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Hey Yong - next time you are down here riding, let's make some time for trip to the range!

Vann - sounds good to me!

Ahhhhh......guns

Favorite handguns

45 A.C.P. M1911 Series 70
Glock 9x19 Model 17
.357 Mag Dan Wesson 2" to 8" heavy barrelled kit
Russian Makarov in a 9x18 Cal

Favorite Rifles

AR 15 in .223 Cal
For plinking, the above with a .22 LR conversion
FN FAL "Paratrooper" .308 Cal
Galil ARM .223 Cal
Steyr AUG HBAR .223 Cal

boxermania - nice collection, especially the rifles!

Boxermania,

Ditch the Mattel Toy and the Dan Wesson and we'll be sporting the same stuff. Gasp, we might even be twins!!!

I am a shooter and instructor, and this is the truth. Any gun that works will do the job. There is no magic bullet that puts bad guys down every time unless you go to a shotgun or rifle, and even then anything is possible. It has always been where you put the bullet! Have your son buy the most expensive gun he can afford, in the biggest caliber he can control well enough to get in quick follow up shots, and then practice until he has the skill level, and education required to make and carry out decissions of life and death in this legal world of ours. As with our bikes, out in the world our best weapon is our mind.

Can you beleive that ALL handguns are banned in the UK?! Members of our Olympic team have to train in Swizerland 'cos percussion pistols are illegal.
This was a knee jerk reaction by the government.

I have never had a problem with a revolver failing to shoot (jam, hang up etc). Every auto-load (pistole & long gun) I have ever owned has failed to shoot at one time or an other, for what ever reason. If your going to bet your life on your firearm shooting as intended and when needed this might be a cosideration.

Revolvers also tend to be a tad more accurate since the barrel does not move during firing. The rear part of most autoloading pistol barrels move down slightly as the slide moves back and the action loads a fresh round.

The primary advantage of an auto-loader is that it's easy to load a fresh mag fast. This is obviously a distinct advantage during combat situations. For most civilians like ourselves, I think either does quite nicely. I have a couple Glocks and a Daewoo, all in .40 S&W. I'm eyeing a Ruger Vaquero revolver in .357 mag. to go along with the couple Winchester lever action rifles I bought a month ago.

...... whatever gains your confidence.

I (virtually) chased my cylinder down range once while competing in the Police Games held at San Diego one year. I've also had my cylinder lock up on me, and an (incorrectly loaded) reload get caught between the cylinder and the forcing cone. Revolvers can jam.

It's also an academic discussion which materials and/or which types of firearms are "more accurate"...... If the shooter is good enough to place his shots as well as the gun's potential, he's likely making big bucks in winnings doing what he does best (shooting better than a Ransom Rest).

One's choice should be based on how well the firearm fits in his/her hand, and how well the sites instinctively align with one another.

Even a little .32 can have the "stopping power" of a .38.... IF the shot is appropriately placed. "Shot placement" is everything.

Pat - I am admittedly not nearly as experienced and proficient as you. This is an area however I would certainly like to get training on. The most I will ever likely need a pistol for self-defense is to draw the gun and fire a few rounds. I hope that even this situation never occurs in my lifetime. The conditions you speak of is something LEOs and soldiers will see. But you're certainly right about the difference in accuracy between a revolver and an autoloader being negligible in practical situations. Heck, from what I've repeatedly heard, the average distance of a pistol gunfight is well within ten yards. Anyway, I hope I never find myself in a situation where I would have to reload after firing 6 rounds (or 10/15 with my Glocks).

The thought of you running after your revolver cylinder is rather humorous! I imagine this has happened to military and LE personnel in combat situations. I can't imagine the sinking feeling.

I know I'll get flamed for this, but handguns have become a huge issue here in Toronto. Most stolen from private collectors or smuggled in from the south. 2005 was "the year of the handgun" up here, "Toronto finally looses its innocence."

On boxing day, a young girl was killed when shopping with her parents on Yonge Street, caught in the crossfire of young punks and their handguns.

Last year, for the first time in my life, I arrived on the scene just after a shooting in Mississauga last year (north of Toronto). Its still unsolved, witnesses say a kid just pulled out his handgun and shot point blank. I watched as security guards try to revive this guy as blood poured from his wounds like a busted water pipe.

I looked through all these posts, and loving handguns is obviously an American thing. I mean no disrepect, but I'll never understand it. Like anything, handguns that belong to decent people get stolen and end up in the hands of a-holes. Why contribute to it?

Just some outside perspective.

I can understand your concern, but here its a basic freedom, and our whole society is rooted in the concept of gun ownership and protecting ourselves.

