World-renowned shooting instructor Jeff Cooper was known to have conducted training classes for various government agencies, including the CIA. He was a very vocal advocate of large caliber handguns, preferably the .45 ACP, for combat purposes. In one training session for CIA field agents, a female agent asked him if he thought it would be all right for her to carry a .25 automatic. She opined that it would be very easy to carry and conceal since it is so small. Reportedly, the subsequent conversation went something like this:
Mr. Cooper: Well, if it makes you feel good to carry a .25 automatic, go ahead ... but don't ever load it.
Female Agent: Don't load it? Why not?! Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of carrying it?
Mr. Cooper: Well, if you load it, you may be tempted to shoot it, someday. And, if you shoot it, the bullet may hit somebody. And, if you hit somebody ... and he happens to feel it ... he may become angry and kill you.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." — Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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