Firearms save lives

• Firearms are used 2.5 million times a year by American citizens in self-defence. These law-abiding citizens use weapons to defend themselves against criminals 2.5 million times a year, or about 6850 times a day. This means that every year, guns are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.
• Of the 2.5 million times citizens use a weapon to defend themselves each year, the overwhelming majority only need to draw their weapon or fire a warning shot to frighten their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will need to shoot his attacker.
• As many as 200,000 women use a firearm each year to defend themselves against sexual assault.
• Even Clinton's anti-gun researchers have conceded that firearms are used 1.5 million times annually in self-defense. According to the Clinton Justice Department, there are 1.5 million cases of self-defense each year. The National Institute of Justice published these figures in 1997 in "Guns in America", a study conducted by the notorious anti-gun criminologists Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig.
• Armed citizens kill more thugs than the police. Citizens kill at least twice as many criminals as the police each year (1527 versus 606). And Newsweek readers may have learned that "only" 2% of civil shootings involve a person mistaken for a criminal by accident. The police "error rate", however, is 11%, more than 5 times higher.
• Pistols are the weapons of choice for self-defense. Citizens use handguns to protect themselves more than 1.9 million times a year. Many of these self-defense guns could be referred to as "Saturday Night Specials"

Discreet Weapon Carrying (DWP) reduces crime

At the national level: 1.5 million uses in self-defense. Every year, no less than 1.5 million citizens defend themselves with a firearm outside their homes. Discreet weapons laws are driving crime rates down across the country. A national study in 1996 determined that violent crime collapsed after states allowed the legal carrying of firearms. The results of the study showed:

• States that allowed the carrying of weapons reduced their homicide rates by 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7% and robberies by 3%; and if states, where the carrying of weapons is prohibited, had passed laws authorizing it in 1992, then about 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults and more than 11,000 robberies would have been prevented each year.
• Vermont: one of the 5 quietest states in the country. In Vermont, citizens can carry a firearm without needing permission... without paying for a license... and without even waiting for any time limit imposed by the government. And yet, for 10 years in a row, Vermont has remained in the top 5 calmer states of the union, having received 3 times the "Safest State Award."
• Florida: Gun license helps to reduce homicide rates. In the 15 years since Florida passed laws authorizing the carrying of weapons in 1987, more than 800,000 weapons licenses have been issued to the people of that state. FBI reports show that the homicide rate in Florida, which in 1987 was well above the national average, fell by 52% over this 15-year period, lowering the rate below the national average.

Does the carrying of weapons lead to chaos? No. Consider the case of Florida. A citizen in the Sunshine State is far more likely to be attacked by an alligator than by a gun licensee. During the first 15 years after the law was passed in Florida, alligator attacks exceeded the number of crimes committed by gun licensees: 229 against 155.2. And even the 155 "crimes" committed by gun licensees are somewhat misleading since most of these offenses are only committed by Florida citizens who accidentally carried their guns in areas where weapons are prohibited, such as airports.

Criminals avoid armed citizens

• Kennesaw, GA. In 1982, this suburb of Atlanta passed a law requiring heads of households to have at least one firearm in the house. The residential burglary rate fell by 89% in Kennesaw, compared to a modest 10.4% in Georgia overall.
• 10 years later (1991), the residential burglary rate in Kennesaw remained 72% lower than it was in 1981 before the law passed.
• At the national level. Statistical comparisons with other countries show that burglars in the United States are much more reluctant to enter an occupied house than their peers who live in countries where fewer civilians own firearms. Consider the following rates that show how often a resident is present during a burglary:
• The occupancy rate by the resident in countries with strict firearms regulations such as Great Britain, Canada, and Holland: 45% (average of the 3 countries) and the occupancy rate by the resident in the USA: 12.7%. Home rape is avoided when women carry or use firearms for their protection.
• At the national level. In 1979, the Carter Justice Department discovered that of more than 32,000 attempted rapes, 32% were actually committed. But when a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3% of rape attempts resulted in rape. Study of the Justice Department:
• 3/5 of the offenders surveyed admitted that "a criminal will not go looking for problems from a victim he knows armed with a gun."
• 74% of offenders surveyed admitted that "one of the reasons burglars avoid houses when residents are there is that they fear being shot during their crime. 57% of the offenders interviewed admitted that "criminals are more afraid to meet an armed victim than to face the police."

