u’ve heard the mantra a million times: “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” The only problem, it turns out, is that being a “good guy” isn’t good enough. A new study by researchers at Mount St. Mary’s University shows that proper training and the ability to know how and when to apply lethal force is essential to not only “stopping a bad guy” but not killing yourself and other innocent bystanders. As Christopher Ingraham of The Washington Post reports: [Researchers] recruited 77 volunteers with varying levels of firearm experience and training, and had each of them participate in simulations of three different scenarios using the firearms training simulator at the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland… They found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, people without firearms training performed poorly in the scenarios. They didn’t take cover. They didn’t attempt to issue commands to their assailants. Their trigger fingers were either too itchy — they shot innocent bystanders or unarmed people, or not itchy enough — they didn’t shoot armed assailants until they were already being shot at The study, it should be noted, was funded by a gun reform advocacy group National Gun Victims Action Council, and the sample size of 77 is rather small but the findings are significant and confirm what even the NRA says — more training goes a long way in preventing accidents in the event of emergencies. The researchers released some interesting video showing the difference between how trained professionals respond to crises and how the average Joe does. We’ve embedded their video below courtesy of The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1D9iuVq The National Gun Victims Action Council considers itself a moderate gun control group advocating for “sane gun control”. They believe the first step to more sane control is requiring training for handgun ownership just as we currently do for the operation of cars and other heavy machinery. The NRA, for its part, categorically opposes such measures.
This what so many pro-gun people don't realize about firearms. Unless you have extensive training in using one, and using it in a high-pressure situation then having a gun makes you less than worthless. I saw this argument really start to spring up shortly after the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado a few years back. Anyone who thinks that a darkened theater full of people with guns firing at the person that they think might be the shooter is only going to end in disaster. The average person walking around this country simply doesn't have the level of training to be any good in that kind of high-pressure situation.
But I think it'll make these situations less likely because the shooters only prey on those they deem defenseless.
Will it, though? More than a few of these gunmen end up committing suicide anyway, and even if they don't pull the trigger and kill themselves they probably know that they are going to get shot at some point. I don't think that most of those guys have any kind of fear of death so I'm not sure that knowing that someone nearby might have a gun is going to stop them.
We actually have thousands of real life accounts where citizens have had to deploy a firearm in self defense. The real life results are not quite what this "study" suggests.
Most Gun owners are already on top of this 'recommendation' I don't know any legal gun owner who has not learned how to use a firearm, or done target practice, or taken a course. Your title is misleading because it's not regular people , it's untrained people.
The problem with target practice is thst it does nt shoot back and it doesnt move. Simulations would be more appropriate training. Gun owners usually shoot themselves or family by accident more than a bad guy. Training is highly needed.
There is nothing misleading the title. Also, it's my title. I lifted it directly from the article. Anyway, as GL noted, practicing on a shooting range vs. practicing for a real world situation is very, very different. In other words, if you're not trained for gun combat situations, you are untrained for that situation. And, I know many legal gun owners who are not conditioned for that kind of situation. To paraphrase Bruce Lee; Targets don't shoot back.
Though, admittedly not a perfect demonstration, it does illustrate my point. [YOUTUBE]8QjZY3WiO9s[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]YzagUGGBJa4[/YOUTUBE]
Y'all have hit the nail on the head. It would be like having to go from driving on paved roads on a sunny day with minimal traffic to going rallying in the snow. Being good with a gun in one situation doesn't translate to being good with a gun in an entirely different situation. There's also the likelihood that if some gunman sees a person going for his/her own gun, that gunman is going to make sure to shoot that person first.
Exactly. Open xarry has to be the dumbest law ever along with doing it. Yeah tell everyone u have a gun so u can be the first to get killed.
I'm willing to wager those people usually buy a gun leave it in a case and rarely use it. This reminds of girls in college who would buy pepper spray and never even removed the cap to test it. You can't purchase these things and not even try it out until bad shit happens.
Remember the gunman is human too and has the same fear anyone else has. They could just as easily see another gun and just run
Thats what training is for. Training should be mandatory. If u carry a gun and shoot an innocent bystander because you was cleaning your gun. then what? Or u think you shot a bad guy but shot an innocent person....then what?
No matter how much training someone receives, most people just aren't wired to be at their best in a potentially life threatening situation that may require them to use lethal force. That's not most people's comfort zone, even if their loved ones are in jeopardy. Switching to kill mode is hard. Very few soldiers IMO are at their best in a live fire situation.
Exactly. People get to watching expendables and ready to go gungho. They dont realize people shoot back and shooting innocent people in a gun fight will mess with for a long time. You need training but you will never be ready