At 08:15 PM 7/21/96 +0000, you wrote:
Again, I am not crusading against guns and armed self-defense, but I am indeed saying that simply having a firearm at home does not insure safety and security. You have to go beyind having a gun and get a dog and/or a metal door. A good fence is also a plus, although may not always be possible.
I'd certainly agree with that, but would like to add that an unloaded gun is of no use and a gun in the nightstand or in the trunk of your car is also of no use. For all cases other than home intrusion, the gun has to be worn -- I recommend a shoulder holster. In the case of home intrusion, one can hope that the intruder has no desire to be successful and permits you to get the drop on him. Perhaps he'll slam the refrigerator door allowing you to fumble around under your pillow for your weapon. I know of people who have walked out of museums with paintings trailing alarm wires -- so let's hope our intruder is an amateur and best of all is scared off by some phony security signs, fake alarm wires, etc. In these parts most guns seemed to be used by the temporarily depressed teenaged children of gun owners. One kid managed to live as a vegetable having successfully removed the source of his unhappiness -- his brain. Tough luck. Pretty hard to aim properly when you are upset. Lesson: keep your cool. Now for street wear I strongly recommend a variety of loads. Probably my favorite is a reversed semi-wadcutter. This puppy is extremely inaccurate since it starts tumbling as it leaves the barrel. At extremely close ranges it'll tear up some flesh and further out it'll walk nastily through outer clothing completely wrecking it for formal wear and continue through enough skin to be damaging. Low on kinetic energy, it will however transfer its entire momentum where it counts. A semi-automatic will not properly feed these, so you gotta be traditional if you are of the big clip persuasion. A few observations: since our hog leg is shoulder-holstered we will need a coat. Now if you want to take a piss, court-houses, airports and a few other public buildings are out. We would feel foolish being tackled and thrown to the floor while hunting for the restroom even if we slipped past security. So here we are, sweating and chafing with a gun and a coat and a urinary tract infection. Feel safe yet? -- Llywarch Hen