Do you think the average gangbanger practices shooting?

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The answer is no. The average gangbanger doesn't even have a gun. Their selection is also pretty poor... 22s, 25s, 32s... 9mm is some of the most powerful stuff they have. I'm talking street gangs not organized crime like the Italian, Russian, or Japanese mob. In these gangs I'm sure they have a good amount of marksmen. But the street low lifes who sell little bags of drugs, the majority of them don't even carry guns.
 
I'm a very avid PC gamer, with mouse control to the point where I can land my mouse pointer on a single pixel at rediculous speeds, and even I had issues re-accustoming myself to firearms after all these years.

All the game will do is help with reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Firearm use, especially handguns requires more than that....breath control and muscle memory being two of the more important ones.
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I am completely in agreement here and would like this to be stated not only for handguns but any firearms in general. There is no substitute for the real thing and video games cannot help you learn to shoot guns. Even the Nintendo Wii pistol (the real looking one) cannot substitute for the real thing.

However... Firearms can make you a better gamer. After shooting trap weekly for the summer I found that in games I was suddenly able to pop moving targets much quicker, and even learned how to adjust for bullet drop at ranges.
 
I live about 10 miles from Badger Guns, a much-hated store by gun grabbers, as they hold the title of having the most crime guns traced to them of any shop in the nation. I personally have never even been to that store, but Milwaukee's police chief really has a bug up his butt about that shop and spent months staking it out & stopping some vehicles as they left. The owner got so mad that for a while he had a big sign posted out front saying "Racist Milwaukee police are stopping my customers. Sorry for any inconvenience."

One of the complaints made about the store's owner was that he allowed felons to shoot at his store's range and even rented them guns. What the hell is he supposed to do to stop that? Ask "Are you a felon?" and show them the door if they're too dumb to not lie? The owner pointed out that a drivers license isn't stamped with an "F" to tell him the guy he's renting a gun to is a felon, so how the hell is he supposed to know.

The fact that Badger guns is the closest gun shop to the epicenter of Milwaukee's most violent areas is likely a major explanation of why so many crime guns are traced to them. Cabela's has literally hundreds of guns on display and tons of ammo, yet there is basically no gun crime problems in Richfield, 25 miles outside of Milwaukee's inner city. I gather the gangbangers believe in buying local.
 
When I told him to get his finger off the trigger, he moved it away and replaced it with his middle finger. Seriously.
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I remember a story about some bank robber who got away with his robberies for years and they assumed he had to be former law enforcement or military by the way he held his gun with his trigger finger straight forward, instead of on the trigger as the average guy on the street would instinctively hold a gun.
 
It ain't the nature of wormy, brain dead gang-bangers to do or know much of anything but drink, smoke, screw and try to look tough.
 
It ain't the nature of wormy, brain dead gang-bangers to do or know much of anything but drink, smoke, screw and try to look tough.
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While that may be true, most of them aren't brain-dead. So your estimate doesn't apply to most of them. Lack of education? Check. Lack of moral compass? Check. Warped sense of morality? Check. Sense of entitlement? Check. Utter lack of reliable family/social network? Check! (Main reason most join, BTW). Lack of brain cells? Not universally true.
 
Just recently there were four police officers in the Seattle Wa area murdered by a convicted felon that had spent as much time in prison as out. All thugs are not incapable of killing or hitting someone and to assume that they are is to ask for your own demise. I believe that anyone with a gun knows how to use it and I'm going to do my best to stop them BEFORE they prove it.This guy did ambush these officers and he was wounded but did not die until faced by another officer that wasn't going to take any chances.BE PREPARED. FRJ
 
I would say they do practice... On people!

Man Hospitalized Following Saginaw Shooting

12/14/2009 2:25 p.m.
SAGINAW, Mich. -- Saginaw Police said a man was shot in the back while standing at 12th and Perkins streets Monday round 1 p.m.

The man, who has not been identified, was taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition.

Police are searching for those responsible and believe the incident could have been a drive-by shooting.

http://wnem.m0bl.net/w/news-local/story/8330826/
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The FBI says many do practice. Quite a few even more than the police. They aren't as dumb as you think. Not by a long shot.

They have all kinds of time because they don't have jobs, don't support their kids, don't have family obligations, or any other responsibilities. They use that time to train more often than you think. Especially the real gang members. There are plenty of videos shot in prisons of them working out in formation like a little platoon.

The mid and high-level dopers' operations are multi-million dollar businesses. They aren't stupid. Well, some of them aren't.
 
I was in a gun store once where a gangbanger-looking dude (must have been just starting his career with a clean record) and the sales guys asked him what kind of gun he wanted -- type, caliber, etc. -- and his response was "something cheap." That was it!
 
