Hi There Tony
its nice to see this board is read by others,
even though you have not pactised Aikido, you have clearly read and understand the message that O Sensei tried to pass on to us all, unfortunatly like all things people do, they go into things with all good intentions, but many just take part of what has been passed on,the part that suits them best,I believe that o Sensei knew this would happen, but carried on anyway,the intention is to practise Aikido with a partner (not enemy)treating them as a mirror of yourself,the techniques are clearly derived from ju jitsu and sword,and were originally intended to kill or maim, this element was removed by o sensei who showed it was possiable to use the same techniques to restrain, and bring about reconcilliation,
A gun in its self is not dangerous, its the person behind it that makes it so,
Some clubs teach senseis ways others do not, I hope this is an honest enough answer, and I hope one day you will try Aikido, Mike