i've always been a good shot with rifles, since i was a kid. and on one occasion, last summer i hit a bottlecap with a .22 (the only caliber i'm not scared of nowadays, despite its lethality) at 15m with witnesses. the first time somebody plonked a pistol in my hands, my shots went everywhere near the target, but not close enough. i had an "acceptable" spread on the gun range, but never in my life would i consider it "acceptable" in a real life firing situation.
by no means do i consider myself an expert in guns, but i consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable of their destructive potential. that's good enough for me to say that more guns in a shootout is a bad idea.
please tell me if i'm wrong, rookie, but i've always found that "too much safety is still not enough" when it comes to guns.