Practical Uses for a Handgun?
There’s a lot of discussion going on right now about gun laws, and I see a lot of pro-gun posts from some of my friends on Facebook. Most of these consist of graphics that feature a one-liner or something to that effect, and the arguments they make are pretty weak. I hate dumb arguments, and am naturally drawn to pointing out their logical falacies; however, in doing so I risk starting a flame war and being branded anti-gun, which I’m not.
While I wasn’t raised in a gun household, and never owned one myself, I’ve never been particularly against them. Thanks to friends and family (and, you know, living in Michigan), I’ve had quite a bit of exposure to them, and have had occassion to recreationally fire handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Like everyone else, I’ve also witnessed guns being glamorized in books, TV, and movies.
I’m a fairly pragmatic person. I’m also a nerd, so it made sense to me to lay out my thoughts on practical arguments for handgun ownership in a pro-con spreadsheet. More…