Examples

Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun," 86 The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, 1 (Fall 1995):164. Dr. Kleck is a professor at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He has conducted extensive research and published numerous essays on the problems of arms control. His book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America have become a widely cited source in arms control debates. In fact, this book won Dr. Kleck the prestigious 1993 American Society of Criminology Michael J. Hindelang award. This award is given for the book that has made the most incredible contribution to criminology over the past 2 to 3 years. Even those who do not like the conclusions reached by Dr. Kleck cannot argue against his impeccable research and methodology. In "A Tribute to a View, I Have Opposed" Marvin E. Wolfgang wrote that "What troubled me was the article by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz. The reason I am troubled is that they have almost provided a clean breakthrough their methodological research in support of what I have been theoretically opposed to for years, namely the use of a firearm in defense against a criminal... I must admit my admiration for the care and attention of this article and this research. Is it possible that about 2 million incidents occur each year in which a firearm is used as a defensive measure against crime? It's hard to believe. However, it is difficult to contradict the data collected. We have no evidence to the contrary." Wolfgang, "A Tribute to a View I Have Opposed," The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, at 188. Wolfgang says there is no "evidence to the contrary". Indeed, there are more than a dozen national surveys - one conducted by The Los Angeles Times - that found results comparable to Kleck-Gertz's study. Even the Clinton Justice Department (through the National Institute of Justice) has discovered that there are no less than 1.5 million defensive uses of firearms per year. See National Institute of Justice, "Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms," Research in Brief (May 1997). According to Dr. Kleck, readers of his research may find it interesting to know that he is a member of ACLU, Amnesty International USA, and Common Cause. He is not and has never been a member or contributor to any group supporting either side of the arms control debate.

List of mass killings arrested by an armed citizen

This list is obviously far from exhaustive, it will be filled up as we go along.

• October 1, 1997, in Pearl, Mississippi, the Principal Assistant of a high school arrests a 16-year-old shooter who killed 2 comrades and wounded 7 others
• 1998 in Edinboro, a 14-year-old student kills a teacher and injures several other students and is arrested by a man who picked up his shotgun from his home
• January 16, 2002, in Grundy, Virginia, a 43-year-old former student armed with a.380 began his massacre before being arrested by two law students who went to collect their personal guns from their vehicles
• 2007 in Colorado Springs, a man kills 4 people in a church before taking several bullets from a female volunteer security guard and killing himself
• 2008 in Winnemucca, a man kills 2 people and injures 2 others in a bar filled with 300 people before being shot by the boss
• On May 27, 2010, in New York City, a 79-year-old man enters a store with a.357 magnum revolver and a list of employees he intended to kill, another takes out his personal weapon and kills him.
• August 30, 2010, in Tennessee, a 62-year-old man enters a high school with 2 pistols and is arrested by a school resource officers in a face-to-face armed encounter lasting more than 10 minutes
• March 25, 2012, in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, a man takes a shotgun out of his vehicle to enter a church and is disarmed at gunpoint.
• December 11, 2012, near Portland, Oregon, a massacre is stopped by a salesman who robs the shooter, who flees and commits suicide.
• December 17, 2012, in San Antonio, a man shoots his ex-girlfriend in a restaurant and chases guests before being shot by an armed citizen
• April 30, 2014, in Austin, Texas, a former worker arrives at a construction site and opens fire on his former colleagues: the foreman pulls out his personal weapon opens fire, which hurts both of them but stops the shooting there.
• May 16, 2014, in North Logan, Utah, a man armed with 2 pistols states that "someone will die today", he receives 3 shots and no one else is injured.
• July 25, 2014, in Darby, Pennsylvania, a patient in a psychiatric hospital kills a nurse and a doctor before another doctor takes out his personal weapon and kills him with 3 bullets in the chest.
• April 20, 2015, in Chicago, a driver from Uber prevents a mass murder
• July 26, 2015, in Cincinnati, a madman shoots 4 people, including a 1-year-old child, with 2 pistols, without injuring anyone thanks to the diversion of a gun permit holder
• January 31, 2016, in New Orleans, a repeat offender shoots a motorcycle gang and injures 3 men before being arrested by a gun permit holder with a bullet in the head
• In early May 2016 in Houston, a 25-year-old army veteran armed with an AR15 was slowed down by an armed citizen and then shot dead by the police
• 26 June 2016 in Lyman, a man opens fire on the crowd in front of a nightclub and is stopped by a bullet in his leg by an armed citizen
• September 17, 2016, a terrorist in Minnesota injures nine people with a knife before being arrested by an armed civilian

