry a gun and IF you plan to use it, then you shoot to k**l. There is no such thing as shooting to wound and if you are not prepared to k**l someone, then you are not ready to carry a gun. They are NEVER to be used to try and scare someone. There is only one time pulling a gun is right. If you or someone else is in danger of life and limb, then you are justified in pulling a gun. If you ever pull a gun, it is for one reason ONLY and that is to shoot someone. There is no single shots, no double taps, no nothing but shooting until the target drops. Those that are taught the double taps are taught wrong and it could get you k**led.

Will you be scared when you get into a gun fight, you better believe it. You are going to be so scared you will not be able to think. That is where training comes into play. If you are not trained, then you have no business carrying a gun until you are PROPERLY trained. Going out in your back 40 and firing a few shots is NOT training.

Do I have training? Yep and with a revolver no less. Would I ever carry a revolver, not a chance. That is one of the reasons a police officer misses so often. I carry a pistol and would not think of carrying anything else.

For those that do not know, a revolver is a wheel gun that holds 6 rounds. A pistol is what they call an automatic and has a magazine and can hold 7 to 15 rounds.

Perhaps you have not been desperate enough, ginnyt. But wait! Following your logic, no crimes have ever been committed where there are loser gun laws? Is that right? Only NJ and states like it have problems with such crimes? Yes?

I AM NOT AGAINST PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS! I AM AGAINST THE MANY LOOPHOLES that allow the PURCHASE of ARMS BY CRIMINALS, TERRORISTS, AND KNOWN ENEMIES OF THE STATE. If your paranoia t***slates that into black helicopters swooping down to take away both your guns and your freedom or a hitlerian confiscation due to a universal registration, dream on.

this is a sad tragedy. The statements are correct except. I have seen nothing that said he tried to get a gun permit. What if he never had and intent to carry a gun, let alone use it. Or if he had one, had not trained to use it well. The article makes some assumption which are not shown to be correct. I don`t think this can be laid on the gun control people. They had no fault in this case.. How about the unarmed bus rider who beat the snot out of the gun totting thug who tried to steal his pone? The other bus riders joined in and pounded him to an oil slick, turned him over to the law..

The chances of hitting your target is dependent on your state of mind more then anything else. IF you are going to carry a gun and IF you plan to use it, then you shoot to k**l. There is no such thing as shooting to wound and if you are not prepared to k**l someone, then you are not ready to carry a gun. They are NEVER to be used to try and scare someone. There is only one time pulling a gun is right. If you or someone else is in danger of life and limb, then you are justified in pulling a gun. If you ever pull a gun, it is for one reason ONLY and that is to shoot someone. There is no single shots, no double taps, no nothing but shooting until the target drops. Those that are taught the double taps are taught wrong and it could get you k**led.

Will you be scared when you get into a gun fight, you better believe it. You are going to be so scared you will not be able to think. That is where training comes into play. If you are not trained, then you have no business carrying a gun until you are PROPERLY trained. Going out in your back 40 and firing a few shots is NOT training.

Do I have training? Yep and with a revolver no less. Would I ever carry a revolver, not a chance. That is one of the reasons a police officer misses so often. I carry a pistol and would not think of carrying anything else.

For those that do not know, a revolver is a wheel gun that holds 6 rounds. A pistol is what they call an automatic and has a magazine and can hold 7 to 15 rounds.

I think if you read my post, it says that I was not only trained, but also that PROPER training is needed. I was not talking about target shooting where small groups are intended, but to put led on target.

My training started in the good old USMC and went on from there. I also have police training and for that you are required to use only a revolver and double action only, in both weak hand and strong hand shooting. None of my training has been in so called combat shooting where they are shooting targets in a timed course and using special guns and special loads.

Now having said all that, Most shootings in this country are 10 yds. or less and not after running a mile and panting for breath before you are allowed to shoot. Combat is quit another story, but most people walking down the street or getting in their cars are not in combat. Most people that you will be going up against are not trained at all and simply blaze away.

