What's YOUR favorite self-defense/firearms myth??

[pwoller]

If you have a firearm you are more likely to be shot with it than to shoot an intruder.

Anyone have any data to prove this myth inaccurate? I hear this one all the time.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Anyone have any data to prove this myth inaccurate? I hear this one all the time.

It's not a myth... at least, as far as what the statement literally means.

 

[Boonl1776]

My favorite myth: A .45 handgun is so powerful it'll knock a man over with one hit!!!!

It actually will. Then a few well placed shots help keep him down.

 

[Valvestate]

Hey now!! I said choose a favorite!!! lol

I do love the "lifetime is going away!!" one. I've heard it sooo many times.

Lol I just read myths and went to town

 

[.45 Dave]

"One shot, one kill."
As if being hit by a bullet once is all it takes to put down an attacker in every circumstance.

My other favorite is: "If any one ever comes at me I'll just shoot him in the head!"
Um..not unless he's a slow-moving zombie and you've got plenty of time to aim--and your adrenalin isn't pumping like crazy and if you're a damned good shot to begin with.

 

[Archer46176]

The racking of a 12 gauage pjmp will make anyone wet themselves and run away like little girls. They should NEVER hear the racking it should be loaded far before the turds break in the door...

 

[.45 Dave]

Oh, one more I haven't seen mentioned here but have heard recently:
"Obama doesn't want to take away your guns, he supports the 2nd Amendment!"

 

[Surlyhigh]

You don't have to aim a shotgun./Anyone can be accurate without practice.

 

[Molly Belle]

"Most women don't have the hand strength to rack the slide on a semi auto handgun"
I actually heard this at Bass Pro the other week. Ugh...

 

[Aaron1776]

Uh.... I think that one is actually true

RE: the myth that your gun is more likely to be used against you by a criminal than you to protect yourself with it

It's actually a BS statistic that included data that greatly skewed the results. I did a paper on it in college. The stat included criminals with guns in their home, people living with criminals with guns, drug addicts, etc etc etc
As if mixing the gun ownership stats of those who live in law abiding homes with millions of violent and stupid criminals is remotely fair. (Really? A criminal who has criminals in his house is more likely to have his gun pulled on him?? Geez. Who woulda thunk it?)
As soon as you remove the criminals and low lifes from the pool the stats change, then once you move to the LTCH population the rate is next to nothing.

 

[Aaron1776]

"I don't need a gun, I am a black belt"

Birdshot is adequate or effective for self defense.

1st one is my favorite. I love hand to hand dorks who think they're fancy BS martial art will save them from an armed attacker....or that a brawler couldn't just as easily beat the crap out of them.

The 2nd one always amazes..... I don't know how to convince people who say that of the opposite either. I can tell them all the stories I've seen in the ER and it's like it just washes over them.
Apparently the idea of a dedicated opponent is too much for them to accept.

 

[Classic]

Uh.... I think that one is actually true

It's more of a belief than a myth. Depends on which side of the gun control debate you happen to be on. It is what W. Edwards Deming might call an "unknown and unknowable" because the source data are largely estimates.

Here is one source, there are many others:
The Top 5 Myths Anti-Gunners Present as Facts by S.H. Blannelberry

Here is a short quote dealing with the number of times firearms are actually reported to be used in delf defense vs. unreported incidents.

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]"There is one very big, glaring issue with this claim. That is, the number of Defensive Gun Uses (DGU) per year is unknown. What’s DGU? It’s the use of a firearm in self-defense or in defense of others.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Obviously, this happens all the time. Law-abiding citizens use or brandish or fire a gun to protect their property or to thwart off a potential attacker, burglar, rapist, etc. But determining how many times a year this actually happens is a subject of much debate amongst social scientists and criminologists because frequently DGUs go unreported to police, e.g. if one shows a gun to defuse a situation, does that person always file a police report?[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]That said, on the high end, criminologist Gary Kleck at Florida State University estimates that it’s as high as 2.5 million DGUs per year. On the lower end of the spectrum, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) puts that number at about 100,000 DGUs per year."[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Personally I BELIEVE it is a myth as I am certain there is a large number of unreported incidents. Anti-gun people BELIEVE the opposite.
[/FONT]

 

[Aaron1776]

It's more of a belief than a myth. Depends on which side of the gun control debate you happen to be on. It is what W. Edwards Deming might call an "unknown and unknowable" because the source data are largely estimates.

