Quoting kdh1949:

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Quoting Lord Of The Sith:

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Um.... Well, a, I ride and I have all of my life.  I am curious where you got this information.  Shooting a horse at a high gallop is a death sentence, it is very large and likely to fall on you even at speed if you shoot it.  While there are times you would shoot a horse it is to put it out of its misery not to protect yourself.  As for skittish, most horses really are not when broken properly.  Don't get me wrong horses do scare but with an experienced rider it is unlikely the horse would get out of control.

I'll defer to your experience about horses, since I have only ridden once in my life other than in pony-rings at carnivals -- and that was forty years ago.

I don't now recall where I first read it, but as a fan of both single action revolvers and the Old West, I assure you I read it in more than one place, probably in one of the many gun magazines I read.  I believe the most likely time such an action was necessary was when someone had fallen out of the saddle and was being dragged.  If someone were in that situation, about the only option open to him would be to use his sidearm on his horse. Yes, there'd be a chance that the horse would fall on him, but to stop being dragged from the stirrups would be worth the risk.

What I was trying to point out was that while it was common in the wild west for people to go around armed, they were far more likely to use those guns against non-human targets.  The handgun was a tool -- to be used for a number of things non-lethal to humans.  Things like snakes, wild animals, dispatching injured and in pain animals (horses and cattle), as well as the occasional runaway horse were the more common reason cowboys went around armed -- not to draw down on their fellow citizens.  History tells us that there was actually much less gunplay between citizens than our movies and television have led us to believe.

I am glad you enjoy the Old West mags it shows that there is a lot of culture out here.  Try Zane Grey novels he is an excellent writer and portrays some of the most wonderful gunfights fiction has to offer.  Now for some facts that I hope everyone will enjoy.  The average gunfight happened in less them twelve feet of space between shooters.  Nothing like the Quick and the Dead movies.  Most men were shot over honor generally while drunk or while drinking.  Murder rates in Tombstone, Arizona were higher than in modern day New York or Chicago.  Obviously per capita.

Quoting Rico:

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Hi Guys,

Amigo, Lord - Thank you for making my point, the mockers, the sarcasm, why it was suggested, that it could only happen, if invaded from outer space:

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Murder rates in Tombstone, Arizona were higher than in modern day New York or Chicago.  Obviously per capita.

My point is/was as time progresses society becomes less violent, the need (perceived threat to individuals) diminishes, and this trend can & will continue!

Take Care
Rico

Have a green one on me Lord!

According to the FBI stats crime is still on the decline and more or less has been since the late 80's our last jump was during the mid 80's when the drug wars started.  The sad part we are finding in our statistics is the violent crimes are being committed by younger and younger assailants.  I fear to say we are far from out of the woods and we are likely to see a huge spike in violent crime if things continue as they are.

Maybe if someone on the bus had been armed he/she could have stopped the perpetrator before he killed the passenger.  Who knows?  What IS clear is that if no one had a weapon in hand, no one could help the victim.

Hi Martin,

Gold star for your enlightening find/post

Take Care
Rico

Hi Unicus69,

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Unicus Wrote:
It is a one sided opinion piece no better than the NRA propaganda it tries to discredit.

 

Could you expand on why you made the above statement? Thanks!

Take Care
Rico

Quoting Lord Of The Sith:

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Quoting Rico:

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Hi Guys,

Amigo, Lord - Thank you for making my point, the mockers, the sarcasm, why it was suggested, that it could only happen, if invaded from outer space:

Quote:
Murder rates in Tombstone, Arizona were higher than in modern day New York or Chicago.  Obviously per capita.

My point is/was as time progresses society becomes less violent, the need (perceived threat to individuals) diminishes, and this trend can & will continue!

Take Care
Rico

Have a green one on me Lord!

According to the FBI stats crime is still on the decline and more or less has been since the late 80's our last jump was during the mid 80's when the drug wars started.  The sad part we are finding in our statistics is the violent crimes are being committed by younger and younger assailants.  I fear to say we are far from out of the woods and we are likely to see a huge spike in violent crime if things continue as they are.

A bit late coming to this discussion, but:  the trend (according to the FBI UCR) of less crime is due to the fact that the population of criminals is aging, and that trend will continue for some years yet.  Except for one area that is.  As you note, crime -- notably violent crime -- is one the uptick among 18-24 year olds.  That is primarily due to the drug trade and gang influences.

For those who still seem to think that having guns causes violence, I can only point them in the direction of the landmark studies done by Gary Kleck of the University of Florida in the early '80's, and the most comprehensive study of guns in relation to crime ever done, by John Lott of the University of Chicago in the '90's.  Both are rock solid and peer reviewed, and prove beyond a doubt that guns prevent more crime than they cause.  There are in excess of 2.5 million instances every year where the presence of a gun (notice I didn't say "firing" a gun, but "presence") has prevented a crime from taking place.  There are also now 40 states that have "shall issue" concealed carry laws on the books, and crime in every one of those states have dropped by double digits compared to the remaining 10 states.

So, if you want to live in a crime-free neighborhood, move in next to an NRA member who has a permit for concealed carry.  It'll be as quiet as a church around that area! 

Rico:

Ummm let's see if i can word this correctly. Being a child of the Cuban Missile Crisis, living within 30 miles of one of the largest nuke targets in the country, I am all too aware of just how thin the veneer of civilization and humanity is...with or without nukes. Those that will die the fastest will be those who have refused to prepare themselves and in such a scenario, their peacenik attitudes will not buy them one extra second of life...it is dereadful to contemplate but sadly all too true. I will only say that I am prepared for such an eventuality and become more prepared with every passing week, this is something that has been as important to me as preparing for my retirement, my various hobbies as well as life in general.

I am in no way a doomsayer, those people are crazyand there are far too many variables involved in what might be involved to create such a dreadful outcome, one of which we have watched here in the US the last several weeks. My one pleasure of the last several weeks is that I saw this coming thirteen years ago and predicted it in various circles. Keep your fingers crossed, its not over yet.

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The financial mess was what i saw on the horizon long ago.

No i simply intend to survive whatever is thrown our way, be it nukes or some calamity which may bring about the "fall" of civilization.

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