From my Townhall Magazine article:
Myth #3: Civilians do not need a certain type of gun.
“Need is irrelevant,” says Richard Mann, author of the upcoming book “Handgun Training for Personal Protection” and contributing editor to several firearms magazines. An award-winning pistol shooter, Mann has served in law enforcement and the military and has trained personnel in both in defensive shooting.
“Need?” he asks sardonically. “With speed limits at 70 mph we don’t ‘need’ a car that goes any faster, we don’t need iPads, DVRs or microwave ovens. When we start limiting the rights guaranteed by one amendment based on ‘need,’ they will all soon suffer.”
Beyond Mann’s philosophical point, a practical matter that often arises in firearms discussions is that of ammunition capacity, whether for rifles or pistols. How many rounds, for example, does a civilian need for his or her pistol for a typical self-defense situation?
Civilians have occasional need for high-volume magazines for pistols, such as when thwarting the attack of multiple assailants, says Ayoob, but most self-defense encounters will not require much ammunition.
“However, you’ll never hear anyone who’s been in a gunfight say, ‘I wish I was carrying less ammunition than I was,’” he says.
Ayoob says civilians consider police officers to be the resident experts on firearms and naturally like to do what the officers do in terms of choosing guns: “So if police carry a polymer pistol that holds 16 rounds of .40 such as a Glock 22, that’s what they will think is best. The cops must know what are the best tools to defeat the bad guys in the area.”
See the rest of the teaser at Townhall Magazine online.
