Have you ever shot someone?
 

red-beard's thread on his new gun got me thinking. Being from the great white north, seeing/hearing folks talk about their latest handgun purchase is, well, downright bizarre. Sure, lots of people have guns around here, but they're all hunting rifles. (non-criminals, I mean)

Someone in that thread mentioned something about close confrontations, and it got me thinking, have any of you american gun-owners ever actually used it on someone in a confrontation? Shot them? Used it to threaten someone without actually firing?

Just curious.

edit: let me also add another qualifier: outside the military. I'm talking about everyday life - prowler in the house, bar fight, etc.

Yes, several times in the service and in Africa. Twice in civilian life in the US.

No - and I hope I never need to. I also hope I'll never need to use the fire-extinguisher in the kitchen.

My dad did, but it was a Dick Cheney type shot gun accident...

If your dad shot Dick Cheney I wanna' shake that man's hand.

If only his aim had been just a bit better. . .

+1

Word on the street is that my grandfather did in rural Tennessee.
He is lying in rest with a couple .22 slugs in his rear end too. (Not the cause of death - we have Salem to thank for that)

Nope, never shot someone either on purpose or by accident and I really hope never have to do it.

Does being shot counts? what about twice?? I have been shot twice (but I was wearing armor), small 'incidents' when you play with guns .... and let me tell you it hurts!!

Christien -

Wait a sec.....are you thinking that we are a bunch of gun radicals in the US? Is that what the Canadian media portrays?

Just curious...

No, I'm not thinking that. I really am just generally curious how much guns actually get used for personal/family/property protection.

Canadian media doesn't really touch that much on the gun issue, at least not south of the 49th (we have our own issues here - google "Canadian gun registry scandal) and find out where $2. There's definitely a perception among most Canadians that there are certain pockets of gun nuts in the US (namely FLA and TX) but I don't think that's so much Canadian media as it is American - and not the news, more like shows like COPS or America's Most Wanted, even the trash talk shows. Granted they portray the worst of the worst, but that's what's on TV...

I have never owned a gun. I like guns and have nothing against them just never bought one.

Perish the thought! Fancy fabricating a crazy idea like that.....the cheeky bastards.

Studies have shown conclusively that the mere presence of a firearm, carried by the intended victim, discourages the crooks in the vast majority of confrontations.

The analogy to a fire extinguisher is a good one. Similar analogies can be made to insurance policies and other prudent behavior. They are merely a safeguard against the potential of falling victim to circumstances beyond your control. Guns are just a tool like any other, with an intended purpose for which they are designed, like any other. They can be used properly or miss-used, like any other.

Their miss-use, of course, gets the vast majority of the publicity surrounding them. Handguns are broadly painted as the tools of the criminaly deranged. As more and more countries limit their citizens' access to them, that image gets strengthened among those unfamiliar with them. Those of us that have grown up around them, on the other hand, have an easy acceptance of them. We just don't get all that excited about them. Unless, of course, some one tries to take them away. I guess familiarity removes the "forbidden fruit" fascination over them. Like I said, just a tool like any other. The man that picks it up decides what it is going to do...

What about law enforcement officers? Do their hits count as non-military?
Do they not shoot armed suspects in Canada?
We do here!

Oh, by the way, I voted 'No'...
But I'm making a list...
just in case the opportunity presents itself.

Gun goes bang
burglar is bleeding
TV safe


Oh wait...I thought this was the Haiku thread.

Gun goes bang
rapist is bleeding
woman safe

Back in 1982 had an unfortunate situation where my fiance, at the time, had been followed from work by a rapist, out on parole. When she didn't come home when she was expected I went out to find her. Saw her car with the attackers car still blocking hers. For some reason I knew something was not right, grabbed my 38 and ran to the car. Before he could fulfill his attack I stopped him, he swung at me then pulled a 22 revolver. I got the first shot off and today his black, paralyzed ass still sits in jail.

I will never forget that day, revenge was sweet and I stopped a terrible crime, but that is also mixed with many emotions. Would never wish that situation on my worst enemy.

First time I used a gun for protection.

1984, I was 18 years old I had bought a worn out colt 1911 in .45 acp on the street. I didn't tell anyone in my family that I did it

It was on a Friday that I got it and 50 rounds of ammo.

Saturday night around 1:30 I hear leaves and plants moving under my bed room window. I loaded the gun. Feed the chamber

My window screen came off, I slipped the safety off and my finger was going to the trigger.

A form appeared, Finger on the trigger, I asked who was their


It was my sister and her boyfriend, she forgot her keys and was coming home later than she wanted my parents to know.
I slid the .45 under my pillow and she doesn't know to this day about it.

Second time.

Camping out in the desert with my wife and 4 sons we where on a dry lake bed with 3 other groups of campers none of them within 1 mile of us. Out of Cell phone range 83 miles from no-where 5 miles off of the highway

We ride motorcycles and had placed ALL dirt bikes, gear EVERYTHING in our locked trailer nothing out. not even a chair was out

2-3 in the morning I hear a vw motor idle up to us, drive around our motor home and trailer. It stopped on our side with the door

I held my new .45 up in the window, turned the flash light on behind the gun so they saw the silhouette of the gun....they drove off.

yes I'm glad that I have the right to own a fire arm

if they had an emergency they would have driven up fast and loud and would not have stopped.

no and i pray to god i never do. i carry everywhere i go, and if i cant carry i dont patronize that place(since i dont go to bars w/exception of rare occassions-it really allows me to go everywhere except restaurants that serve booze). i have had a couple of road rage incidents that occurred that i was glad i had a weapon but never pulled from holster. since i have owned my p-car, the general consensus is i am rich and i want to race everyone and everything on the street. so i have endured some goofy moments a few times now.

after yesterdays multiple car jackings that started mid valley and continued to west valley w/perp getting away after ramming sheriff mobile, its comforting to know that i have one. especially since its a cab. dont know why, but just having cloth over your head kinda seems vulnerable at a stop light, let alone when top down. perp was described as hispanic or middle eastern male. we had to laugh, there is not a huge middle eastern male population here, and anyone from mid-east is keeping a very low profile here. we seem to get a large number of illegal hispanics with very long crim records, that pull some real stunts here. yesterday was a fine example, on WHY everyone should carry concealed like the old west. everyone says the wild west, the reality was populations were very low a 125 yrs ago, everyone carried openly and concealed and it was rare to hear about gunplay. now with population up, less people carrying guns open or concealed, bad guys are on a feeding frenzy. there are only so many cops to protect you.

as described by my CCW instructor................cops only show up AFTER the crime has occurred, it is VERY RARE they stop crime in progress. there is even a law where you the citizen CANNOT sue the police for not responding in time or not saving you in the event of violent crime. so bottom line......................YOUR ON YOUR OWN!

i'd have to say the time i feel most vulnerable is being in middle of nowhere. TRAILHEAD crime is thru the roof in national forests. why ? because bad guys know people leave stuff in vehicles, while hiking. and no one is around. cops are understaffed. buddies had weapons camp supplies everything cleaned out of trailer while archery hunting on north rim of grand canyon 32 miles from jacobs lake. it DONT GET any more BFE than that! so word to the wise, ALWAYS DISABLE BACKUP HUNTING WEAPON when you leave hunt camp and hide as best as possible!

Neither does the US media. Unless its anti-gun.
You will never see a story about someone using a firearm to defend themselves or their home and family. That just doesn't get reported.

I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.