Guns: you close the gap between you and them so that the reaction time from attack to pull the trigger is really in your favor. You see, with respect to the adversary to pull the trigger he: first must recognize he or she is under attack. Second he or she needs to identify exactly where you are going (path). 3rd he must realize exactly where he is; that is, where the weapon is pointed plus his or her physical position. Next this individual must figure out exactly what course of action to put into action. At this moment is where he/she might decide they must rotate left, raise the weapon a lot higher, and fire. At last he/she has to execute the program. This all requires psychological time and by closing the distance you have actually reduced their successful response time down and also into your favor.
Edged weapons and sticks ... you want to open the distance from your attacker. You want these people to make a long distance and committed attack towards you. This puts you in a favorable position as they need to move a long way to get you. You possess the time to observe the attack, decide what to do and execute the plan. You likewise drop their reaction time down as you close in to disarm or attack. Much like in the firearm scenario you have indeed shortened their perception along with reaction time.
Also paramount in self defence that you don't fool around. You need to disable your attacker so they can't return in order to harm you. What I mean here is you do not want them getting back up off the ground and being rather psychotic at you. You must ensure they don't want to continue the attack.
If you learn to disarm weapons you should also study the best ways to employ that weapon if required. You might learn how to shoot or at least how you may employ that gun to your benefit. There is actually a weapon called a defender (self defense weapon) which is a small plastic, unusually shaped, weapon which is actually utilized on pressure points. You can view this at PDWS. biz. You are able to utilize most everything you pick up like| a defender and that includes a firearm. A firearm can be employed on pressure points on the body as well as against boney locations of the body, just like a defender or even a Kubotan.
In conclusion, you are the weapon and anything that gets into your hands you need to know how to utilize it. Gun, edged weapons or clubs ... you need to know how to use them for your own protection or the protection of your loved ones. There are great videos to had on these subjects, all found on the web. So I encourage my fellow artists to broaden their skill sets in martial arts and turn them into self defense skill sets too!
Master Peter Brusso