Dead Men Can Kill You

Earlier today I mentioned a reference which claimed to debunk the notion that there is such a thing as one-shot stopping power. I finally found a place where you can read it. A PDF can be found on this thread at The High Road: CLICK.

The PDF contains a piece written by FBI employees. Here’s a quotation:

In one case, the subject attacked the officer with a knife. The officer shot the individual four times in the chest; then, his weapon malfunctioned. The offender continued to walk toward the officer. After the
officer cleared his weapon, he fired again and struck the subject in the chest. Only then did the offender drop the knife. This individual was hit five times with 230-grain, .45-caliber hollow-point ammunition and never fell to the ground. The offender later stated, “The wounds felt like bee stings.”

That was the part that got me wondering if center-of-mass is always the right choice.

Here is a more disturbing quotation:

“Physiologically, a determined adversary can be stopped reliably and immediately only by a shot that disrupts the brain or upper spinal cord. Failing to hit the center nervous system, massive bleeding from holes in the heart, or major blood vessels of the torso causing circulatory collapse is the only way to force incapacitation upon an adversary, and this takes time. For example, there is sufficient oxygen within the brain to support full, voluntary action for 10 to 15 seconds after the heart has been destroyed.”

That’s interesting. John Lennon was shot through the aorta, and at the time, the authorities claimed he died instantly. Maybe that was an exaggeration.

One lesson you can definitely take away from this is that you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to shoot to defend yourself. You may kill your assailant and still get carved up.