You guys are begining to freaks me out. I'm sorry if I, in anyway, offended on of you before. Please spare me.
I'm more of a KUNG FU kid. I like BLADE, SWORDs, and other weapons. If you shoot someone, that's IT. But if you slide some one, it'll be more painful, and you can do it MANY times without them dying on you.

 

If you need to defend yourself, then as long as they are living, they can still attack.

Lance

 

Very nicely put.

The kind of talk in this thread makes me glad to be Australian. No offence intended.

 

*** Why Americans have guns

" [The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."

---James Madison,The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

"The ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone."
---James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in Federalist Paper No. 46.

"Whenever governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
---Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, spoken during floor debate over the Second Amendment, I Annals of Congress at 750, August 17, 1789.


"The Essence of goverment is force"
---George Wahsington


***Other people don't want you to have them

"Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA-- ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State."
---Heinrich Himmler 1935

All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately . . . The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every respectable German man the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above named organizations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon ... must be regarded as an enemy of the national government."
---SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933

"No civilian is to have a firearm without a permit and permits will not be issued to [persons] suspected of acting against the state. For Jews this permission will not be granted. Those people who do not require permission to purchase or carry weapons [include] the whole SS and SA, including the Death's Head group and officers of the Hitler Youth."
---German Firearms Act of 1937: [Kates, Restricting Handguns pg. 185,1979]

"The United States should get rid of its militias."
---Josef Stalin, 1933

Rep. Waxman:

 

My weapon of choice is the official sidearm of the U.N., the Baretta 9mm. It kicks the .45's ass in terms of accuracy and reliability. Holds 15 lethal hollow point shells: 14 in the clip and one in the chamber. A Glock is nice, also. A .357 is a little bit of overkill. If fired in a house, it will go through several walls and can even cause injuries to others in the neighborhood. It will even go through an engine block (I guess in case you need to kill your engine?).

 

The 9mm is not an adequate self-defense cartridge. The Pope (who at the time was in his late 60

 

Thanks all!

mingster,

I will check out the SS P220 before making my decision...

 

One more thing...anyone ever shot a USP Match?





I know they are discontinued...but are they worth the $$$?

Thanks,

 

This is absolutely not true. I have routinely choked opponents out and they will not attack until they are revived.

In my experience most conflicts escalate so that your opponent is well within hand-to-hand range. In fact, most opponents will "get in your face" before anything else happens. If your opponent does not have a medium range weapon (like a handgun), then there is almost nothing stopping a skilled groundfighter from applying chokes or limb locks. I have seen at least one knife-weilding maniac turned into a wimpering crybaby when he was disarmed and had his shoulder taken apart by a groundfighter. (BTW, this was in a very crowded place and I did not know either of the people involved. It was one of the reasons I took up martial arts myself.)

Even if a fight does not reach the ground, there are many, many options that should precede your decision to kill the opponent. For instance, I have been the recipient (semi-accidentally) of a few kicks that were so utterly painful that no thought or action could penetrate the pain. I have been kicked in the stomach and on the temple of my head on two instances where I was utterly disabled for a few minutes.

Other options include stiking the eyes (no one fights through losing an eye), striking the throat (breathing is a repile brain function and will trump all other priorities), and, of course, the groin (stikes to which have been reported to put a person into full blown medical shock).

Of course, if your opponent has a gun, these options are severly limited. You will have some of these options if the gun is within your reach and you are smart about your approach. There are at least three disarming armlocks (that I know of) that will have the gun pointed into the opponents head or torso within a timespan that will give you a chance. (It's going to be faster than drawing your own gun and aiming). If your out of range, running might be an option. I am confident that I can outrun anyone other than the most athletic criminals, so I consider it an option. Again, it may even be advantageous where you have your own gun, if at least to give you a chance to draw.

All this is just to illustrate that close combat gunplay is a 50-50 proposition, that will most likely result in death. I also want to point out that the human body is an amazing weapon that IS ACTUALLY capable of outmatching a gun or other weapon.

Now, as to the topic at hand, I agree with mingster -- Sigs rule.

 

I personally like the S&W PC CQD .45 ACP. It's a little expensive (around $900), but a damn fine weapon. The 1911 is a very reliable and accurate pistol for target shooting (the marines still issue it I believe), but not the best choice for home defense if you ask me. Use a shotgun, preferably a pump to avoid an untimely jam. Take the plug and choke out and you're set. Aim in a general direction and chances are you will hit the intruder. But once the intruder hears you advance a shell, he'll leave with a load in his pants. Plus, you won't kill your neighbor as a pistol round could penetrate your exterior wall (unless you have brick--but it could go through a window!).

I have a 20 gauge Remington 870 AE for home defense (and the very occasional dove hunt) and a scare-you-off-the-range Desert Eagle .44 like the one pictured below (although I think the picture is of a .357) for range shooting. It's a very accurate gas-chambered target/hunting/splitting-someone-in-half pistol (and can be mounted with a scope) since the barrel doesn't move with the action, but more expensive and less reliable than a 1911.