David Lubkin wrote:
>
> On 9/24/00, at 8:35 PM, Doug Jones wrote:
>
> >Laser sights on a handgun tend to make it a better persuader- seeing the
> >spot on one's groin makes even the most aggressive attacker think twice,
> >by making the promise "I will maim you" instead of "I will kill you,"
> >introducing a shade of gray into the life or death equation. The
> >maiming potential of a sword is what gives it its psychological power,
> >but Aleta was fortunate the perps did not have firearms.
>
> Maiming may be part of it, but I think there are (at least) three factors
> that make a weapon more intimidating, when brandished by a credible
> assailant:
>
> - apparent inevitability of serious consequences (a spot from a laser sight
> on your chest vs. just a gun pointed at you)
>
> - a fearsome form (a tommy gun is more threatening than a rifle because
> everyone has seen Cagney movies)
Which tommy gun? Actually, since there were several models of tommy gun, and my
own impressions of each, I actually think the vertical fore-end grip and the
circumferential fins on the original barrel of the original model (the one that
most people associate with 'the tommy gun') are what make it most impressive,
and the 100 round drum magazine helps as well, I think.
>
> - physical size of the weapon (the risk of maiming from a sword may be no
> greater than from a knife, but a sword is scarier)
Yes, my M-11/9 is a small thing, and much less intimidating than my buddy's
M-60, despite the fact that at close range the M-11 is ballistically and
tactically superior to the M-60.
>
> Of course, they can be combined. Imagine if you will, a V-22 Osprey in
> helicopter mode is hovering before you. Eighteen inches from your face,
> tracking your every movement, are three barrels of a turreted fifty-caliber
> machine gun.
>
> Hmn. Now I know what to get Mike for Christmas! :-).
Actually, could you make it a six barrelled vulcan cannon??? I'd be in
gruntvana... ;)
The V-22 is one sweet hellcat of a VTOL, for sure. There was, though, this
research helicopter in the 80's that had counter-rotating blades, and turbofans
on the sides, with a Lear-jet like fuselage. I think it was called the ABC or
something like that, and it was as fast as the V-22, I think...
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