Goes back to the minutemen militia used to oust those pesky Brits. We believe wholheartedly it is our basic right to possess what we need to protect our own. And we can't protect anything, our homes or our borders, unless we have the hardware and learn how to use it.

Like anything, handguns that belong to decent people get stolen and end up in the hands of a-holes.

This is true in many cases I'm sure, but it would be much better for our society as a whole if we simply got rid of the a-holes instead of the guns.

Rui - many, if not most, Americans give a fair amount of thought before deciding to become handgun owners. Handguns and assault rifles are anti-personnel weapons, as opposed to tools for hunting animals for food. I myself pondered the issues for about a month before purchasing my first pistol.

And while I agree with Phil that it's better to get rid of the a-holes, I also know that each year brings a fresh crop of them for us to get rid of through our criminal-justice system.

As long as the general public in the U.S. feels that gun ownership is an important right, we will always have them in this country. Just as citizens of other countries have decided that it is not. Vive la difference, as they say in France.

Boxer and yjleesvrr, thanks for your responses, and not flame'n me!

It just strikes me as a vicious circle; good guy buys gun to protect himself from the bad guy whole stole the gun from a good guy. If I lived in the US with the amount of handguns out there, I'd feel a bit uneasy just with my baseball bat under my bed. But with curious 3 and 9 year olds in the house, I'm not sure what would scare me more.

BTW, is "protecting borders" still a NRA arguement? I think you are safe from us Canadians, although I'd watch out for those Canadian cross-checks! (hockey joke).

Anyways, sorry for highjacking this thread. Cheers!

After the suicide of my grandfather, I never wanted to be around guns and was upset that my father owned several pistols when I was growing up.

Since those days, I've had three different attempted attacks on me by unarmed strangers. Two times I fought my way out before they could hurt me badly. One time, my husband was able to rescue me before I was hurt. All three times, I had the presence of mind to think clearly through the situation, and I knew that if I had a gun, I could use it. And I wished I had a gun in each situation. If I thought I couldn't use one, I wouldn't carry one. I don't think I can count on my strength or luck to keep me safe forever. Now I have a concealed carry license and go to the range periodically. Some have argued that since I got away before, I should just forget the weapon and take some self defense classes. But the men I got away from weren't carrying weapons as far as I could tell (other than their advantage of strength and size over me) Unless I'm incredibly proficient at it, self defense isn't going to be a match for a gun or knife to the throat.

I'm glad America gives me the right to protect myself by letting me carry a concealed weapon and keep them in my home. Taking a concealed handgun class teaches you respect for the weapon and the laws. You learn that there are options you must consider before blasting away! After my experiences I know I have the presence of mind in a bad situation to think through those and use deadly force as a last option.

Just my opinion based on my experience. Ain't flaming no one - never would.

Well said, Kristi. And I applaud the training-range-practice sentiment. Years ago my sister confronted a large, male intruder in her home. Thank goodness he fled.

She asked me what gun I'd recommend. My first questions were:
Will you get training, and
Will you practice?

My advice now is to stay the heck out of sis' house without an invitation!

1150929 - I understand your confusion but Phil and Yong have summurized my viewpoint pretty well. Keep in mind, when handguns are banned from private citizens ownership, the bad guys never give them up. Might make you feel better but it is not very effective as a deterrent.

On the other hand, in the US, every time a state passes a concealed carry law, the number of violent crimes decreases!

This may be an American thing, but we did win our independence using our own guns!

1150929

I am Canadian.

I live in Ontario.

I have guns.

I hunt, shoot bulls eye and action pistol, and cowboy action.
I am not alone!

There are LOTS of guns in Canada.

Yes it was a bad year for crime in Toronto.

But you might not be aware that
1 Metro Police studies prove that most of the guns used in crimes in TO were smuggled from the USA, not stolen from legal gun owners like me. The study also proved that all but one of the suspects involved in shootings in Ontario were under a court order banning them from owning firearms. They broke that rule. They broke the rule about not killing someone too. What makes you think that they would not break the rule banning firearms ownership? You see what I am getting at? The badguys will get the guns no matter what. No matter what rule, ban, or law you make, the criminals have and will have guns. Gun laws do not work, as proven the world over.

2 If a criminal steals a gun and uses it in a crime, that is a criminal problem and not a gun problem. If your car was stolen (car theft in Canada is Higher per capita than the USA) and the thief ran over a bunch of kids how would that be your fault? It wouldn't. Same thing goes for my guns. (I lock then up beyond the requirments of the Law, and so do most legal gun owners.)

3 You are invited to come out to my range and shoot my guns any time.
I am 1h 45m from TO and we could ride and shoot. We might both learn something.


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