Now I don't know what your "eye-opener" was in the Army, but it doesn't sound like it came from a street shooting. That is a whole different world from combat shooting. It also helps to get good at shooting a 12 ga shotgun, just in case you need one. Best darn gun for home defense that I have seen.

A 15-year old boy used his father’s AR-15 to defend himself and his 12-year old sister against two burglars at their home just north of Houston, Texas.

Their father is a Harris County Precinct 1 deputy constable, and the boy knew what he had to do to keep himself and his sister alive. Around 2:30 PM, two men tried to break in, with one going through the front door and the other in the back.

The boy grabbed the AR-15 and shot at them. The two later showed up at a Tomball hospital. The adult was hit three times and was flown to Memorial Hermann hospital, while the juvenile was taken back to the crime scene.

“We don't try to hide things from our children in law enforcement,” Lt. Jeffrey Stauber said. “That young boy was protecting his sister. He was in fear for his life and her life.”

According to the National Self Defense Survey conducted by Florida State University criminologists in 1994, the rate of Defensive Gun Uses can be projected nationwide to approximately 2.5 million per year -- one Defensive Gun Use every 13 seconds.

Among 15.7% of gun defenders interviewed nationwide during The National Self Defense Survey, the defender believed that someone "almost certainly" would have died had the gun not been used for protection -- a life saved by a privately held gun about once every 1.3 minutes. (In another 14.2% cases, the defender believed someone "probably" would have died if the gun hadn't been used in defense.)

In 83.5% of these successful gun defenses, the attacker either threatened or used force first -- disproving the myth that having a gun available for defense wouldn't make any difference.

In 91.7% of these incidents the defensive use of a gun did not wound or k**l the criminal attacker (and the gun defense wouldn't be called "newsworthy" by newspaper or TV news editors). In 64.2% of these gun-defense cases, the police learned of the defense, which means that the media could also find out and report on them if they chose to.

In 73.4% of these gun-defense incidents, the attacker was a stranger to the intended victim. (Defenses against a family member or intimate were rare -- well under 10%.) This disproves the myth that a gun kept for defense will most likely be used against a family member or someone you love.

In over half of these gun defense incidents, the defender was facing two or more attackers -- and three or more attackers in over a quarter of these cases. (No means of defense other than a firearm -- martial arts, pepper spray, or stun guns -- gives a potential victim a decent chance of getting away uninjured when facing multiple attackers.)

In 79.7% of these gun defenses, the defender used a concealable handgun. A quarter of the gun defenses occured in places away from the defender's home.

I think if you read my post, it says that I was not only trained, but also that PROPER training is needed. I was not talking about target shooting where small groups are intended, but to put led on target.

My training started in the good old USMC and went on from there. I also have police training and for that you are required to use only a revolver and double action only, in both weak hand and strong hand shooting. None of my training has been in so called combat shooting where they are shooting targets in a timed course and using special guns and special loads.

Now having said all that, Most shootings in this country are 10 yds. or less and not after running a mile and panting for breath before you are allowed to shoot. Combat is quit another story, but most people walking down the street or getting in their cars are not in combat. Most people that you will be going up against are not trained at all and simply blaze away.

Now I don't know what your "eye-opener" was in the Army, but it doesn't sound like it came from a street shooting. That is a whole different world from combat shooting. It also helps to get good at shooting a 12 ga shotgun, just in case you need one. Best darn gun for home defense that I have seen.

My point is that I have BTDT. The purpose of activity until you are gasping is to simulate stress, and the need for speed, rather than pinpoint accuracy. My training is quite good, as is my real life experience. Also, my old man was a cop, in addition to being a range sergeant in the military. You're right about the shotgun, and I took the liberty of installing tritium sights on it, and my pistols. Just because you have successfully negotiated one encounter doesn't mean you don't need practice. Or that you cannot improve.