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Notes -
A lot of excellent posts here, making the point about a lack of intelligence and training. I'm going to argue a separate and related point: a lack of sangfroid, bloodthirst, psychopathy, a lack of willingness to kill.
Most ordinary humans, including gangbangers, have a reluctance to kill directly in cold blood. Most humans will kill in the right circumstances, will fight under pressure or in a group, but left alone to make the single decision to pull the trigger on a sniper rifle? Different mindset entirely.
A driveby, or a group of guys walking up, is high pressure, impulsive, when you get there you are in danger and must act to "defend" yourself or you might die, and it is a group activity your friends are there to keep you accountable. A sniper on a rooftop is solitary, is waiting and watching, he has to personally make the cold blooded decision to kill, he is in no danger and can choose not to act or to flee and avoid the danger.
If you are in a group of three guys in a Ford Explorer, all hanging out the window and shooting wildly, there is a sense in which you aren't necessarily responsible for any individual death on the other side. In the moment, there is a lack of certainty: maybe I shot him or maybe my friend did. If you are a sniper sitting on a rooftop, you are certain that you are the one who did the killing.
Training a human to kill in cold blood takes a lot of effort, a lot of training hours to program obedience to programming, it doesn't happen instantly or perfectly. Militaries drill obedience into their men to produce a soldier who will follow their training and do what they were told without thinking about what they're doing too hard. Muzzle-loader era armies emphasized firing in volleys both for effectiveness, and to allow the average soldiers to avoid feeling personal guilt for killing, instead the emphasis is on duty and coordination with your mates. Modern armies emphasize coordination, with soldiers mostly engaging in covering fire on specific targets, soldiers are rarely asked to kill individually outside of their training, instead the emphasis is on doing your job for your mates.
Gangbangers similarly maintain discipline, such as it is, and accountability to your mates by putting their street soldiers in situations where they are directly with their friends, in danger, and must act to look good and brave and protect their friends. That is psychologically easier for the average person.
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