Fixed assets and methods of self-defense

Every day on the street, in the shop, in traffic jams, we come across people who are unfriendly to us. Someone may simply not share your views on life and go to conflict, and someone at all, interested in the presence of your tobacco products, insidiously plans to harm your health. Unfortunately, many people think about self-defense issues only after getting into a hospital bed. And for nothing.

I'm sure you've heard that the Federal Weapons Act is being amended. It is possible that short-barreled firearms will appear in everyone's possession. Whether it's good or bad, we won't discuss it. However, we should not forget that any means of self-defense can turn into a means of attack, and therefore can be used against you.

Let's consider the most popular types of weapons for self-defense and take into account their positive and negative sides. Knowing the strengths, you can effectively defend, and knowing the weaknesses - to resist an attack with such weapons.

IMPORTANT: The intruder is usually ready to hurt you, he deliberately committed a crime. But it is important for you to remember the maximum allowable self-defense. For if it is exceeded, you will fall under the scope of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

A GAS CAN AND A GAS GUN

Principle of action:

When the contents of the canister on the skin, in the eyes and respiratory tract, in addition to the sharp pain, there is increased lacrimation, salivation, соплетечение, coughing and other protective reactions. All these things noticeably reduce the desire, and most importantly - the ability of the abuser to harm you. The gun is loaded with gas cartridges. Inside, instead of a bullet - the same irritant substance as in a gas canister.

The pros:

1. Low price.
2. Compactness.
3. Returnability of the caused damage.
4. For the gun - higher gas flow rate (harder to evade).

Minuses:

1. For sufficient effect, it is necessary to hit the attacker in the face.
2. Exposure distance - not more than 2 m (for the tank), respectively, for the attack, should be close to the abuser.
3. The necessity of sudden application - otherwise it is possible to close the face and not breathe in gas until you leave the cloud.

EVALUATION: Effective against one enemy when used properly.

2. STUN GUN

Principle of action:

I'm sure you've had at least once in your life, but still had a current of 220 volts from the household power grid. Is it not pleasant enough? Well, here we go! And here the voltage is almost 1000 times stronger. However, such discharge does not kill, but only shocks the human nervous system.

The pros:

1. Availability.
2. High efficiency (if the device is of high quality).

Minuses:

1. The inconvenience of being on alert - you need to get it out, turn it on, only after defending.
2. A stun gun is a close-contact weapon. If you don't have time to touch your opponent before he tears your jaw off, everything is lost.
3. Thickly blown clothing can be a serious obstacle to electrical discharge.

EVALUATION: in the prepared hands is useful, without prior training chances to be saved with its help are small.

3. GAS AND FIREARMS FREE OF CHARGE

Principle of action:

The difference from murder weapon in power and bullets used. The principle is the same - the pressure of powder or compressed gases in the cylinder activates a rubber (usually) bullet. The strong impact of a rubber bullet is intended to cause a painful shock, but it happens that a "successful" hit leads to serious penetrating wounds.

The pros:

1. Highly striking effectiveness.
2. Multiple enemies may be hit (magazines may contain 8-10 rubber bullets).
3. Good effective range (3-6 meters).

