system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Harry Potter] Why doesn't the Ministry of Magic (and other institutions) not use guns in defence against/in offensives against Voldemort and others? Are firearms an effective counter?

Against handguns (based on spells in the movies) wands are useless as the reaction times and requisite names of spells take too much time to say. To turn a gun into a piece of jelly would take too long to mention the spell name etc. is it simply a case of "being above" the use of muggle weapons or not being aware of their existence/unable to get their hands on them? 

Thanks in advance.
gpt
Mostly due to high-strung arrogance on the wizarding world's part.  They see themselves as being beyond Muggle conventions and inventions in varying degrees; Arthur Weasely finds them curious and fascinating while Tom Riddle views them with the utmost contempt, for example.  Magic can do almost anything the user desires, so what could a Muggle possibly do that would compare?  For this reason *alone*, anybody packing heat that knows the first half of the Killing Curse has the advantages of technology, speed, *and* surprise.