Don't underestimate these guys.

My mindset is that any adversary I may encounter will be more proficient than I.
 
Practice or not, a truly (bad) luck shot is deadly. If I can see him, and he is shooting at me, he is a deadly threat...even at 300 yds with a .22 lr. Just my personal take on it.

Mark
 
Rule 1 in military planning.
Assume the enemy is as well equipped and well trained as your forces.
 
I dont see why not. They sure have no problems doing pullups off the handlebars in the city bus or subway. :p
 
"I was in a gun store once where a gangbanger-looking dude (must have been just starting his career with a clean record) and the sales guys asked him what kind of gun he wanted -- type, caliber, etc. -- and his response was "something cheap." That was it! "

Based on my own economic history during different stages of my life, that could easily be a paraphrase of something I said.

AND

"It ain't the nature of wormy, brain dead gang-bangers to do or know much of anything but drink, smoke, screw and try to look tough. "

Where do you sign up?
 
They have all kinds of time because they don't have jobs, don't support their kids, don't have family obligations, or any other responsibilities
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Some of that is true. Some isn't. The ones I have worked with have frequently been up to 3rd generation gang members. Most of them don't work, and it's true that they have way too much time on their hands. Many don't have family obligations or take care of their kids, but many do. Particularly with the Asian and Latino gangs here, the gangs have become a support network of sorts for people with few family ties, and/or family that cannot support themselves, like infirm, elderly, and/or young children. The gangbangers literally eat Thanksgiving dinner together, because they have nobody else, and they bring their dependents. It's not just the lure of easy money, drugs, and sex that helps get the teenagers jumped in. It's frequently the lure of a support network (granted, of people you can't really trust, but their own families are frequently worse, at least on the surface) that is what ultimately gets them off the straight path.

Of course, the ones I deal with are mostly from established local neighborhood gangs that are involved mostly in low-level dope dealing and petty theft. If you are talking about higher-end drug cartels like the Sinaloa guys, or "The Family", you are talking about guys who are much more serious about their violence because they are dealing with multi-million or even billion dollar operations. So, it largely depends on how you define "average gangbanger". Local neighborhood gangs don't do much training, as far as I can tell. It's the large syndicates that are dealing in major drug trafficking that are into that.

And whoever it was that mentioned the Yakuza, When I lived in central Japan, there was ONE Yakuza killing involving a firearm in public in the prefecture (population 1 million) in the three years I was there. It was major news. They neither own many, nor practice much with their weapons. The weapons they have are most likely mainly shotguns stolen from farmers (loaded with birdshot), and .38 revolvers stolen from cops. They are not really a first class crime syndicate, and what few modern weapons they have they aren't going to advertise by practicing with them. Not really any place to do it, as even the most remote parts of the country are close enough that people would hear it and report it.
 
Yes they do practice.

My buddy grew up in Oakland and would hear gun shots every night.

They weren't shooting each other everynight they were playing with their guns.
 
Most gang bangers don't practice much.

Most cops don't practice much.

Most CCW holders don't practice much.

Most non-combat MOS military members don't practice much.

But of all those groups, the first are the most likely to have prior experience in violent encounters, the most likely to initiate a fight, and the least concerned about collateral damage. Laugh all you want, I'd much rather fight some 300lb keyboard kommando with an Ed Brown who likes snarking about "the homies" on a gun forum and can't jog 21 feet without panting for breath over a gangbanger who's killed a few people already. YMMV, IMHO, IANAL etc.
 
I think that as people who carry guns for self defense, we do ourselves a disservice when we assume that the threat we face is incompetent and incapable of engaging anyone effectively in a gunfight.

Even though a gang member may not practice at a formal range, there is a Darwinian selection process that is weeding out the poor shooters from the herd. Poor shots get dead, and that is a powerful motivator.
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I seem to recall that Sun Tzu had something to say about how nothing good could come from underestimating your opponent. I am paraphrasing, but you get the idea. I hope.

I could add that preparing for "the average" adversary when the stakes are your life is probably a seriously misguided plan...
 
I was at a DNR outdoor range one Saturday when a car full of shady characters pulled up. One of them had a 9mm pistol he wanted to "test fire". He and the range officer went round and round about range safety, none of which the guy understood. His behavior scared me and my son so much we packed up and were on our way out.

He had no eyes or ears, etc. He finally got the gun pointed down range. (I had moved about 20yds away by that time.) This guy did have 7 bullets with him and no 2 were from the same box of ammo. The RO asked him if he wanted to set up a target and he said "No". So the RO tells everyone "commence fire" and this guy shoots the dirt 5 feet in front of the firing line with all 7 rounds.

That was his "day at the range".
 
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