[toddst]

Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Having had pistolcraft instruction from Colonel Cooper, this quote rings very true. More new gunowners need to take this to heart. The presence of a gun may often prevent an attack from taking place, but the gun "user" better project some confidence or he/she could quickly become a victim anyway. Predators are good at reading fear and hesitation in the eyes of their intended victim.

[goldstategop]

"Molon labe" is the motto of Freeperdom. King Leonidas' rejoinder to the ancient Persians, loosely translated into 21st century American idiom, would be: "Up Yours!!!"

[Joe Brower]

Another of my absolute favorites from Col. Cooper is:

"A pistol is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle that you stupidly left behind."

You gotta love the guy! I'm currently reading his seminal work, "The Art of the Rifle". A very concise and brilliant work, wrought from the hand of experience.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Correct. New gun owners should spend a couple afternoons each week at the range. First, find out how really loud the damn thing is. Then put a hundred or more rounds into paper to see if you can hit anything and if the gun's gonna last.