Report details FBI findings about criminals and their weapons

"We're not working with no marksmanship... We just putting it in your direction, you know... It don't matter... as long as it's gonna hit you…if it's up at your head or your chest, down at your legs, whatever... Once I squeeze and you fall, then... if I want to execute you, then I could go from there." from Stoppingpower.net

This was posted at Xavier Thoughts. The link brings you to a very chilling and informative document: New Findings from the FBI about Cop Attackers and their weapons

Here is a portion that is relevant to Virginia, specifically (emphasis mine):

Weapon Choice

Predominately handguns were used in the assaults on officers and all but one were obtained illegally, usually in street transactions or in thefts. In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows. What was available "was the overriding factor in weapon choice," the report says. Only 1 offender hand-picked a particular gun "because he felt it would do the most damage to a human being."

Researcher Davis, in a presentation and discussion for the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, noted that none of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law--federal, state or local--that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership. They just laughed at gun laws."

Tell me again how background checks and gun laws stop this? Mexico has gun control that the Brady Campaign can only dream about...at least right now. And everyone that wants a gun, especially to commit crimes, has a gun.

Another chilling description: Nearly 40% of the offenders had some type of formal firearms training, primarily from the military. More than 80% "regularly practiced with handguns, averaging 23 practice sessions a year," the study reports, usually in informal settings like trash dumps, rural woods, back yards and "street corners in known drug-trafficking areas."

If you are going to own a weapon, practice, practice practice! Especially if you are going to carry it!