There's an interesting -- and civil on both sides, for a wonder -- debate going on between Kevin Baker and James Kelly (among others) in re guns and the risk/benefit ratio of various approaches to ownership thereof, with the United States and United Kingdom being compared.
It's brought me to realize that among the things I don't want to do, the next-to-the-last is to have to shoot someone. However, the thing I would least like to do is to be killed or injured, which trumps the whole not-wanting-to-shoot thing. And it underscores the importance of training; not just being able to shoot well but understanding when it becomes necessary to do so in self-defense.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
5 comments:
I agree completely with your rationale, Roberta. The next to last thing I want to do is to have to shoot someone. The very last thing I want to do is be shot or crippled by an attack.
Well, two comments. First, Chief Inspector (West Yorkshire Constabulary) Colin Greenwood pretty much summed British gun controls when he dismissed them as "A series of bloody failures."
The text of his seminal paper on gun control is on the web and it deserves at least skimming by anyone interested in the subject.
TinyURL http://tinyurl.com/cbp7gu
Second, most violent criminals will break for the tall timber at the first sign of effective resistance. While I have more on my blog, I have had 13 "encounters" and have yet to shoot AT anyone.
Stranger
Stranger, thank you very much for the book recommendation. I just ordered a copy from ABEBooks. I expect the his perspective from 1972 will be fascinating in the light of the last 36 years of history.
Wow, a proper use of the word penultimate on the internet. The mind boggles ...
(Good point too.)
Not around here it doesn't.
Jim
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