The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - sword [or other non projectile weapon] vs handgun

Spectre · April 21, 2001, 02:03 PM

Art-

Firearms definitely take much less skill to master than manual weapons. (I mentioned this phenomenon on a recent TFL thread. I'm a "decent" martial artist, but if I had invested the same amount of time into firearms training (hojutsu, incidentally!

), I would be a master.) To me, the amount of training needed to be truly deadly, not the relative deadliness, is why firearms revolutionized self-defense. With a firearm, anyone could be deadly enough to be dangerous prey; a sobering thought, if one believes the government wants your firearms.

One thing to remember, though- incapacitation takes much less time with a 30" blade than a .35-.45" projectile. Also, one has merely to apply a large, sharp blade, while there are cases of men taking over 30 handgun rounds before being taken down more powerful firearms. It is difficult to imagine anyone taking more than 3 seconds or so of punishment from a decent swordsman before ceasing to be a threat.

April 21, 2001, 02:03 PM	#17
Spectre Staff Alumnus Join Date: October 23, 1998 Location: ATL Posts: 3,277	Art- Firearms definitely take much less skill to master than manual weapons. (I mentioned this phenomenon on a recent TFL thread. I'm a "decent" martial artist, but if I had invested the same amount of time into firearms training (hojutsu, incidentally! ), I would be a master.) To me, the amount of training needed to be truly deadly, not the relative deadliness, is why firearms revolutionized self-defense. With a firearm, anyone could be deadly enough to be dangerous prey; a sobering thought, if one believes the government wants your firearms. One thing to remember, though- incapacitation takes much less time with a 30" blade than a .35-.45" projectile. Also, one has merely to apply a large, sharp blade, while there are cases of men taking over 30 handgun rounds before being taken down more powerful firearms. It is difficult to imagine anyone taking more than 3 seconds or so of punishment from a decent swordsman before ceasing to be a threat.