Putting your hand on something is a little different then shooting someone - Edit 1
Before modification by Isaac at 25/07/2012 08:15:39 PM
Anecdotal evidence, but then so was yours. Hell a lot of people used to carrying weapons tend to reach for them even when they don't have them on, I still sometimes do. A gun is a mental security blanket. Now, let me say more importantly that this is not proper debate, we do not use anecdotal evidence, we use science and reason when trying to press facts. If you want to assert people in a panic forget they have a gun, check. Run a study, either a very large one to grab a decent sized sample of concealed carry, or just do cops or soldiers. Bring them in ostensibly for something else, like their favorite soda or whatever, and in the middle of it with video running drop a flashbang in the room or hit the stereo on full volume or whatever and see what percentage reach for their gun. That would tell you what percentage of folks who carry weapons tend to react when startled by reaching for it. That won't tell you how many would react to a shooter, presumably more will reach for a gun during a 1-5 second period after their brain screams 'homicidal lunatic with gun' though I daresay the 'with gun' bit is even more likely to set off 'Gun! Gun! Oh, yeah, I've got a gun too'. Also, I think the weight of common sense is that once a person has a hand on their weapon they are very likely to begin including opening fire on their list of responses. Regardless, you can't just make assertions like that as fact, especially if disputed, these things need testing.
And how the hell is all that supposed to be any comfort when every kid on the street who aims with a toy gun has to fear the guys who always wear a real one and are quick to draw it as an instinct?
There is a hell of a big difference between habitually reaching for the handle of your gun and popping off the thumb break, pulling it out, taking aim, flicking off the safety, and squeezing the trigger. Also one generally needs to feel seriously threatened to leap into violent responses and your average 4 year old with a toy gun doesn't qualify... but then, in the US pretty much every toy gun made these days is made to look very much like a toy. Any parent who lets their kid run around with an convincing facsimile deserves a flogging and any adult or teenager stupid enough to jump out on someone with a plausible facsimile is probably going to find some way to get themselves stupidly killed anyway. Jumping in or out of traffic, chewing on power lines, making toast in the tub, etc.
I said people were quick to 'reach for' not 'draw', I don't think I've ever seen a pistol leave a holster outside of a credible threat. Most holsters and scabbards have retain straps or thumb breaks on them to prevent the weapon falling out and generally retard spur of the moment yanking too.
Unbelievable.
Yes, it really is. And the thing here is, while I can appreciate anxious concerns about gun safety I would like to think people who don't come from gun cultures might stop to ponder that a country that has all of 2 accidental shooting deaths per million people, and million guns, per year might conceivably imply that people don't yank out their guns and fire them into people every time they get spooked. Most accidental shootings do not involve the persons who most commonly carry guns regularly anyway, they are hunting accidents or people/kids new to weapons or screwing with someone else's. Accidental shootings make up about 2% of US gun fatalities, and 'accident' is broadly defined.