Minuses:

1. It is necessary to obtain a license for the acquisition, storage and carrying of such means of self-defense.
2. It is easy to move beyond the limits of self-defense required. The consequence is that you can find yourself in the dock.
3. The necessity of special training for correct application - knowledge about the principle of action, rules of use.
4. Thick clothes strongly soften the traumatic effect of rubber bullets, which does not always guarantee further incapacity of the enemy.

EVALUATION: Stick to two ends. On the one hand, in case of an unsuccessful hit, it can cause both too serious injuries (exceeding the limit) and "not to finish", which, in turn, will not have a proper effect on the enemy, the answer of which will not make you wait. Therefore, when choosing this type of self-defense practice shooting, to defeat the choice of feet - a serious injury will not cause, and the effect will be sufficient.

4. SMOOTHBORE AND LONGBORE WEAPONS

Principle of action:

Ordinary gunshot with powerful muzzle energy, but still firing rubber bands.

The pros:

1. Huge amazing ability.

Minuses:

1. Same license, not only for storage. If it needs to be worn, you will also need a hunting ticket.
2. "Long-barreled" is not the most convenient way to carry and use it.
3. A ban on wearing and using on the street is a maximum defense on your territory or in your home. In all other places, the weapon should be transported not only discharged, but also folded.

EVALUATION: It is better to abstain if you are not John Connor, who needs to kill the Terminator. The risk of fatal injuries is huge, the ease of use is minimal, and there are many difficulties with legalization.

UNITED BOARD

I'll started board with a long-known Internet bike, read on one of the forums:

- Guys, what kind of martial art is better to choose?

- And you for pontoons or for self-defense?

- For self-defense, of course...

- Then the run...

Remember, no one's gonna make you a hand-to-hand fighter on the Internet. And even the master of hand-to-hand combat has no guarantees when attacking in a dark alley. However, almost any martial arts develop a lot of useful skills that will significantly increase your chances in any battle. In addition to everything, such a "weapon" is always with you. The only thing I recommend is to choose not a sports section, but the applied systems developed on the basis of hand-to-hand combat of special forces. They teach you how to fall on hard surfaces, train with several opponents - all this brings you closer to the realities of the street.

PSYCHOLOGY:

If you have chosen a weapon, remember once and for all: this is a great responsibility. And you need to use it exclusively for the SELFBOURNEY. As statistics show, most of the defendants on trial for its misuse and misuse "did not want to" do so. The very fact that a person has a weapon adds +100500 to the courage and impudence. Psychologists claim that the weapon in the pocket subconsciously provokes the owner to use it as the last argument in case of conflict.

On the other hand, many people are not ready to subconsciously use weapons, even if they are traumatic, and even if only for self-defense - they are simply not ready to shoot a person or fear the responsibility for the use of weapons. In such a situation, it is useless. Therefore, one should prepare oneself morally in advance so as not to overdo it with self-defense at the right moment, but not to drift.

Personal self-defence (-se) in international law is the response of a state to a military action taken by it to restore its political independence, territorial integrity and inviolability violated by an armed attack of another state. (Big Legal Dictionary / Edited by A.Ya. Sukhareva, V.E. Krutskikh.-M., 2002)

Having the right of first establishing the fact of an armed attack and not being bound by the obligation of peaceful settlement, the affected State itself determines the moment of the beginning of defensive actions, their nature and means of implementation. Individual acts of self-defence may be of a militarily offensive nature and may extend to the territory of the attacking party to the extent necessary to eliminate and prevent the resumption of an armed attack.

Any weapons in the possession of the defending State not prohibited by international law may be used as a means of individual self-defence. Actions of individual self-defence must cease with the restoration of political independence, territorial integrity and inviolability as they existed before the armed attack. All measures taken in exercise of the right to individual self-defence should be immediately reported to the UN Security Council. These measures shall in no way affect the authority and responsibility of the Council to take such action at any time as it deems necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. (Big Legal Dictionary / Edited by A.Ya. Sukhareva, V.D. Zorkin, V.E. Krutkih.-M., 1997)

The UN Charter does not affect the right of States to individual and collective self-defence, but the use of armed force in self-defence is possible only in the event of an armed attack and not in the event of a threat of such attack or any other form of aggression. The use of any self-defence measures is placed under the control of the Security Council by the UN Charter.

