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Gun-Crazy Right Wing Howls for Bob Costas to Be Fired

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kirkspencer12/03/2012 6:07:21 pm PST

One of the questions that never seems to get asked: What does it take to be willing to shoot someone? Recall that there are a lot of studies showing that a large proportion of soldiers in combat don’t shoot at the enemy.

So let’s assume for a moment that Kasandra Perkins had been carrying a pistol. Assume she wasn’t surprised but realized Belcher had a weapon and intended to shoot her. Assume she had time to draw. (Anybody else noticing how many assumptions we have to use to get to this point?) What are the odds she’s actually have shot him first, shot accurately enough to kill him so swiftly he couldn’t shoot back?

Low. Even driven by fear a very large number of people freeze. (And when driven by fear or hate or other strong emotion a lot of people who do manage to shoot spray instead of aiming resulting in more misses.)

I am saddened by how many allegedly realist gun owners don’t think this through. How the gun becomes a magic wand that makes everything right - or could, if only everyone had one and carried all the time.