Quote:
The idea that there will be a bunch of innocent bystanders around to be hit by your return fire when the bad guy threatens you is a real stretch. BG's do their thing when you're ALONE. They pick isolated victims.
It is very rare for bystanders to be hit by the good guys, whether the good guys are police or civilians.
Regarding bullet effectiveness I offer this:
Quoted for truth.
People act like defense incidents among private citizens happen every day at the mall or downtown during rush hour.
They do not.
I suppose it depends on where you live and spend your time. If you live out in the middle of nowhere, it would be more likely than not that no one else will be around when the fecal matter strikes the air circulation device. If you are in the middle of town quite a bit, it is likely that there may be folks within at least a couple hundred feet. Well within the danger zone for a miss.
I live in a pretty low crime area, but we've had some pretty blatant criminal acts occur. Last year there was a stabbing
directly in front of the main entrance of the local Wal-Mart, 5 minutes from my house. Under the cover of mid-day. On a Saturday. Is Wal-Mart jam packed at 12 PM on Saturday? Does a bear poop in the woods? In fact, I had just left through that entrance an hour earlier. Had my 4" Ruger Police Service Six on my, IIRC. Same parking lot a few years early saw a thug purse snatcher attack an elderly woman with a base ball bat at 10 am. A McDonalds in another part of the county got robbed at 1 PM on a Sunday. A stop-n-rob on a county over getting stuck up at 2 in the afternoon.
Sure, most crime will likely go down when no one else is around, but then again your typical law breaker (at least those around here) may not be bright enough to think of that. Part of my practice involves taking a knee to shoot (obviously dry fire only), trying to simulate a crowded environment with no good backstop behind the BG. This has the drawback of limiting my mobility, but if I miss the round won't skim along the ground at people level for a long distance. It'll just go up in the air and come down at one point (still a danger involved however). Not saying this is a good tactic in all situations, but it may have limited applicability. The trick is remembering it.
To the OP, as other posters have mentioned, missing the BG and striking another person is a much greater threat than over penetration. In that regard, folks that state something to the effect of "I'm a poor shot and don't have time to train, so I won't carry a 6 shot revolver or 7 shot 1911. Instead, I'll make up for a 90% miss rate with a hi cap <insert make/model here>." That kinda spray and pray strategy thing might work if you live in a very rural area, but in a crowded town like I live in it just won't cut it. The way my instructor put it, he said that generally the military trains to put so much lead down range that eventually, a BG walks into a piece of it. But we are responsible for each shot we fire. I agree with your instructor there, just not on some of the specifics on caliber selection. YMMV.
In the end, I the guidance I take heart is to: 1) carry a reliable gun that will be carried and not left in the car; 2) points/aims as instinctively as possible for you personally. 3) If more than one caliber is available, select the caliber that meets the FBI's 12" penetration protocol (if possible), while trading off ammo costs between calibers and capacity differences if applicable, 4) become proficient on that platform and 5) prepare you mind as much as possible for that deadly encounter, God forbid it ever comes.
That's kinda generic, but it has to be given that we no 2 of us are alike.