Here is one source, there are many others:
The Top 5 Myths Anti-Gunners Present as Facts by S.H. Blannelberry

Here is a short quote dealing with the number of times firearms are actually reported to be used in delf defense vs. unreported incidents.

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]"There is one very big, glaring issue with this claim. That is, the number of Defensive Gun Uses (DGU) per year is unknown. What’s DGU? It’s the use of a firearm in self-defense or in defense of others.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Obviously, this happens all the time. Law-abiding citizens use or brandish or fire a gun to protect their property or to thwart off a potential attacker, burglar, rapist, etc. But determining how many times a year this actually happens is a subject of much debate amongst social scientists and criminologists because frequently DGUs go unreported to police, e.g. if one shows a gun to defuse a situation, does that person always file a police report?[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]That said, on the high end, criminologist Gary Kleck at Florida State University estimates that it’s as high as 2.5 million DGUs per year. On the lower end of the spectrum, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) puts that number at about 100,000 DGUs per year."[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Personally I BELIEVE it is a myth as I am certain there is a large number of unreported incidents. Anti-gun people BELIEVE the opposite.[/FONT]

I've brandished a firearm to defend myself and my mother. Didn't report it.
What am I supposed to report? Two guys whose description could be anyone in dark clothing attempted to mug us in an area known to have muggings?
Right.
Later I was corrected at Front Sight where they encouraged students to report these incidents just in case a third person saw you brandishing and called the cops because they thought you were the perp.

In the world of facts, a belief based upon sketchy analysis and purposeful skewing of stats (see my above post) is a myth.

 

[cobber]

Police officers are experts in the use of weapons, especially in the mounting of Eotech sights.

ARs are too complicated for wimmenfolk.

No one needs more than seven rounds to defend him/herself.

You can defend yourself from a forcible felony with a whistle. Or by vomiting. Or by kicking your attacker in his junk.

 

[Bunnykid68]

All you need is a double barrel shotgun and shoot it in the air.

 

[Excalibur]

Women can only handle small caliber handguns

 

[BehindBlueI's]

There's no way I could pick a favorite.

A .45 will throw a man bodily through the air and blow a hole out of his back you can stick your fist in.

Shotguns don't have to be aimed.

All of the advise on tampering with evidence, ala dragging a body. Take a justified shoot, add in a bit of tampering and some lies and you've now got a problem you shouldn't have.

A .22 will run around inside the human body/human skull "like a squirrel in a cage".

A pistol round will reliably disrupt the pelvic girdle, crippling an opponent.

"The only thing that matters is shot placement"

I carry a mouse caliber, but its ok because I'll just empty the magazine in his face.

You can disable a car by shooting it with (insert any common caliber)

An AK-47 will shoot through an engine block and still kill someone on the other side.

A 5.7 is inherently armor piercing.

"Energy dump" as a relevant factor in handgun cartridges.

 

[Aaron1776]

There's no way I could pick a favorite.

A .45 will throw a man bodily through the air and blow a hole out of his back you can stick your fist in.

Shotguns don't have to be aimed.

All of the advise on tampering with evidence, ala dragging a body. Take a justified shoot, add in a bit of tampering and some lies and you've now got a problem you shouldn't have.

A .22 will run around inside the human body/human skull "like a squirrel in a cage".

A pistol round will reliably disrupt the pelvic girdle, crippling an opponent.

"The only thing that matters is shot placement"

I carry a mouse caliber, but its ok because I'll just empty the magazine in his face.

You can disable a car by shooting it with (insert any common caliber)

An AK-47 will shoot through an engine block and still kill someone on the other side.

A 5.7 is inherently armor piercing.

"Energy dump" as a relevant factor in handgun cartridges.

I love all of these. Thanks!

 

[Pitmaster]

"Shoot until you stop the threat"

What it actually means is "Kill the M*****F*****s"

 

[Hohn]

Only cops possess the skill or right to use certain kinds of rifles and handguns.