= new reply since forum marked as read
some addendums, if interested:
sophisticated semi auto pistols did not achieve widespread acceptance until after wwII: During World War II, revolvers were still issued by various major powers, but their use was decreasing.. After World War II most nations eventually adopted 9mm caliber pistols >> for their standard-issue military pistols ..
After {wwII}, the almost universal trend has been for semi-automatic pistols to replace revolvers for military use, although the transition has been slower in police and civilian use.
Mftrs introduce more sophisticated semi-auto pistols... In 1971 Smith & Wesson offered a safe double-action, high-capacity pistol, the Model 59. CZ-75 in 1975. Beretta introduced the Beretta 92 also in 1975.. groundbreaking Glock 17 in 1982, and SIG Sauer model P226 in 1983. Walther introduced their high-capacity P88 in 1988. In the early 1990s Heckler & Koch combined what they considered to be the most desirable attributes of semi-autos.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-automatic_pistol
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1172&pid=170390
year.....................violent crime rate
1960: ...................... 161 ..
1966: ..................... 220 .. Semi-auto coming into vogue
1976: ..................... 468 .. Semi-auto en vogue
1980: ...................... 597 .. Semi-autos in full swing {wiki above}.
1986: ....................... 620 - '87, 610 - '88, 637 - '89
1990: ...................... 732 -- 91, 758 -- 92, 758
~1993: gun ownership rates begin to decline to year 2000
2013 ......................... 368 .. still TWICE the 1960's rate
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
wiki - spurred later civilian attraction to semi-autos: The M1911 is a semi-auto, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It served as the standard-issue sidearm for US Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986. It was first used in later stages of the Philippine-American War {~1900}, widely used in WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War.
.. By the beginning of 1917, a total of 68,533 M1911 pistols had been delivered to US armed forces by Colt and Springfield Armory. .. WWII and the years leading up to it created a great demand. During the war, about 1.9 million units were procured by the US Govt for all forces, production being undertaken by several manufacturers, including Remington Rand (900,000), Colt (400,000), Ithaca (400,000), Union (50,000). . The M1911A1 was a favored small arm of both US and allied military personnel during the war
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General Social Survey (GSS), conducted roughly every two years ... The GSS data show a substantial decline in the shares of both households and individuals with guns... 1973, 49% reported having a gun or revolver in their home or garage. In 2012, 34% said they had a gun in their home or garage.
.. personal gun ownership in 1980, 29% said a gun in their home personally belonged to them. This stands at 22% in the 2012 GSS survey. http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/
... The Pew Research Center has tracked gun ownership since 1993, and our surveys largely confirm the General Social Survey trend. In our Dec 1993 survey, 45% reported having a gun in their household; in early 1994, the GSS found 44% saying they had a gun in their home. A Jan 2013 Pew Research Center survey found 33% saying they had a gun, rifle or pistol in their home, as did 34% in the 2012 wave of {GSS}.
Pub. by Delacourt Press.
Interlaced throughout this text is the centuries-old debate among military people between conservation and markmanship on the one hand, and copious firepower on the other. Certainly, the debate was pitched during the Civil War as the marksmen were challenged by the new Henry, Jennings and Burnside repeaters, but it continued on through WW II; the Marines used the slower turn-bolt Springfield rifle, the Army got the all-new Garand auto-loader -- more lead downrange. Eventually, all forces went semi-auto, though the U S. during the Cold War was a late-comer to the next armament escalation: Full auto fire.
It seems the culture of accuracy and conservation within the military establishment and civilian LEO has given way to firepower, first and foremost. Curiously (as some DUers have asserted), armed citizens may be the last reserve of the "old school" approach, though criminal elements and their firepower are seen as the instigators of bigger & better LEO guns: the .38 begat the .38 Sp begat the .357 Mag.
Still using a .357 revolver.
