Originally Posted by
squirtdad
Stopping power is one aspect, many here have talked about .380....but even with a hollow point there is not a lot of stopping power there. From what I remember hard core handgun self defence advocates push for something more like a .45. Certainly the concept that single shot will stop a person is not allways accurate (and if the person is on meth or similar look out) and recent new reports indicate the the .223/5.56 mm rifle used by our military does not have enough stopping power for urban warfare as experience in Iraq.
It(.380) makes a noise that scares people. I am banking on the fact that the suspect doesn't really want to kill Nick, he just wants to do harm to that guy over there. So when faced with the sight of a gun hopefully he will run. I will fire a warning shot if given the chance. Hopefully the sound will make him flee. If I shoot him I have a lot to worry about. The real weapon to have is a tazer that shoots the darts. It inflicts the most pain. From talking to inmates who have had every weapon used on them in terms of pain it goes Tazer>knife>(OC(only the immediate effect)=gun)>batton>less than lethal rounds
However the gun scares them the most. It represents the chance that it can all be over if they continue. I like it for the idea that I only need 1 for multiple attackers, it doesn't actually need to be used to be effective.
Originally Posted by
squirtdad
But this is opinion. There are number of Law Enforcement officers on the forum and as they are the most likely to have the best training and seen the most reality, it would be really interesting to get their input based on experience. How often are civilians succesful in handgun selfdefence? How often are the results negative for the civilians? How often, when police have to resort to weapon use are there misses? How often does stopping require multiple shots?
As far as numbers go it would be anecdotal for me to say. It is hard to tell because a lot of people who say they are innocent bystanders, actually are very guilty. It is rare that a good person has a crime directed directly towards them. Normally you must do something to instigate an attack. They do happen but not as often. I do know that you are twice as likely to intentionally kill yourself with a gun than you are to use it in self defense. It is almost 2 to 1 in the number of gun related suicides to any gun related death.
The results are always negative. In one way or another. A partner of mine was robbed at an ATM he pulled out a snub nose and dropped the suspect. He was arrested and sent to prison where he sued my partner. The stress destroyed his marriage. Had he killed the suspect his family could have sued. This is why given the chance I will fire a round in to the dirt or water and give them a chance to run or cuff up.