Posted on 10/13/2004 9:51:49 AM PDT by 45Auto
According to an article published in the September issue of Handguns magazine, a recent decline in fatalities resulting from inner city handgun shootings can be credited to the thriving popularity of a flashy new gangsta-style shooting technique wherein the weapon is canted 180 degrees from its normal upright position. "Hollywood overkill of the sideways gangsta shooting method encouraged many modern hoods to look for a less trendy but equally cool-looking technique for offin' someone,'" wrote freelancer Marian Ayoob in Handguns' September cover story, entitled "Better To Look Good Than To Shoot Good." "Over the last three months, holding a gun completely upside down has become the predominant method used by stylish gangstas whom, as they say, 'be fixin' to put a cap in a [person's] dome.'"
The article went on to reiterate statistics from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), which documented August 2002 as having the lowest record of shooting fatalities for men between the ages of 17-34 since December 1980.
"The number of gang-related altercations involving gunplay has remained steady, yet the rate of fatalities resulting from these shootings dropped fourteen percent last month," wrote Ayoob. "These statistics clearly indicate that the bullets - of which there are approximately the same number being fired - are not hitting their intended targets."
Ayoob also cited studies by ballistic experts at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which estimate that employing the unorthodox handgun shooting technique can reduce a subject's short range accuracy by as much as 80 percent.
U of M researchers said that this significant decrease in accuracy results from attempting to shoot the firearm while it is upside down.
"A gangsta utilizing the sideways, ninety-degree shooting method generally experiences only an accuracy loss of roughly twenty percent," said Dr. Keith Marcus of the University of Michigan. "But the shooter loses tremendous accuracy when the gun is turned an additional ninety degrees. With the sideways method you could still use the sights to aim. Upside down, you have to pretty much guesstimate [when aiming]. And having to use your pinky to operate the trigger certainly doesn't help."
Marcus added that a shooter's accuracy is further reduced if the subject is either running from police or trying to look at himself in a mirror while aiming.
Still, Ayoob contends, more and more gangstas are becoming willing to sacrifice accuracy in return for aesthetic rewards.
"What the shooter loses in short and long-range accuracy, and the ability to quickly fire consecutive rounds, he or she more than makes up for in presenting a more 'bad ass' appearance [than using a standard shooting technique]," wrote Ayoob. "Polls indicate that thugs consider 'how you be representin' be just as important as how you be shootin'.'"
Ayoob said that Americans can expect the number of shooting fatalities to continue to drop as the flamboyant attack pose gains further popularity among the public.
"Right now, only gangstas residing in the bigger, more progressive cities are employing the 'one-eighty cock,' as some are calling it," said Ayoob. "As soon as the entertainment media gets wind that holding the gun upside down is the 'wuz-up cuz' cool way to fire off a round, you'll be seeing it in all of the movies and television shows."
Added Ayoob: "Wait until the next Denzel Washington character blasts a cop using the one-eighty cock. Everyone will want to be shooting that way. Morgues across the country will probably have to layoff half of their staffs due to lack of business."
NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE; should ever take any action to correct the poor shooting skills of the "gangsta" element. Even pointing it out in a national publication works provides an opportunity for "gangsta" to read and learn. The last thing we need is the criminal element being able to shoot with greater effectiveness.
IMHO
While just about every serious firearms carrier has heard of Massad Ayoob and his Lethal Force Institute, I've never heard of, or read anything by, Marian Ayoob. A relative?
There is no doubt that this "style" does nothing for the Bad Guys' accuracy. But this story smells odd...
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That was with the sarcasm tag, doncha know
REAL good laugh, over here.
This downward trend will be reversed if Kerry/Edwards are elected! In Cincinnati, last week, Edwards promised that he'd provide extensive marksmanship traing to unemployedd inner city youths if he is elected. There was a little controversy when the dems showed a range with targets dressed in what appeared to be police uniforms. But, they gots to pander to the black voters!
Follow up shots must be tough, after the slide takes a chunk out of your hand.
I was under the impression that the reading skills of these fellas are less than optimal....
It can be done, and I'm sure you'd be able to do it. I allow my students to try it for the experience, because you never know when you'll have to fire from an odd position. The slide bite can be a trip if you aren't careful - but in a life-and-death situation, you'd probably never even notice. It's definitely not a first choice for self-defense purposes, though.
That is without a doubt, the funniest thing i have read in awhile! :) Stephen King / Gunslinger series is great.
self ping
Now all they need to do is turn the handgun 180 degrees in the horizontal plane and not only will they be lookin' cool, they will be doing society a tremendous service.
I would be afraid of shooting myself holding the piecelike that, gotta treat that girl right and hold er upright!!
gangstas are idiots....case closed.
The Capt.
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