Do you ever worry about an assailant wearing body armor?

[MUSICALGUNNUT45]

I hear that criminals are wearing body armor more and more toady. If you ever come up against someone wearing a vest a pistol or shotgun might not cut it. Do you ever worry about this?

 

[CDR_Glock]

I assume their pelvis is unprotected. Aim for the hip or the head.

 

[The-Reaver]

I do, that is why my home defense weapon of choice is a 12 Gauge loaded with #4 3" magnum.

At any distance within my home a sapi plate & and the bad guy behind it do not stand a chance.
An esapi plate works by obsorbing the hit of a projectile and scattering the energy thus fracturing the plate around the bullets impact. Hit that plate 41 times at the same time with the energy of a car, and the chances quickly shrink.
Not to mention. I am rather quick with follow up shots =)

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I don't really worry about it. I suppose it's possible, and if I lived in an area with more organized crime, like on the border, I might worry more. But around here it's mostly thugs and wannabe gangsters stealing to feed their habit. They would have spent those hundreds of $$$ on crack long ago.

I use an AR-15 for home defense mostly because it's the weapon I'm best at. I suppose a side benefit is that it would have the best chance against armor though.

 

[Nushif]

Short Answer:
About as much as my brand new Yaris exploding. So not at all.

 

[mortablunt]

I don't worry about common crooks, or even gangstas wearing armor. The odds are incredibly small and the only street criminals who commonly do that are in the cartels, and I'm in NoVA ATM. Of course, with the kinds of guns I like (longarms, especially battle rifles), nothing short of Interceptor armor is really going to make a difference.

 

[dirtengineer]

Practice head shots if you are worried.

 

[mljdeckard]

I would not trust #4 to penetrate a SAPI plate. A slug maybe, buckshot cushions the delivery of all of the energy.

In a word, no. At least not much. I won't say that it's impossible, but I think that the odds of a bad guy going against an unknown random victim and donning body armor to be remote. They might put it on if they had a strong reason to suspect that the person they were targeting was armed, which indicates.....THEY AREN'T A STRANGER.

The remedy for the possibility is to practice failure drills. But you should be doing this anyway, as you should never assume someone attacking you will stop with the first hit. So, if you are training well already, it really doesn't change your plan.

 

[Deus Machina]

I've never heard of it happening, at least not in my area.

I also remember that police-issue vests are intended to save lives, not make getting shot tickle. A pistol round is still like getting a good punch in, if it doesn't break a rib. If they come into my home, I have worse than a 9mm. They might come out on top, but they won't be happy.

 

[LawScholar]

We live n a pretty safe world, despite regional crime spikes. The odds of being involved in a shooting incident are fairly low. The odds of being involved in a shooting incident in which the assailant is wearing body armor are substantially lower than even that low probability. Worrying about armor piercing is on the order of taking less busy roads to work that are out of your way to slightly reduce your crash probability.

That said, just use common sense gun drills. If a few torso shots don't seem to be having any impact, try head and pelvic shots. If you've practiced, you'll be fine.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Worrying about armor piercing is on the order of taking less busy roads to work that are out of your way to slightly reduce your crash probability.

I'd say far less than that even. There are tens of thousands of auto deaths per year in the US. I'd wager shootings involving criminals with armor is substantially less.

 

[LawScholar]

^ Agreed, just the best example I could think of off the top of my head. Point being, there comes a point at which vigilance in self-defense transitions into paranoia which hurts your enjoyment of your life.

 

[Tokarevsrule]

I never worry about armor! I carry tokarev!

 

[btg3]

...criminals are wearing body armor more and more today

Various modes of escalation is an ongoing trend, thus criminals with body armor is not surprising.
Also noteable is home invasion by multiple intruders rather than a single assailant.

Worry? Not at all. As stated above, the probability of occurrence is very low.

Be prepared? Within reason, you bet! (...and no, I do not intend to wear body armor, but that may vary according to the individual.)

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

Assume that if the BG is an outlaw biker (Hell's Angel, Outlaw, etc) that he's wearing body armor (unless you can tell otherwise); other BGs: no.

 

[Zach S]

Level IIIa seems to be the most common, rated for handgun rounds. As someone mentioned earlier, the vest doesn't make getting shot tickle. I've heard it hurts like hell even with the armor.

A similar subject came up here a while back and a LEO mentioned two SWAT team members wearing level III armor (rated for .308) getting shot with a 12 gauge. While their wounds weren't fatal, they were still hospitalized.

I don't worry about it. If I did, I'd be wearing armor as well.

 

[BeerSleeper]

There's always the option to shoot like Butters from South Park.

 

[beatledog7]

I don't worry about an assailant at all.

If my situational awareness drops far enough that I fail to avoid him, or if in spite of my diligence I find myself facing him, good sense and training are most likely still on my side.

And they're better weapons than body armor.

 

[LawScholar]

@ BeerSleeper

If we're going to become a nation of unethical dickshooters, the Chinese can just come in. You take your American Liberation Front straight to hell, Butters!

 

[BeerSleeper]

<sarcasm>It's hard to believe the South Park writers didn't use a more PC term, like "pelvic shot".</sarcasm>

 

[beatledog7]

hard to believe the South Park writers didn't use a more PC term

I'm grateful they don't feel compelled to be PC.

 

[BeerSleeper]

I think the reason I don't worry about it is because, the fact is, no matter how prepared you are, any day can be the day your assailant is more prepared than you. You have to decide what is reasonable, and prepare for that.

I am prepared for the random street thug looking to mug someone, or the chance encounter I could have if I'm in the convenience store when it gets held up. The kind of thugs doing that...well, if they had $300 to buy armor, they wouldn't need to knock over a convenience store for $300.

 

[Rail Driver]

No.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot16_5.htm

It went right through the armor, just as expected.

It only made a small entry.

But it was clear that there was a larger hole beneath.

So, I dug away the top layer, and this is what I found.

Ugly.

7.62x39 vs. Level IIIA body armor (this is what you're most likely to encounter if an assailant is wearing body armor).

 

[[email protected]]

two or three to the chest and then one to the head will work regardless of what they are wearing.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Nah.
One of the basic facts of armed conflict is that sometimes you're just outclassed. Whether I'm outclassed or outclassing the other guy/gal/heshe, they both get the same mind and will to defeat in equal doses.
Equipment is a variable, but not an impossible obstacle for a well trained person.
Be resolved to live. Trust your training and your creative mind.