[thechat] Bowling for Columbine

[David Wagner]

Okay, I'm about a million messages behind, but I'm responding to this
without even reading the rest of the thread. Ya pissed me off. :)

deke wrote:
> What you want is a slower slug, and in order to have stopping power, a
> more massive one. A shotgun is a slower slug, but you end up shredding
> the guy you're shooting at. If you hit him in the leg with a 38, you
> knock him down, perhaps break his leg, and the hospital can put him
> back together.

A variety of weapons (tasers, pepper spray, baseball bats, etc.) have far
better "stopping power" than a handgun, and are almost infinitely less
likely to cause death.

A .38 is not designed for "stopping power". It is designed to kill someone
by piercing them with a ball of lead. Granted, it's a highly refined version
of that concept, in which the ball of lead will do more tearing than
piercing, but it's the same idea.

Don't give me any bullshit about any gun -- rifle, handgun, automatic
assault weapon, even a pellet gun -- being ideal for "stopping" someone
without killing them. They are all poor choices for self-defense, unless
you're looking to kill your attacker.

A mental exercise on "stopping power":

People under the influence of the drug PCP have a tendency to become
incredibly and randomly violent. They also do not usually feel much in the
way of pain, and are often able to walk through multiple gunshot wounds.
Shooting someone in the leg when they're on PCP is like playing Russian
roulette -- maybe you'll get lucky and break a bone, but more likely you'll
just piss 'em off and end up running away while you're waiting for them to
bleed to death.

However, electrical and chemical non-lethal attacks tend to work just as
they would on your average law-abiding, non-drug-using, church-going
grandma. A taser will cause anyone's body to become useless for a period of
time, regardless of the drugs in their system. And no one's eyes can avoid
massive tearing when subjected to pepper spray, whether they feel the pain
or not.

Guns are designed to kill things, and have been refined throughout history
to do so more efficiently. If that's what you're looking for, use a gun. If
you're not so into the whole killing thing, then welcome to modern society,
where we have literally hundreds of alternative tools available for self
defense.

--

David Wagner
dave at worlddomination.net