[tame_deuces]

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I'm making no such assumption -- I'm simply saying that being hit by someone who MISSED their target is not a reason to choose one caliber over another. If you're hit by a full-velocity 9mm, it can certainly kill you as dead as anything else. If you're worried about use of a rifle, it's (presumably) because of the rifle's ability to perforate the target and maintain plenty of kinetic energy (something your typical hollowpoint 9mm doesn't do very often).

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First sorry for saying 9mm, obviously I'm referring to typical pistol or submachine gun calibres which comes in varying sizes - but still somewhat comparable.

And obviously I am also worried about the misses. Those bullets would go further, penetrate more barriers and generally be more hazardous to what you weren't aiming at in the first place.

Simply put if you own a shop, I'd really, really prefer it if you didn't have an AK-47 replica under the counter but instead something more controllable like a shotgun or smaller calibre pistol type weapon - if you intended to use the weapon in a personal defense situation should it arise. It would be a lot of safer for public in or nearby your shop.

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I understand what you're saying -- my main issue is with quantifying the phrase "a lot safer." I certainly understand that a rifle round has a great deal more energy than does a pistol round. But I think this particular safety issue is probably far, far down the list compared to other much more important safety issues such as familiarity, training, practice, the ability to hit your target etc.

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Well on that I can agree. The most vital thing with weapons is knowing how to use, when to use them and practicing to keep the skills up - and to respect what they can do. I certainly agree that 'untrained' handling most likely causes a lot more accidents than having a higher calibre.