Recent crime news stories, which made the summer of 2003 a rather bloody one and that led Minister Castelli to debates and arguments regarding the possession of firearms and their use for legitimate defence, have led to merely technical reflection.

Those who possess firearms for legitimate defence must know that there is absolutely no point in possessing a firearm if you do not follow courses and regularly attend practical firing grounds, in order to become fully confident with your own firearm and with the typical situation of a possible shoot-out.
Practical firing grounds are specifically equipped to simulate real situations, in which the targets are often moving and shooting often comes about in stressful situations.
Signing up for a target shooting course where you shoot as you wish and at a single target that is fixed in one position, is like buying a motor-cycle and training to ride it in your own back yard to prepare for the world championships against Valentino Rossi.

Along with the use and the management of a firearm, the shooter should be able to develop a certain level of self-control, as though he or she were practising a Japanese marital art, so as to be able to face any possible critical situation with a certain sense of detachment and to be able to succeed in applying the legal and above all, moral principles, of self-defence. For his own peace of mind, his own safety and his own legal peace of mind, during an unfortunate shoot-out, a good “shooter” and a good citizen must not allow anger or indeed a desire for revenge to get hold of him, as though it were a car race (you tried to overtake me and drive me off the road and now I’m going to make you eat dust”), like saying: “You tried to kill me and now I’m going to make you pay”).

I believe that almost all situations where there is a risk of robbery or theft, may be avoided by the use of passive technological defence mechanisms such as armour plating, alarm systems, good habits, etc…
Possessing a firearm to be used to react to a robbery in fact is not always a good security measure, starting a shoot-out actually increases the risks.

If the weapon is kept for self-defence purposes (aggression with the aim of homicide, kidnapping, injury or rape), then it is a good idea to bear the following in mind:
Always keeping your gun loaded may seem like a bad habit, but in reality it is a good idea to ensure your own survival and safety. If you always keep the bullet ready to be fired in the barrel of the gun that you are “carrying ”, accidental shots will never occur, due to you forgetting to have loaded the bullet as you will know that the firearm has already been loaded. In a situation where you have to defend yourself, it is often the case that people who are victims of an attack lose valuable time trying to load their gun before being able to react, these people are often killed.
Avoid firearms with complicated and laborious safety latches, or even better, avoid manual safety latches. When faced with the stressful situation of an aggression, I could also number as many people who have been killed while shooting blanks with the safety latch inserted on their firearm.
Do not use firearms that are too small, although such weapons may be easier to carry, a gun of reduced dimensions looses its deterrent quality. I know of numerous attacks that ended up in bloody situations because the ignorant criminal didn’t think that a small “chief” calibre magnum 357 would have injured him
Choose an average sized calibre, I would advise something between a 38 special and a 45 HP.
With a calibre that is too small you run the risk of shooting at your aggressor but failing to stop him, and vice versa, a very powerful calibre is difficult to manage manually and upon firing, it may even penetrate persons and things, injuring innocent passers-by.


Moreover, not everyone knows that;

If you calculate the average number of shots fired during any shoot-out for self-defence, the aggressor never usually fires more than three, there is therefore no point in carrying firearms with large loads, which are both heavy and uncomfortable.
I would say that five – eight shots are sufficient.
Large calibre revolvers, especially those with a short barrel, produce a flame when they are fired this flame may temporarily blind or burn the person firing the shot.
When shooting with a semi-automatic firearm in emergency and stressful conditions it is often the case that the person who fires the shot injures his own hand with the barrel of the gun he is firing.
Shooting in closed environments without ear protection may cause serious hearing damage and a sort of temporary deafness, making one’s self-defence less effective
After having stopped an aggressor, even if he seems harmless, it is a good idea to remove all weapons from him or other possibilities that he may have for a second reaction, which is the cause of numerous injuries according to statistics.
It is extremely dangerous to shoot into the air in order to intimidate someone, the bullet could hit someone on the higher floor of a building in the city centre, or fall on an innocent bystander, killing them, even if they are up to one hundred metres away.
If it is necessary to fire a warning shot, it is a better idea to aim at the ground or at something else, as long as the surface area in question is soft enough to be able to absorb the bullet and retain it.
The sensation of killing a person is worse than you might ever imagine.

Published on: 26 Jul 2004