Handguns

[ACUDANUT]

You can't stop a gun without a gun. Period
Wake up

[ACUDANUT]

alfaitalia, WAKE AND SMELL THE COFFEE, or in your world drink some tea.

[Bobs69]

Law enforcement are trained to draw their guns when threatened by a knife.  Individuals can close a 25foot gap in a couple seconds.  Trained officers are hard pressed to get their gun up on target in that time.  The average citizen certainly isn't going to do it.  More then likely they'll shit their pants and shoot themselves in the foot or someone else.

Firearm use is a perishable skill it needs to be practiced.  Considering most states (from what I've learned here) don't even require a proficiency test.............. just wow. I'll save something for the next rebutle.

[alfaitalia]

You can't stop a gun without a gun. Period
Wake up

We don't (generally) have guns to stop! Period. So no police guns required..why is that hard to understand?

[alfaitalia]

alfaitalia, WAKE AND SMELL THE COFFEE, or in your world drink some tea.

Can't stand the stuff...I know- very unBritish of me!

[Troy]

Law enforcement are trained to draw their guns when threatened by a knife.  Individuals can close a 25foot gap in a couple seconds.  Trained officers are hard pressed to get their gun up on target in that time.  The average citizen certainly isn't going to do it.  More then likely they'll shit their pants and shoot themselves in the foot or someone else.

Firearm use is a perishable skill it needs to be practiced.  Considering most states (from what I've learned here) don't even require a proficiency test.............. just wow. I'll save something for the next rebutle.

You really, really need more information. And next time, try not being blatantly biased while pretending to be innocent. That and your title is misleading since you want to know about concealed carry but that's only a small slice of "handgun" discussion.

Very few of the people I know who have or carry guns rely on the bare minimum training required by law. Just like how passing a driving test doesn't automatically make you a safe driver (the Indian woman I work with literally had never driven a car when she got here yet someone passed her). None of the people I know are actively looking for a reason to pull a gun. The smart ones also realize that the law is rarely on the side of the person with a gun. Even being forced to shoot someone in self defense can land you in jail. Heck, drawing a weapon without just cause (or having it fall out on the floor by accident) can too. There are many instances where civilians with guns have stopped crimes and protected themselves and others. The recent prison break for example. Far more than when good people do bad things. Here in Ohio the laws are such that you can get in big trouble just transporting a gun and ammunition in the same vehicle. Having a permit is an incredibly smart thing because (most) all those restrictions disappear.

About the statistics - realize that the government entity that tracks these things includes the "bad guy" as a victim if they are killed (not necessarily shot) during an incident involving a firearm. As mentioned, it also doesn't differentiate between suicides and incidents of criminal activity. Basically if you avoid a several block section in most major cites (particularly Chicago, New York, LA, and Washington DC), your odds of getting shot by someone else are incredibly slim. I know of one person locally (of everyone I have known in my entire life) who has ever needed to fire a weapon at another human - and he was in his own home. There's one auto parts store that I visit sometimes where every employee open carries. While I think it's overkill (of course I don't work there), it's not in a great location and I bet they don't get robbed much.

Like John, I have several firearms (and lots of training) but don't feel the need to carry anything. If I had to change jobs or relocate I'd review my options. The knee jerk reactions by uninformed/clearly biased people are why many (if not most) people who carry keep quiet about it (which explains why the only ones you do hear from are not the greatest examples). The last several years have seen well over than 10 million permits issued per year so the odds are good that you know someone (if in the US) but haven't spoken about it to more than a few of them (concealed - get it?).

And the last thing, there are a LOT of remote areas in this country (yes, I know there's a lot in Canada too) and guns aren't always carried for protection from other people. I was in a car wreck in my teens in a small town and it took the one cop over an hour to arrive because he had gone home for the day and was having dinner. The response time may have been faster had someone been robbing a bank but certainly not something you'd need a stopwatch for. Probably 15-20 minutes minimum. If you have the legal ability to protect yourself why wouldn't you? And I don't even live that far out. I have friends in a depressed area in Kentucky and they are armed 24 hours a day. Of course, they have only had to shoot wild animals.

Handguns are a tool. A tool with a LOT of restriction (even though they are legal). People can abuse them - but it's relatively rare. There are cops who go their whole career without ever firing a weapon in the line of duty - which wouldn't be possible if this place were a free-for-all with gun battles happening on every other block.

Troy