Why we need standard capacity magazines

[sqlbullet]

By standard I mean 15 round, 17 round, 30 round.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/georgia-mother-shoots-home-intruder-911-tapes-18168262

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/05/my-wife-is-a-hero-georgia-mother-shoots-home-intruder-five-times-after-being-cornered/

This mother heroically defended herself and her children against an aggressive robber with a 38 caliber handgun.  The gun held six rounds, all of which were fired.  The robber, hit by five of the six shots fled the scene and was apprehended nearby.

A couple of take-aways when sharing this story with your fence sitting friends.  What would the mother have done if there had been an accomplice?  She was out of ammo in her six shot revolver.  What if she had missed?  Be sure to point out that while the offender did cease his attempt to attack the mother and her children, he was still able to move, and therefore capable of inflicting more harm had he chosen, after being shot five times.

Also point out the home-owners hit ratio.  Over 80%.  She could give lessons to the NYPD based on their record, or for that matter most agencies in the US.  Also, point out that this is not uncommon.  Citizens usually have better hit ratio's and are far less likely to shoot the wrong person than the police.  This is not a slam on our fine officers.  They are thrust into dynamic situations with little knowledge or warning in most cases.  Citizens on the other had generally have some advanced notice, and do not have to question who the offender and victims are in a situation. 

This case clearly illustrates this.  The mother knew she was in her home, and was being attacked.  She didn't have to try to decide who was in the wrong.  And, she had enough advance notice of the possibility of the threat to make a call, get real-time coaching, and choose the location at which she would stand her ground.

But the what-if game clearly indicates this hero was in need of a higher capacity weapon.  She used all she had, and it was barely enough.  It is luck to walk away from a life and death situation and walk away with no defensive reserve left, no margin of safety.

I hope she heads over to Glock and gets a Glock 17 and a half dozen standard capacity magazines for it.

[Patriot]

Glad the woman was able to defend herself and children.

The first problem here is that she used a .38. Maybe that's all she could handle, shooting doesn't come easily to a lot of women. I would never trust my life to a .38 special, but I do run a 10mm firearms forum so I guess maybe I'm a little biased.

I got my girlfriend a .357 magnum. She doesn't feel comfortable with a semi-auto because it's hard for her to rack the slide back, so a revolver was the obvious choice. I let her shoot my Ruger Redhawk .44 and that didn't go over well. Same with my S&W 610. I have one of those EAA Windicator .38 specials that I teach my daughter to shoot with and my girlfriend handled it quite well. So I ordered her one in .357 with a 4 inch barrel. I started her with .38's in it and worked her up through .357 practice loads. She shot a hand full of full power .357's and was able to hit the target at 10 yards. Good enough for me. I feel comfortable knowing she has a gun capable of doing the job with one shot.

[sqlbullet]

I have the perfect wife...She shot my Witness Elite Match about a week after I got it and now it is her gun.  She jokes with my friends who shoot 9mm that their girly hands can't handle a real gun.

However, 38 special is no slouch of a round either.  Underwood's +p 38 special rounds are delivering 400 lbs-ft of energy, which is right in the hunt with 45 acp and 40 S&W.  With proper bullet selection this is a very under-appreciated round.

Obviously I agree in shooting more if you can handle it.