Pistol sights • Hacker News Board

Re: Pistol sights

#71

Post by KozmoNau7 » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:21 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

I used to shoot rifles when I was a kid, I even won prizes. Winning a beer mug as an 11yo kid is the height of country living, and I still use it proudly to this day.

Guns definitely have their uses, for instance hunting. Target shooting is also quite fun, but these guns are rather different from the ones most gun enthusiasts like to own.

I think personal ownership of guns should be restricted, thought I will not make myself an expert as to how much. Certainly I think it's much more important to manage the access to ammunition. After all, a gun is only actually dangerous when it's loaded. Sure, a gun that isn't loaded can still be used to threaten people (because even then it demands attention and the utmost respect) or even pistol-whip them. But it is very unlikely to be used to kill anyone or anything.

Personally, I think guns belong on shooting ranges, and nowhere else, unless used for a practical purpose, such as hunting.

I live in Denmark. Firearm ownership is very restricted, you have to have a very good justification to own anything that isn't a hunting rifle, and there are very strict storage safety and handling laws in place. Maybe a lot of people think we are too restrictive, but as a counterpoint, we do have extremely low levels of gun violence.

Another example could be Switzerland. You can own guns and buy ammo, but there are much tighter background checks in place compared to the US. In addition to this, they have a much more developed culture for gun safety and respect for firearms, so their rates of gun violence are extremely low.

If you're not willing to go all the way restricted, as in most EU countries, I think the Swiss model is the best.

Re: Pistol sights

#72

Post by pps43 » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:21 PM UTC

jabl wrote: post #50

fivestar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not personally been in a gunfight (thankfully) but a couple different people I know have. It went something like this: "Oh shit" followed by the gun being drawn and fired in very close quarters with no aiming whatsoever because the person/people was/were knife distance away. I know that's not how all encounters go down, but my takeaway from these stories is that contact distance is the norm and you should expe…

I vaguely recall reading somewhere about some study where they found out that when the police fire their pistols, at a range of 5 meters they hit about 50% of the time. Having spent a fair amount of time in my youth shooting with a BB pistol in my parents garage, I find the above statistic entirely believable. Shooting a pistol accurately is much more difficult than it looks, so I can certainly imagine that in a high…

On the other extreme, top Steel Challenge competitors can consistently shoot 5 different targets in 2 seconds, starting with hands above shoulders.

Re: Pistol sights

#73

Post by Zak » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:23 PM UTC

basseq wrote: post #63

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

I second this, if only for personal safety. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you're unexpectedly responsible for a firearm, you should know how to engage the safety, eject the magazine, clear the chamber, and ensure the safety of those around you. If you happen to find a handgun, or take one away from a child, knowledge is a virtue.

> you should know how to engage the safety, eject the magazine, clear the chamber, and ensure the safety of those around you

Note that if you try to do it in this order, you will fail with some firearms because the safety locks the slide.

Re: Pistol sights

#74

Post by Zak » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:27 PM UTC

leroy_masochist wrote: post #64

It's also important to note for broader context that pistols, despite the number of people who take pistol accuracy seriously, are not really designed for precision marksmanship. For the use cases that really matter, you won't be taking well-aimed shots, you'll be trying to get rounds out of the weapon in the general direction of the threat as quickly as possible, in order to buy yourself some time and/or space. The…

While this is true in a sense, I suspect a great deal more pistol ammunition is expended in competitive shooting sports than is fired at people. People in speed-oriented pistol shooting competitions where optical sights are not allowed usually use a front sight containing a colored fiber optic that's easy to focus on quickly.

Re: Pistol sights

#75

Post by sergiotapia » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:32 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

I'm a strong second amendment supporter but I will probably never own a gun. I know accidents happen, and an accident with a gun scares the shit out of me. I have kids, and the risk is too great.

Re: Pistol sights

#76

Post by lostboys67 » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:32 PM UTC

pps43 wrote: post #67

lostboys67 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That reminds me of the quote for we where soldiers once and young "Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: I think you oughta get yourself an M-16. Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: Sir, if the time comes I need one, there'll be plenty lying on the ground. "

When the time comes he needs one, it's already too late to learn how to use it.

Well that's why special forces carry a pistol and practice with them as back up and probably a kukri if the pics from op Herrick are anything to go by

Re: Pistol sights

#77

Post by daleharvey » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:37 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

(a die hard anti gun brit)

As a Scout we were taught to shoot various things (rifle's, bow and arrow etc). I dont see what it does anything to help introduce sane gun laws?

Re: Pistol sights

#78

Post by plazmatic » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:39 PM UTC

Isn't this supposed to be a HACKERS NEWS blog? What in the hell does some article about pistol sights have to do with this?

I literally only made an account to post about how absurd and out of place this article is. If I wanted some second amendment lovers blog (and I don't), I'd simply find one.

Strike one, "hacker news". Strike one.

Re: Pistol sights

#79

Post by plazmatic » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:40 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

What a ridiculous article to have here. Go find yourself a gun lovers blog to discuss your completely off topic hobby.

Buh bye.

Re: Pistol sights

#80

Post by microcolonel » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:41 PM UTC

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #71

seibelj wrote: post #51

Anyone who is diehard anti-gun for personal use, I recommend taking a pistol class from a reputable organization, and keep an open mind. No one is telling you to get a license or buy a gun, just go take a class. They will teach you all about safety, how to shoot, gun cleaning and maintenance, and all of the basic skills needed to properly own a gun. Then if you are still diehard anti-gun, great! But if you have no ex…

I used to shoot rifles when I was a kid, I even won prizes. Winning a beer mug as an 11yo kid is the height of country living, and I still use it proudly to this day. Guns definitely have their uses, for instance hunting. Target shooting is also quite fun, but these guns are rather different from the ones most gun enthusiasts like to own. I think personal ownership of guns should be restricted, thought I will not mak…

Comparing levels of gun violence is fallacious, though. The real question is: do guns affect the overall rate of violent crime?

If guns are available, it is obvious that violent crime will more often involve them instead of knives, rope, and explosives (the other three big weapons in many places); but that alone is a neutral outcome. It is not a problem, in itself, that violent criminals use firearms to commit crimes.

The problem arises when firearms enhance criminals' violent outcomes when committing violent crimes. That outcome is harder to measure and build a political campaign on, but it is infinitely more honest and productive.