L.A. bans large capacity gun magazines, draws lawsuit threat

[spin]

33. Strangely I agree with most of what you have stated. ...

I will agree that violent crime is now at levels last seen in the mid 1960s according to Bureau of Justice statistics. This is a fact totally ignored by both gun rights groups who tell everyone that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" and also by gun control advocates who insist that allowing civilians to own firearms has caused an unprecedented wave of violence.
(source: http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2221)

I will also admit that most defensive shooting incidents by civilians do not require a reload.


Private citizens reload in approximately 1/2 of one percent of shooting incidents (3/482).
If the defender fires any shots, most likely it will be 2 rounds.

The shooting distance in the vast majority of cases was slightly in excess of arm's length.

At this distances, even .22s and .25s are highly immediately lethal.

A revolver, even J-frame, is perfectly capable of dealing with almost all of the incidents. The ones which were beyond the capabilities of a five shot revolver would be best deal with by a shotgun, anyway.
http://thinkinggunfighter.blogspot.com/2012/03/self-defense-findings.html


I carry either a 5 shot .38 caliber or a 7 shot .22 magnum S&W revolver as I feel both are adequate for my needs as I'm not a cop or a vigilante. If I ever have to use my handgun for self defense it will most likely be at extremely close range.

Snub nosed revolvers such as I carry are often called "belly guns" for good reason. Unlike a pistol, you can shove a snub nosed revolver into your attacker's belly and it will still fire.

I do own and enjoy shooting semiautomatic pistols on the target range. Mine are target grade quality and I have a habit of only putting five rounds in a magazine. I don't practice changing magazines but I assure you that I can swap them out rather quickly without even trying. (Part of the reason I don't load more than five rounds is that as you empty the magazine, it will cause the weight of the weapon to change and can slightly impact the grouping of your shots on the target.)

I feel that there is a certain level of misconception about self defensive shooting that leads many gun owners to believe that it better to carry a pistol with a fifteen or seventeen round magazine than a five or seven shot "mouse gun" like I carry. This often leads to people who have carry permits to often leave their weapons behind when they leave the house as a full sized pistol is a pain in the ass to pack. Often I also notice that such individuals advocate "filling the air with lead" in a gun fight. Since I realize that I am responsible for every shot I fire in self defense I would rather take time to aim rather than blaze away. One well aimed shot from a .22 magnum snub nosed revolver has far more effect than sixteen misses from a Glock .40 caliber pistol.

Now I will admit that there is a very small chance that I may face multiple armed attackers on the street where it might be good to have more than five or seven rounds in my handgun. I might also win the lotto tomorrow.

But that's my views on concealed carry. Home defense may be a far different matter. Sometimes multiple intruders do invade a home but once again home invasions are rare (possibly because wise criminals break into unoccupied homes as they fear armed homeowners). If three or four guys bust down your door, it might be best to have a large pistol with a high capacity magazine and better yet to have a 12 guage pump or semiautomatic shotgun with seven or eight rounds.

The gun control issue has caused firearm sales to absolutely skyrocket in recent years. There is no doubt that some Democratic politicians and Obama have greatly contributed to this phenomenon. Of course the gun industry has done its best to encourage sales of firearms which is understandable as the more firearms they sell, the more profit they make.

I find this sad as I would like to see a return to the times of the mid 1960s now that our violent crime rate has fallen to that level. In those days most people who owned firearms had good reasons to do so. They were hunters, target shooters or collectors or lived in a truly dangerous environment.