Watch what happens when people try to use handguns in self-defense

by confuzzled dude Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:31 pm

In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the National Rifle Association proposed putting more guns in schools. After a racist shot up a Charleston prayer group, an NRA board member argued for more guns in church. And now predictably, politicians and gun rights advocates are calling for guns in movie theaters after a loner killed two people at a theater in Louisiana.

The notion that more guns are always the solution to gun crime is taken seriously in this country. But the research shows that more guns lead to more gun homicides -- not less. And that guns are rarely used in self-defense.

Now a new study from researchers at Mount St. Mary's University sheds some light on why people don't use guns in self-defense very often. As it turns out, knowing when and how to apply lethal force in a potentially life-or-death situation is really difficult.

They 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. The first scenario involved a carjacking, the second an armed robbery in a convenience store, and the third a case of suspected larceny.

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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/28/watch-what-happens-when-regular-people-try-to-use-handguns-in-self-defense/?hpid=z6

by confuzzled dude Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:36 pm

by confuzzled dude Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:47 pm

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Watch what happens when people try to use handguns in self-defense

Watch what happens when people try to use handguns in self-defense

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