This invokes the expression of "gear as crutch." To me, the expression means it is folly for a person to spend money on upgrades or snake oil in lieu of training and practice. And honestly speaking there is no substitute for good training and good practice. People buy gear because they can show it off and if need be sell it off. Training and practice are time, effort, and money that are invested to gain/improve a skill. They can't be sold off or shown off the same way one might do with a physical item.
Does one have to be able to shoot a Sigma, VP70Z, or AMT Backup accurately at 25 yards?
Generally speaking, people are not going to have to hit at 50 yards or better with a pistol. If you are military, ideally you are going to have a long gun. If you're a civilian (including law enforcement) most of your engagements will take place well within 50 yards. That said, you had better able to hit accurately at 50 yards or better with a pistol. The reason I say this is that it all comes down to basics. People with solid basics can use a pistol to hit a 25 yard (or longer) shot. The weaker your basics, the harder it is to hit at longer distances. Writing off a 25 yard shot with a handgun is essentially writing off the fundamentals.
If you can hit the longer shots reliably, the closer shots should be even easier. Unless a person's vision is failing and he or she needs glasses (that are not being worn), it is entirely possible (albeit challenging) to hit a plate at a 100 yards with a pistol so doing so at 25 yards isn't really much to brag about. It is not unfair to expect someone to be able to accurately place a shot on center of mass with a pistol at 25 yards. I'd say that is a bare minimum standard. -Go through Larry Vickers' Pistol I course if you want to learn about why accuracy is very important.
Does lightening the trigger pull beyond X lbs make it a crutch?
If someone shoots a particular gun extremely well, but not others as well does that mean they are simply using that gun as a crutch?
Lightening a trigger pull or making an action sweet can make sense up to a point, but you run into some problems in the real world. Too light and you run the risks of reliability issues and unintentional discharge. There are things people do with competition firearms because the biggest consequences they face are losing a match or being DQ'd from a match. I'd say if you are serious about shooting, you should have the skills to be reliably accurate with any decent quality, stock firearm you pick up. It's nice to have your favorite that is your everyday carry. However, if you know what you are doing, you should be able to hit accurately in the black whether you are using a tricked out 1911 or a stock Glock or whatever. The whole "prima donna" routine of a person can only be expected to be good with his pistol of choice is silly. Again, a LAV course can disabuse you of the notion you only have to be competent with your preferred type of pistol.
"Looks like I'm the only one here with a mug full of antidote."
"If I'm standing on it, it's America..."
Bookmarks