Re: What they NEED is GUN CONTROL !!!!!

On 28 Dec 2005 09:43:45 -0800, Postman wrote:
> Morton Davis wrote:
>> Range really isn't a factor. That's one of many things about the "story"
>> that's fucked up. The average distance between combatants in a gunfight has
>> been shrinking to between 7' - 10'. The enviroment in which most cops works
>> makes long distance shooting impractical and dangerous. There is no problem
>> with criminals armed with rifles sniping at police officers from long
>> distances either. The "North Hollywood Shootout" involved bank robbers using
>> stolen real assault rifles (AK-47s) at relatively close range ot the
>> surrounding police. If you view video footage, the distance betwen bad guys
>> and police does not exceed 30'. No police officers were killed.
>>
> As stated earlier, most criminals can out-shoot the cops.

I think one thing missing from the proposition that "most criminals
can out-shoot the cops" is the fact that, while a criminal can, with total
impunity, just 'shoot and hope' [that they hit a cop], the cop can't shoot
back with such abandon. They must shoot very selectively, being very sure of
what's in back of the target (in case of a miss or a ricochet), aiming for
the center of mass of the target. So, yeah, if that one factor is taken
into consideration, sure a criminal can out-shoot a cop.

> I watched a 'documentary' that showed video footage of the 'Hollywood
> Massacre' a few weeks ago with my 16 yr. old daughter and she asked the
> most obvious question; "Why don't the cops shoot them in the head or at
> least arms and stop them?"

I wondered that also. However, the human head is one of the more
difficult targets on a person to hit. It's smaller than the 'center of
mass,' and can react (move) more quickly than any other body part because of
the closeness to the brain of the muscles controlling it. So in the time
needed to aim and take the slack out of the trigger, the head can move to an
entirely different place. Too, the typical street cop is not trained to take
head shots, rather they're trained to shoot for the largest part of the
target: the center of mass. Undoubtedly, some of them tried to aim for the
head or some other unprotected part -- obviously, they were unable to score
a hit. This MIGHT indicate a need for better marksmanship training, but
given the aforementioned factors, along with the adrenaline that was
flowing, I rather think it could be hard to make that case. A better case
might be made for carrying a rifle in squad cars (along with training in
the use of one).

--
jimbo@xxxxxxxxx

"There are only 10 kinds of people in the world;
those who understand binary, and those who don't."

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