I am not looking to get a guaranteed statement that my damascus gun will function properly for another 100 years to come, being shot at high pressures. I wonder about the lack of valid data after 150 years of use of hundred thousand guns with damascus barrels or fluid steel. Big sample over a long period of time.
Using this kind of data one could predict the chances of failure of a certain barrel of a certain wall thickness, etc. That prediction will still not give anybody 100% guarantee that one would be safe using the gun, but it would provide the best answer one can get. And the controversy would be over.