With everything else, you must practice and have training. You can't just go out, buy a gun, throw it in a drawer and expect to be able to defend yourself. (Jamie will probably tell you its the same in boxing, practice, practice, practice) When I used to teach women to shoot I would start them out with an underpowered .22cal rifle or pistol and work them up to bigger firearms. If you going to try and stop an intruder/rapist and you point the gun at him and close your eyes he is just going to take it away from you. Unflinching body mass shots. Smith & Wesson even makes a .38cal pistol called a Lady Smith just for women's small hands. I have recommended this revolver to many women. If a women can handle it I recommend the small revolver, the Charter Arms Bulldog Pug in .44 special. (same size as .44mag but with less powder.) All of these loaded with the Glaser Safety Slug round (bullet) that won't penetrate walls.

With Firearms ownership come responsibility. Parents that leave firearms around for children to play with should be in jail. There should be no such thing as the moronic "gun free zones" in America as they are a magnet for crazies. When I was in school, the schools welcomed the NRA to come in a teach gun safety, now they ban the class's. This is like banning sex education because you are afraid that they will try and practice it. In America we have a freedom most of the world does not enjoy, so we need more education on it not less.

Sailorman wrote:Bingham: You say I make this stuff up, but I'm quoting scientific studies by people with doctors degrees and experts in a field. .

Sailorman wrote:With everything else, you must practice and have training. You can't just go out, buy a gun, throw it in a drawer and expect to be able to defend yourself.

That's just the thing. AFAIK in America you can just go right ahead and do that, even easier than acquiring a driving licence ( well, cars do kill more people!). Is ammunition still sold in Wallmart? The macho (male and female) movies make a lot of people believe, that unlike a martial art, you can just become an expert killer by opening the box. If there were a law stating intensive and continuous training then at least you would have machines that fire hot metal at high speeds in the hands of competent people. That would also follow the 2nd amendment's idea. You can't have an army of untrained weapon carriers; although, I expect the government would prefer them in the hands of untrained fools. We can't un-invent them, so perhaps we should just either have an army of highly trained civilians (a highly trained and weaponized Dad's Army), or do away with the 2nd amendment completely and just allow gun ownership for club members with strictly enforced stringent rules. Even then there have been cases of school shootings; Dumblane in Scotland etc.

I suggest a travelling Circus Maximus, where gun owners are invited to play gladiators. They could set it up at various universities/malls and cinemas on weekends and promise rapt coverage by CNN in advance. That would guarantee the idiots the fame they seek, at least. One oculd even let some lions in and arm captive dentists with bowie knives, I would pay to watch that.

i do reckon there should be some course people should go on or do in order to get a license/certificate in order to own a gun, more for educational purposes than anything, people can still have their right to bare arms

and yes Sailorman, Practice Practice Practice, you need to train your subconscious in order to perform in high stress situations, quick response/reactions that require little though, as someone posted in a video before, when someone is put in a high stress situation, like ones mentioned, said victim is in too much of a panic they either forget they actually have a gun (instinct would be to run) and/or fumble trying to reach for the gun and let alone being clear minded enough to use it efficiently, youve been around guns a long while so it would be hard for you to say, just like saying if i got in a fight in the street i wouldnt think anything to it, but when most people are out their comfort zone everything goes out the window, its like boxers in their first fight, they could have practiced and trained for years, but when they get in that ring for their first fight, they are out their comfort zone, their adrenaline is racing and instinct kicks in, everything they learned goes out the window

Yes Jamie, so right. Its the built in Flight or Fight thing. You need the muscle response that training gives you. As I stated you don't start education when you buy your first gun or get into the ring for your first fight. Taking a gun safety course to me is a no brainer, but when you try and legislate it, I stand against it.(I'm for less laws not more.) As in basic education you start when the brain is young. You teach it in schools. America has a civil right that has been taken away from almost everyone else in the world, so instead of banning education in that right you have class's in schools to teach gun safety and what it looks like when someone is shot. Years ago when I was in school we got driving safety instruction. One of the things they showed us was a bloody film on car crash's. It left an impression on me. Show what a bullet wound looks like. The NRA has a fine youth program called "Eddie Eagle" to train children about firearms, but its banned from most schools.

Vlad: Do you listen to half the Cr*p you post. Some of it is just embarrassing.

Sailorman wrote:Vlad: Do you listen to half the Cr*p you post. Some of it is just embarrassing.

Uh, this is a forum, not an audio-book.

Sailorman wrote:Yes Jamie, so right. Its the built in Flight or Fight thing. You need the muscle response that training gives you. As I stated you don't start education when you buy your first gun or get into the ring for your first fight. Taking a gun safety course to me is a no brainer, but when you try and legislate it, I stand against it.(I'm for less laws not more.) As in basic education you start when the brain is young. You teach it in schools. America has a civil right that has been taken away from almost everyone else in the world, so instead of banning education in that right you have class's in schools to teach gun safety and what it looks like when someone is shot. Years ago when I was in school we got driving safety instruction. One of the things they showed us was a bloody film on car crash's. It left an impression on me. Show what a bullet wound looks like. The NRA has a fine youth program called "Eddie Eagle" to train children about firearms, but its banned from most schools.

Vlad: Do you listen to half the Cr*p you post. Some of it is just embarrassing.

they teach about gun saftey in School? wasnt really aware of that, doesnt seem to do much good though, just like the good sex education we get in the UK but also have the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe (or probably the world lol)

No, they use to teach gun safety in American schools, but the liberal weak-nelly politicians stopped that. Real smart, NOT!

Vlad: If you want to embarrass yourself in front of the world, I say go for it.

Thank you Sailorman, I am following in your country's unparalleled example.

My native Australia has a much better government.

I like Australia and have/am visiting there. Its probably a much better country by a factor of 1 now that you reside here. When I was in OZ the newspapers were full of how screwed up your government is. Looks like you have as many criminals and elite politicians per capita as we do. The news were full of knife attacks. Looks like the OZ politicians are going to have to take away all the knives and you can eat with plastic Sporks. (remember sporks?)

BTW/ The only real embarrassment we have in America is that the people (idiots) elected Obama-Iben-Lying twice.(this doesn't take into account Bill "I didn't have sex" Clinton. I can't be held accountable for either as I did not vote for the Obamanation or Clinton.. Dr. Ben Carson for President.