at close range, the stopping power of shotguns is unquestioned, but
I've noted the inherent unwieldyness (fire fox tells me that's not a
word) of shotguns in emergency situations. they are wholly
impractical when speed and convenience are paramount.
Here in Schenectady, gun crimes come in two main flavours. Killings
and scares. Scares happen when druggies want their money. They
draw, the doper draws and they plink at each other. Since neither one
has any training or practise, and both are hopped up, they tend to not
hit the center ring. Killings happen when the bad guy shoots the
doper through the window or door before the doper can bring his own
weapon to bear and return fire.
My personal problem is the fact that the druggies doing the scaring
tend to shoot pretty wildly, which results in my house getting hit. I
probably shouldn't mention the cop round I dug out of the bricks as a
3AM chase souvenir. Anyway, my problem isn't the self-defence value
of pistol vs shotgun inasmuch as getting plugged by accident by ass
hats shooting wildly.
For what it's worth, vice and the State Troopers have hauled the
druggies off again, so I'm safe for another six months until they
start drifting back into the neighbourhood. Some practical advice:
don't live next to or across from large apartment buildings if you can
possibly avoid it. Even if your neighbourhood was good to start out,
things change.
--buck