Self-defense.

In modern international law, the prohibition of aggression is a universally recognized and binding principle for all states, which is enshrined in the UN Charter, as well as in the statutes of the Nuremberg (1945-46) and Tokyo (1946-48) International Military Tribunals. Thus, the Charter of the United Nations obliges its members to resolve all their disputes only by peaceful means (para. 3, art. 2), without exception to this principle, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations (para. 4, art. 2).

The use of force by a state is permitted only in extreme cases: either in the exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence, if there is an armed attack on a member of the United Nations, and only until the Security Council takes measures necessary to maintain international peace and security (Art. 51), or in the implementation of coercive measures by decision of the Security Council aimed at preventing and eliminating threats to peace and suppressing acts of aggression (Art. 39, 41, 42, 43, 48). The Charters of the Nuremberg and Tokyo International Military Tribunals established the legal definition of aggression as the gravest international crime. The principles of international law expressed in the Charter and the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal are confirmed by the UN General Assembly resolution of 11 December 1946.

What a shadow fight is, I suppose, knows every man familiar with martial arts. And this is not only a famous film, and not just a mechanical workout of blows in the air. This is a multifunctional method of preparation for a real battle, which will allow you to improve your technique. In addition, shadow fighting can be a great practice, allowing you to keep fit when you do not have any simulators at hand.

Of course, this type of training will not replace sparring with a partner, but it will still allow you to really improve your tactics and speed of combat. Now let's look at a few useful types of shadow fighting in detail.

• Working out the stand

Of course, if you're gonna defend yourself, you won't take a nice stand at the very beginning of the conflict with hooligans. In this case, it would be much more effective to take a "conversational stance". Rehearse it in front of the mirror. Then go on to practice the base position for the attack - the combat post. Observe experienced athletes (there are a lot of videos on the Internet) and try to copy their body position while fighting. Watch how the weight is distributed in the combat post, whether it is convenient for you to beat from this position, where your weak (open for the opponent's blows) places.

• Practice your combat moves

Start moving forward and backward with the help of an attachment step - first evenly, and then accelerating and then slowing down. Transfer the weight of the body into the toes, let the heels be light and do not experience stress. Move to the flank, starting the movement of the foot, in the direction of which you are going to move. For example, when you move to the left, your left foot moves and your right foot pull back into the rack. It is the right leg that should push you - so your movement will be faster. Learn how to move in a circle to the left and right - this is a very important skill.

• Working out blows from the rack and in moving

Hit the air in front of the mirror, and if there isn't one, imagine the enemy and hit the target clearly. Strike in steps, in a jump, at the exit, and after leaving.

Do not set yourself a lot of tasks at once and do not rush. Start with the left straight and beat him with all the options described strictly in the imaginary lower jaw.

• Development of protective actions

You're already moving in a combat post, making simple attacks (e.g., straight to the jaw). Now it's time to think about defending yourself. The maneuver, imagining that the invisible man, for example, applies you the left line. How will you defend yourself against it? And now he beats a strong single man on the right. You break the distance and answer him with a two. Or you are working ahead of the curve, breaking through the right line with a shift to the left. Or maybe you covered his head and hit him hard with your foot in the groin?

• Fight with the shadows

The fight started, you hit the invisible, and he dodged it. You closed, broke the distance, went under his weak arm and hit an "F". The invisible one is also closed and punches you through the right swing. You dive and go into the hull/beat right towards the groin/foot - here begins your work.

The main thing is not to twitch in convulsions, waving your hands senselessly, trying to inflict a lot of different blows at the same time. Consciousness and comprehension of each movement - that's what distinguishes a duel with the shadow of a fighter from indiscriminate jumps of hands and feet of a profane. Concentrate on one thing, and then you will see how thoughtful and useful can be working with an invisible partner.

Take care...