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Originally posted by shakran
1. Actually, an automatic pistol is more precisely defined as a pistol which continues to fire as long as the trigger is held down. A semi automatic pistol is one that can fire without being cocked - but you still have to pull the trigger for each round.
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http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=11499
You are thinking of a machine-pistol. In the common and technical parlance guns such as the 1911 and Glock 17 are known as automatics.
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2. Well, if you just pull your gun and shoot, I'm screwed. But then, I'm screwed in that situation whether I have a gun or martial arts training or both. If, however, you pull your gun and threaten me with it from close range (and yes, it happens, it happened to me 2 years ago) then I have two choices. A) give you my wallet. B) if I feel that you're gonna kill me no matter what, I can go for the disarm.
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When put this way I agree with you 100%. If you feel that the person is going to shoot you regardles, then by all means, go for the disarm. Otherwise it is just not worth the risk.
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3. That's why people properly trained in actual combat-oriented martial arts also have undergone awareness training. I'm not gonna move the gun off my line and have it point at my friends/family who are with me. I'll even try to avoid the gaggle of nuns that have been following me around, but at the end of the day, if someone i'm not protecting, the attacker shot them, not me. My first concern is protecting my family/friends who are with me.
BTW, if attempting a disarm in a crowded situation, you can always perform the disarm that ends up with the pistol pointing at the attacker with your finger on the trigger 
The bottom line is that there ARE ways to disarm guns. And they DO work. That guy that I mentioned that pulled the gun on my 2 years ago found himself minus one gun and held with his own gun until the cops arrived. Does that make me superman, able to dodge bullets? No. It makes me very lucky that he was stupid enough to pull his weapon close enough to me that my training enabled me to disarm him.
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Yes, but remember that the thread asks "Do you belive that it is better to be
proficient in the use of a firearm or in unarmed combat". Now to me, as I stated before, proficiency with a firearms includes weapons retention and CQB techniques. Someone trained thus will not be disarmed. Remember, for every move there is a counter. Now granted, most criminals are about as proficient in gun use as they are at weaponless martial arts (lucky for you), but if you match practitioners of equal skill I would put my dollars on the gun every time.