So They Did a Study About Defensive Gun Use...

With the NRA constantly claiming that more guns are more better, someone actually did a study about the effectiveness of untrained gun users. It turns out that untrained people are really bad at defending themselves with guns:

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.

It was a relatively small study, so the statistical significance isn't the greatest. But it backs up what every gun owner should already know: without effective, consistent and repeated training, carrying a gun is useless at best, and will get you killed at worst.

The Concealed Carry University (which sells training DVDs) outlines several gun myths that amateur gun owners fall victim to:

• The “find the gun that works for you” myth. At least 60% of the guns and gear out there were designed with sales and popularity in mind, not effectiveness in a fight. Which are good, which are bad, and what makes them poor choices for self-defense combat?
• The myth of “Accuracy in Combat = Accuracy at the Range." Statistically, 77 percent of shots fired in self-defense situations will miss their targets, even when fired by trained gun-handlers
• The “I’ll see him coming" myth. Roughly 67 percent of the time, the bad guy is the first one to use lethal force. They ambush us. This tells us that a gunfight is not a clear-cut incident where a target pops up from behind a barricade.
• The “I’ll have time to think and decide” myth. The average violent attack is over in 3 seconds. They are “blitz” attacks, designed to blindside and overwhelm us.
• The myth of ‘Fight or Flight’. The reason criminals prefer these ‘blitz attack ambushes’ is because it forces our minds into a state of reflexive reaction. The problem is, our bodies don’t only choose between Fight and Flight, but instead between Fight, Flight, and Freeze. And without specific training, many (if not most) of us are prone to freezing for 3 or more seconds when confronted with a sudden, psychologically and physically overwhelming attack.
• The myth of one shot drops. 93% of single-gunshot wounds are survivable, and in the majority of recorded gunfights, good and bad guys report not even knowing they’ve been shot until after the fight ends. Handguns do not have “stopping power”. A bullet hits with exactly as much force as the recoil of the handgun that fired it. In order to effectively stop a threat, we must destroy something in the attacker’s body (or destroy his psychological motivation), that he needs to continue attacking us. This must be ingrained at the reflexive, muscle-memory level.

But perhaps the most important consideration is your willingness to kill. If you buy a gun, you have to want to kill someone, and do so without having any time to think about it. You can't pull your pistol out with the expectation that you will scare the bad guy away by simply waving it at them. 

The problem is that civilians will never have enough training to safely and effectively wield handguns. They can't afford either the cost or the time to maintain an adequate skill level. Cops are constantly being trained and evaluated, and all too frequently even they shoot bystanders or suspects who are unarmed and harmless.

The final thing civilians are missing is constant psychological evaluation. Police forces constantly monitor the performance and mental state of officers. Bad cops don't just up and kill someone like Walter Scott out of the blue. They typically have a track record of excessive violence and civilian complaints against them.

Civilians have no such oversight. When someone like John Houser, the Lafayette theater shooter, buys a gun there's no one making sure he stays on the straight and narrow. Even when a Houser is reported to the police for violating a restraining order, they frequently don't take his guns away. And in the rare occasions when guns are confiscated, the NRA has forced lawmakers to pass laws that return them in short order. Police departments are made to err on the side of "let the kooks have their guns" in most states, 'cuz it's the Second Amendment!

The NRA wants people to buy lots of guns and go the whole hog and get into the killer mindset. To do that right requires serious training -- not just on the shooting range, but tactical training that simulates real life situations. Anyone who buys a gun should be required to undergo that on a regular basis. However, the vast majority of us would never do that: we don't have the inclination, the time, the money, or the emotional makeup to become ruthless killers.

Unless you plan to become a soulless killing machine like John Houser, having a gun will only make you a menace to yourself and everyone around you.