Houston Shootout Shows Why Magazine Limits Hurt Good Guys

By now, most of the gun world has seen or heard about a recent shootout in Houston. A group of armed men entered an individual’s home. For their trouble, three of the men were killed and two others wounded in the vicious gunfight.

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Reports of the shootout are minimal.

Police said three men are dead and two others are in a hospital after a homeowner shot them during a possible home invasion in east Houston.

A shootout occurred just before 1 a.m. on Sherman Street near 71st Street, as the homeowner responded to five men who allegedly tried to break in, according to Houston police.

One man was left dead in front of the house, at least one wounded man took off on foot and the others left in an SUV, police said.

From what I can gather, the five men entered the home in the early morning hours and found hell waiting for them.

They then pulled out of the house where they continued to open fire. It’s unclear whether the homeowner continued to return that fire or not, though there’s little doubt he’d have been justified to do so.

One suspect fled on foot and later died while the others took the SUV they arrived in but didn’t get very far. One of the bad guys died in the back seat of the SUV with another having failed to make it out of the yard.

There’s been no word on just why the five men entered the home in the first place. We don’t know why they targeted this individual or his home, though I’m sure many have their suspicions.

What we can see, though, is that there’s a reason to have more than ten rounds in a weapon at a given time.

Think about it. There were five bad guys. Two shots to each aren’t all that much, especially since the reality of a gunfight doesn’t match up with what some people like to believe. There’s no “one shot, one stop” kind of thing happening here. Gunfights like this are nasty, dynamic environments with things flying everywhere as people move around. Few will stand still and let them shoot you (though that might account for how well the homeowner did against the bad guys). Because of that, coupled with the effects of adrenaline, you’re going to miss no matter how good you are at the range.

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No, five bad guys coming to your house may not be a common thing, but we can’t pretend it hasn’t happened. Not now.

Now, let’s imagine how someone in a situation like this would fair under a 10-round magazine limit. Oh, they could change magazines in theory, but with that much lead flying around? More rounds in the weapon at the start is always a better place to be.

Of course, if a 10-round limit is bad, imagine what they’d go through if they were stuck with Oregon’s proposed 5-round limit. This man would’ve never had enough ammo on his person to have survived this one.

Then again, that might be the point.

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