# What makes an expert? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 9, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284 "2018-03-09T15:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/61 "2018-03-12T16:32:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The comparison by the surgeon was between a handgun wound an an assault rifle wound, based on his experience. Read about the damage these things do, then tell me if the kind of rifles I shot in Boy Scouts do the same thing. What did you use in the Boy Scouts? Based on the article, there seem to be three factual claims about why “assault-style weapons” are uniquely dangerous: (1) Bullets “from an M16 or AR-15 can depart the muzzle at a velocity of more than 3,000 feet per second”, (2) they “turn sideways, or ‘yaw,’” after impact and (3) “The high energy bullet creates a blast wave around the bullet.” I don’t know whether these are unique attributes of AR-15s or whether they apply to rifles more broadly or to firearms more broadly. ([This chart](http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.rifle-cartridges-ballistics.html) suggests that the muzzle velocity of a rifle cartridge is fairly routinely in the 3,000 ft/sec range). But there should be an answer to that claim. Although, that doesn’t seem to be a _medical_ answer… it’s one of physics or engineering or something. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/62 "2018-03-12T17:59:26Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > What did you use in the Boy Scouts? … I can’t say what **Voyager** personally used in the Boy Scouts, but the Boy Scouts of America oftentimes have rim-fire .22LR shooting ranges at summer camps, and occasionally shotgun shooting. I’ve never seen or heard of any center-fire rifles or pistols being used by the Boy Scouts, but I can’t possibly be aware of the particulars of every Boy Scout camp or shooting activity. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/63 "2018-03-12T19:11:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I can’t say what **Voyager** personally used in the Boy Scouts, but the Boy Scouts of America oftentimes have rim-fire .22LR shooting ranges at summer camps, and occasionally shotgun shooting. I’ve never seen or heard of any center-fire rifles or pistols being used by the Boy Scouts, but I can’t possibly be aware of the particulars of every Boy Scout camp or shooting activity. That’s what I used as a Boy Scout, as well as a 20 gauge shotgun. The only things we ever shot were paper bullseye targets at 50 feet or clay pigeons from a mechanical trap. The merit badge requirements specify [a .22 caliber rimfire rifle](https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Rifle_Shooting) or [a shotgun not exceeding 12 gauge](https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Shotgun_Shooting), although they allow exceptions for muzzle loaders with both. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/64 "2018-03-13T01:09:39Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You’re ruining their emotion-driven talking point. He’s _making_ my point. I said before, if you want to reduce killing then semi-automatics have to go. Any gun that when fired, puts itself into condition to be fired again (assuming ammo) by just pulling the trigger. Inanimate objects aren’t, as you say, ‘evil’. But the head of the nra probably is. You know he only cares about money, not guns. He wasn’t brought up around guns, didn’t know much about them until he was middle aged. He was, and is, just a lobbyist for hire. He found where the money was and stuck his snout in it. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/65 "2018-03-13T01:56:05Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You’re ruining their emotion-driven talking point. No, that point remains a good one, the one you are replying to is a red herring point. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284/66 "2018-03-13T15:43:38Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > That’s what I used as a Boy Scout, as well as a 20 gauge shotgun. The only things we ever shot were paper bullseye targets at 50 feet or clay pigeons from a mechanical trap. The merit badge requirements specify [a .22 caliber rimfire rifle](https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Rifle_Shooting) or [a shotgun not exceeding 12 gauge](https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Shotgun_Shooting), although they allow exceptions for muzzle loaders with both. A .22 caliber is a small and low powered rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun is a much more powerful gun than the AR-15. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-an-expert/810284.md?page=3)