Subject:
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Re: Violence created by presence of guns? (was: Gotta love Oracle...)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 10 Oct 2001 14:31:11 GMT
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Viewed:
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484 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
> > I'd far rather take my chances with a Canadian Mugger than a US one, because
> > 95/100 up here, all I would face is a knife. And, the bleeding idiot had
> > better know how to use it.
>
> In close quarters, or in terms of hand-to-hand self-defense, a knife can often
> be deadlier than a gun. Based on what I've learned in self-defense classes,
> and from a bit of personal training by a friend who teaches martial arts,
> attempting a knife-strip to disarm an attacker can often be more dangerous
> than disarming someone with a gun. There are a number of pretty fast and
> effective ways to turn a handgun back on your assailant or use a combination
> of strikes to >remove the gun and assault your attacker. Clearly, defending
> yourself against a handgun in close quarters is very dangerous, but when push-
> comes-to-shove and my life depends upon it, I'd rather face someone with a
> gun in close quarters than a knife (at least a gun has surface area that can
> be grabbed.)
But the issue is "close quarters." A gun is more or less equally deadly
(other than matters of aiming) at a range of ten feet or of one foot; both
can therefore be considered close quarters for a gun-wielder, but it's hard
to disarm someone from five feet away even though the gun is still deadly at
that range. A knife, by contrast, becomes substantially less deadly when
one moves beyond arm's reach, so, while it's still hard to disarm a
knife-wielder at that range, the likelihood of the knife inflicting injury
upon you is sizably diminished. Further, I can run from just about anyone
brandishing a knife at me, but I'd be surprised to find that I could outrun
a bullet. Therefore the argument that "knives can be deadlier than guns"
doesn't hold much water except in knife-to-the-throat vs. gun-to-the-head
discussions. I grant you--most muggers don't assault people from a
distance, but the issue of range:threat is vital when distinguishing the
relative danger of each weapon; if it were not, then the world's armies
would go into combat with knives rather than rifles (although the increased
dangerous range *still* isn't an argument for outlawing private gun ownership.)
Dave!
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