[STW]

This gem was in the San Diego Union this AM. Do not try this defense in your local court.

"...Lugo pulled a gun and pointed it at Ardon's chest. Ardon pushed the gun away, and witnesses heard three shots...Lugo fled and was spotted by police less than a mile away. After a short chase, he was stopped. In his car, police found the gun, with a bullet casing jammed inside it....

"Defense lawyer Karsten Boone said the gun could easily have been unjammed, and the fact that only three shots were fired indicates Lugo didn't mean to kill but that the gun went off by accident in a struggle. 'He could have killed him if he wanted to.' Boone said in an interview."

Lugo, the defendant, got 12 years. It doesn't say what his lawyer got.

[Mike Irwin]

Wow.

Looks like the guy has an EXCELLENT appeal possibility on the grounds of attorney incompetence...

[sm]

Your're kidding. Both the defense and attorney.

Maybe best to get an attorney court appointed, and use the defense " your Honor, had he meant to kill he would have used a modern polymer Hi cap gun...his poor old gun was a single stack designed in 1911 with an antiquated .45 cal. loading" ;)

[jimpeel]

Hence the arguement for revolvers -- five in, five out; six in, six out. Stovepipes need not apply.

[faustulus]

If you think revovlers are always trouble free you haven't shot enough.

[Double Naught Spy]

No doubt that the bad guy could have easily cleared the jam, assuming he knew how to do so. He probably did not. An instructor once explained to me that by and large, the bad guys do not practice and so by us practicing on a regular basis and working on malfunction drills, we stack the odds in our favor of being better shooters and not being out of the fight because of some little irksome malfunction. Of course, he went on to note that of the bad guys that do practice and that do prepare, often citizens and LEOs alike will have a lot more trouble coming out on the winning side. Noted were Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Plat and Matix, and the guys from the North Hollywood bank robbery.

In all seriousness, none of us expect to come up against a well trained bad guy and so long as we don't, our training gives us a huge advantage that is quickly neutralized when the bad guys are trained and prepared.

[jimpeel]

If you think revovlers are always trouble free ...I never said any such thing. I have shot revolvers for years and about the only thing that goes wrong with them is they over/under index or you get a dud round.

In the case of an over/under index, all that is necessary is to manually rotate the cylinder to the next index. You don't have to turn the firearm upside down. You don't have to use two hands -- a pantleg will do. You don't have to shake it to get the bad round to fall out. If a reloaded round is improperly resized, you find it out when you dump a load into the cylinder, not when the most inopportune moment arises.

Revolvers are simply far more reliable than pistols. Yeah, they don't have as great of a capacity and reloading takes a special component called a speed loader to accomplish what is done simply with a pistol whose component is designed for same.

Revolvers are not as prone to firing pin failures now that hammer mounted floating pins, transfer bars, and frame mounted pins have been instituted.

With a good double-action revolver, there are no surprises such as "Oops, I forgot to jack the slide." "Oops, I forgot the safety." "Oops, I forgot to cock the hammer." When you pull the trigger, something comes out. You can't "limp wrist" a revolver and cause a failure.

Failure free? Hardly, but revolvers stand head and shoulders above pistols in the reliability department.

[Drizzt]

Candidate's Son Held on Dynamite Throwing

PITTSTON, Pa. - The son of a Pittston council candidate was accused of throwing a stick of dynamite that exploded several feet from two police officers, but his father said the charges are politically motivated.

Dino Argo, 24, was arrested early Friday after police said he threw a quarter-stick of dynamite from his apartment and it exploded near police who were helping a motorist.

Dino Argo is the son of Danny Argo, a 51-year-old Democrat who last week lost a bid for a seat on the Pittston council. Mayor Michael Lombardo said Dino Argo's actions were likely connected to Danny Argo's criticism of the police department.

"These allegations of my character, that my character is bad, are totally ludicrous," Danny Argo said.

He said his son's actions were meant to be a prank, but that he used bad judgment. "He threw (it) off the back porch not with the intent to injure anyone. He did it to taunt police."

According to police, the dynamite exploded 10 to 15 feet from officers James Noone and Robert Lombardo, the mayor's brother.

During his campaign for council, Danny Argo criticized the police department, saying police repeatedly pulled vehicles over near his son's apartment.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=616&ncid=616&e=1&u=/ap/20030527/ap_on_el_st_lo/candidate_s_son_dynamite

[fallingblock]

"Failure free? Hardly, but revolvers stand head and shoulders above pistols in the reliability department."
***************************************************

I have been shooting handguns for forty years and have owned twenty+ of each type - both autoloaders and revolvers.

I wholeheartedly concur with your statement!
( assuming a revolver of equal quality to the pistol, of course):)

[faustulus]

I am not going to list the things that can go wrong with wheel guns, and I agree they tend to be more hassle free. But so do modern autos. I wouldn't carry one if I didn't think it would go bang everytime I pulled the trigger.
I guess I am overly sensitive :) I have heard that revolvers never fail so many times I want to throw up. :D

[winwun]

I vote for the wheelgun.

[fallingblock]

I didn't intend to imply that revolvers never fail...they surely can and do:uhoh: You're right, some folks go a bit far down the 'never fail' path.

It's just my experience and/or preference that revolvers are more comfortable for my own use
. I once owned a Glock 17 that seemed unstoppable:)

[Jim March]

This is kind of getting off track, but:

"Our kind" have an advantage over the usual goblin in terms of training, practice, reading, malf drills, ammo/gun/holster selection and similar.

BUT we're behind the curve in two key areas:

1) They won't hesitate to kill the way we often do.

2) As the aggressors, they're ahead of us anyways.

The training we do helps catch up on #2. But on number one, what's needed is for us to have a firm moral stance already in place as to exactly what it will take for us to shoot somebody. I find California's "fear of losing your life or suffering great bodily injury" standard surprisingly good.

Anyways. That particular "mental prep" is needed to get our reaction times up near the goblin's.

I'm not sure enough of us are seeing it that way.

[Preacherman]

Good point, Jim. All too many CCW holders are not mentally prepared for the time that they may have to use their weapon. Hesitation can get you killed just as quickly as over-aggressiveness.