Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Jazz
I hadn't run across these numbers before, although I'm troubled by the use of the phrase "innocent person". The MP shot by the cop in the other thread could be classified as an "innocent person" because he had not committed a crime, but the cop certainly hit what he was aiming for. The term "innocent bystander" would alieviate my concerns about how they collected their data, but by and large I'll accept that cops are more likely to miss. Certainly circumstances are going to dictate a lot of these numbers (i.e. shooting a hostage being used at a distance, needing to fire after a high-speed pursuit, most civilian shooting happen at closer quarters than police shootings, etc.).
I still think that you pulled the 50% number completely out of your ass, and I don't see where you've proven that point. 
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If you still wish to think that, nothing I say will probably ever change your mind. I know that someone else on this board accused me of pulling a number out of my ass and I haven't heard anything about it after proving myself right. I base my number upon my experience with other gun owners. Alot of us are either former military or born and raised rural folks who hunted during our youths and in to our young adulthood. I, like others, take my aim seriously but this is not to say that all cops do not. certainly the small town cops I grew up around took their marksmanship seriously while bigger city police officers tend to just concern themselves with making sure they qualify the one time a year. Again, this is not a generalization of all police officers so take it for what you think its worth. I know that those who are anti 2nd will think I'm a nutjob pulling stats out of my ass while those with real experience most likely will agree with me.
The 'innocent bystander', I would assume, would most likely be someone not involved with the incident whatsoever. The MP that was shot was NOT an innocent bystander, he was a suspect at the time. A hostage is not an innocent 'bystander', they are an innocent hostage(victim at the time).
I still stand by my statement that legal guns in the hands of legally licensed individuals are more likely to be safer and more professional about their firearms than law enforcement, on average.