Originally posted by IFAJKD
So many things change here. Many gun fights between FBI (most stat keepers) and bad guys have resulted in an embarrasingly large amount of rounds all missing their intended target.
Yes, indeed they do! And we can learn alot from various things that have been learned. Such as:
Most gunfights [exchanges] occur at 21 feet or less. [That number "21" is a magical thing, isn't it? We see that in the Knife V. Firearm situation]
Of those gunfights, most happen at a distance of less than 10 feet. Ten feet down to contact range.
Most occur in low to extremely low levels of light.
Just these three things mean this, the Edged Weapon, in ALOT of cases, is going to be as viable as a Handgun in Trained Hands. You do have to know more than a bladed art. You have to choose the right equipment and you have to do one, incredibly important thing.
Learn and practice to draw under many different situations and scenarios. Same as a Handgun.
Guns are not more effective in my opinion than knives though the intimacy isn't there as it is with a knife.
I would say that according to the stats, the knife has the capability in, again, Trained Hands, to be every bit as lethal as a Handgun. We agree more than we disagree.
Yet, to say that "Guns are not more effective [in my opinion] than knives" has to also be placed in the proper context.
Yes and no.
If we talk about being raped or robbed, indeed, no one rapes or robs from across a street, the knife is viable in Trained Hands.
If we change the scenario to a parking lot where you might have multiple attackers, it is bad enough with a Handgun, but if the opponent should have a Handgun, or one of his "Associates" should that is waiting in the wings and you just sliced his Pal up, you're in deep...possibly over your head.
It is a distance weapon. There is always a place for that. Your Wife walks ahead of you with your child and some groceries, she rounds the corner to go into the house and the house has been burglarized, the burglars come out...you bring up the rear...you see what I mean?
And these things do in fact happen in the real world. They have happened before, they happened yesterday, today and they will happen tomorrow. If you are going to have a handgun and Carry Permit, you should train with these things in mind.
I think it is entirely situational, but I will tell you this, there are times when only an edged weapon will do and even if I were carrying a handgun on a Permit, I would still carry edged weapons.
Guns are just another tool...
...Untimately, it's in the hands of it's user is it not.
That's Gospel for the most part.
Given a choice of injury or attack, er a hand gun over a knife. Hand gun has one angle and frequent misses, Knives have many angles and difficult wounds (cuts) to treat.
Hell they are both bad.
Yes, the handgun needs the steady platform to be effective and the knife and stick are the exact opposite. That's why a handgun, as long as you get by the first shot, is going to be easier to disarm than someone flinging a piece of razor sharp steel at you.
As for the wounds, that is entirely situational. I hate to disagree, if you lose alot of blood and you are in shock, you're in deep trouble, period.
But as far as the exact complications of the wounds? No way...
You get cut across the hand good, you better believe you might need an Orthopedic Surgeon to put your hand back together to the point you can use it again!
You put a bullet through that hand and that bone becomes many secondary missiles, ripping and tearing through...it is MUCH more complicated any time bone is involved and let's face it, if the only gunshot wounds that existed were "through and throughs" penetrating only soft tissue with no bone and organ damage, hell, they would not be nearly so deadly and the knife would be the undisputed King of the Heap.
That is not the case.
