Somewhere above is quoted "I read in the newspapers:"

I read in the paper last week that a gun in the home is four times more likely to be used on a friend or family member that to be used defending the home against invasion.

That specific statement originated in a specific known article by ONE known radical anti-everything NUT. It has been thoroughly disproven by multiple other sources using official data from national, state, and in many cases local levels.

In a recent "news broadcast" a person who was trying to explain the "health act" to a panel of .... who kept trying to outshout him with the usual trite slogans, finally was asked "Why doesn't Obama just explain it."

I thought his answer was quite to the point, as near as I can recall:

"It's complicated, and a two sentence explanation always loses to a one sentence LIE."

I'm afraid he's right.

(So far as I caught, he was a spokesman for one of several agencies involved in implementing the law, but I didn't get the impression he was representing a Party affiliation, for or against either party.)

As to a handgun only being of use for target shooting, I've hunted about as successfully, although less frequently, with a handgun as with a long gun, although I've used both depending on which was appropriate. Longbows (usually compound to meet draw limits) and less frequently crossbows are legal for hunting in many places her.

And those last three times I mentioned shooting within the past dozen years (a long way back in the thread) were with a handgun, because it was most appropriate to the requirement at hand - which had nothing to do with shooting anything but a couple of probably rabid wild animals that attacked our pets and refused to withdraw when given the opportunity and encouragement to do so.

(In one case I had to send the kid (30 years old) back to get the .22 short when he tried to bring me the .357 Mag. I didn't think I needed all that firepower even for a very fierce 'possum.) Even the .22 short has a potential range of about a half mile, and I've seen ricochets of around 100 yards, when fired from a rifle. From a .22 short pistol with a 2-1/4 inch barrel you don't have to worry about going through the boards in the privacy fence even if you shot straight at them. (I've tested it on some spare boards, and on some other "barriers" for every gun I've owned, because you must know the risks involved in every use of any power tool (even a gun).)

John