Gubs for the day

Rico says his friend Doug forwards this important news:

Claude Werner, director of Firearms Training LLC, has an analysis of five years of incidents as reported in the NRA's Armed Citizen column:

Here's my analysis of what armed self-defense for the private citizen, not law enforcement, looks like. You decide what suits your needs best to solve this type of problem.

Private citizens reload in approximately one half of one percent of shooting incidents (3 of 482).
If the defender fires any shots, most likely it will be two rounds.
The shooting distance in the vast majority of cases was slightly in excess of arm's length.  At this distances, even .22s and .25s are highly immediately lethal.  A revolver, even J-frame, is perfectly capable of dealing with almost all of the incidents. The ones which were beyond the capabilities of a five shot revolver would be best deal with by a shotgun, anyway.
For those who do not practice, a revolver is far preferable to the autoloader because of the revolver's simpler manual of arms. Eighty per cent of gunshot wounds are self-inflicted. Guns are handled many times more than they are shot and so safe gunhandling qualities are much more important characteristics than its ability to be shot accurately and reloaded quickly. Revolvers are much less likely than autoloaders to have an accidental discharge in the hands of novices.
The perceived need for massive quantities of ammo, reloading, and precision shooting at distance is largely a figment of people's imaginations. There is simply no evidence to support the contention that any of those conditions occur during armed confrontation involving the private citizen.  

The Armed Citizen: A Five Year Analysis For the period 1997 to 2001, reports of 482 incidents were examined. All involved the use of firearms by private citizens in self defense or defense of others. No law enforcement related incidents were included.
The majority of incidents (52%) took place in the home. The next most common locale (32%) was in a business. Incidents took place in public places in 9% of reports, and 7% occurred in or around vehicles. The most common initial crimes were armed robbery (32%), home invasion (30%), and burglary (18%).
Overall, shots were fired by the defender in 72% of incidents. The average and median number of shots fired was two. When more than two shots were fired, it generally appeared that the defender’s initial response was to fire until empty.
Handguns were used in 78% of incidents, while long guns were used in 13%; in the balance the type of firearm was not reported. The most common size of handgun was the .35 caliber family (.38, .357, 9mm) at 61%, with most .38s apparently being of the 5 shot variety. Mouseguns (.380s and below) were at 23%, and .40 caliber and up at 15%.
The range of most incidents appears to be short, but in excess of touching distance. It appears that most defenders will make the shoot decision shortly before the criminal comes within arm's length. Defenders frequently communicate with their attackers before shooting.
The firearm was carried on the body of the defender in only twenty percent of incidents. In eighty percent of cases, the firearm was obtained from a place of storage, frequently in another room.
Reloading was required in only three incidents. One of those involved killing an escaped lion with a .32 caliber revolver, which was eventually successful after thirteen shots.
Multiple conspirators were involved in thirty-six percent of the incidents. However, there are no apparent cases of drivers or lookouts acting as reinforcements for the criminal actors once shooting starts. Immediate flight is the most common response for drivers and lookouts at the sound of gunfire.
The largest group of violent criminal actors was seven, who committed serial home invasions in Rochester, New York. An alert and prepared homeowner dispatched them (two killed and one seriously wounded) with a shotgun when they broke in his door.
Incidents rarely occurred in reaction time (i.e., quarter-second increments). Most commonly, criminals acted in a shark-like fashion, slowly circling and alerting their intended victims. The defenders then had time to access even weapons that were stored in other rooms and bring them to bear.
The most common responses of criminals upon being shot were to flee immediately, or expire. With few exceptions, criminals ceased their advances immediately upon being shot. Even mouseguns displayed a significant degree of immediate lethality (thirty percent immediate one-shot kills) when employed at close range. Many criminal actors vocally expressed their fear of being shot when the defender displayed a weapon. Upon the criminals' flight, the "victims" frequently chased and captured or shot the criminals and held them for the authorities.