The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What is causing people to sell their .40 cal guns?

LockedBreech · January 30, 2013, 01:59 AM

I mentioned that I was a law student to give a benchmark about how old I was when the .40 S&W was developed, certainly not to suggest I was smarter or more correct than anyone. The context of me mentioning that is clear, and in fact I had the moderators change my handle to LockedBreech from LawScholar several months ago purely so folks would stop bringing it irrelevantly into disagreements with me, so kindly don't use that fact to snark at me.

I would consider it almost certainly true that the number of shootings - fatal or otherwise - using a .40 S&W is 10,000+, probably more, given that it is the predominant caliber for law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as a very popular civilian handgun cartridge. While it is true I didn't bear my burden of presenting cold numbers, then, my statement was not out of "thin air" but was a very roughly calculated estimate done in a quick jot of imprecise mental math on a mobile phone while I waited for my food to get done at the pizza place (note the lack of a signature on that post -that happens when I use Tapatalk for iPhone). Until such time as I locate factual information - actually, who are we kidding, I'm not going to trawl Google at midnight for an internet argument - how about we go with "a lot of dead felons and murderers", if that meets your criteria for how I should formulate my statements. The overall point of that post - that .40 S&W is a proven round several times over - stands. Many folks might prefer 9mm or .45 over it - for greater control and number of shots or the larger, heavier projectile, respectively, and perfectly logical arguments even if I disagree with them for my own personal use - but no one can seriously dispute the terminal effectiveness of the cartridge, at least for a handgun cartridge.

It's fine to not like .40, but the beginning of your post was not necessary. You could have pointed out the lack of hard data behind my statement - quite correctly! - without any reference to me personally or use of the word "ridiculous", like it appears everyone else has this entire thread, making it so far one of the more civil threads of this type I've posted in. It would have been "ridiculous" if I suggested that .40 S&W turns people into lobsters. My post merely made a factual statement without data, that's all. Unsound argumentation to be sure, but not "ridiculous".

I shouldn't be surprised, though, being as even on the best forums a caliber discussion will almost certainly lead to a personal jab at some point.

January 30, 2013, 01:59 AM	#102
LockedBreech Senior Member Join Date: July 6, 2009 Location: Rocky Mountain West Posts: 3,395	I mentioned that I was a law student to give a benchmark about how old I was when the .40 S&W was developed, certainly not to suggest I was smarter or more correct than anyone. The context of me mentioning that is clear, and in fact I had the moderators change my handle to LockedBreech from LawScholar several months ago purely so folks would stop bringing it irrelevantly into disagreements with me, so kindly don't use that fact to snark at me. I would consider it almost certainly true that the number of shootings - fatal or otherwise - using a .40 S&W is 10,000+, probably more, given that it is the predominant caliber for law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as a very popular civilian handgun cartridge. While it is true I didn't bear my burden of presenting cold numbers, then, my statement was not out of "thin air" but was a very roughly calculated estimate done in a quick jot of imprecise mental math on a mobile phone while I waited for my food to get done at the pizza place (note the lack of a signature on that post -that happens when I use Tapatalk for iPhone). Until such time as I locate factual information - actually, who are we kidding, I'm not going to trawl Google at midnight for an internet argument - how about we go with "a lot of dead felons and murderers", if that meets your criteria for how I should formulate my statements. The overall point of that post - that .40 S&W is a proven round several times over - stands. Many folks might prefer 9mm or .45 over it - for greater control and number of shots or the larger, heavier projectile, respectively, and perfectly logical arguments even if I disagree with them for my own personal use - but no one can seriously dispute the terminal effectiveness of the cartridge, at least for a handgun cartridge. It's fine to not like .40, but the beginning of your post was not necessary. You could have pointed out the lack of hard data behind my statement - quite correctly! - without any reference to me personally or use of the word "ridiculous", like it appears everyone else has this entire thread, making it so far one of the more civil threads of this type I've posted in. It would have been "ridiculous" if I suggested that .40 S&W turns people into lobsters. My post merely made a factual statement without data, that's all. Unsound argumentation to be sure, but not "ridiculous". I shouldn't be surprised, though, being as even on the best forums a caliber discussion will almost certainly lead to a personal jab at some point. __________________ 16 Pistols, 5 Rifles, 1 Shotgun, no time to shoot them Last edited by LockedBreech; January 30, 2013 at 02:14 AM.