usp9, the extent to which the quoted "stop percentage" numbers are based on real world events is subject to debate - many others have discussed this in the past. But, more importantly, the whole "one-shot-stop" nonsense is just that - one shot
where? Just saying "the torso" is pretty absurd. There's vital stuff in the torso, and there's a whole lot of not-so-vital stuff. If a .357 jhp hits someone in the flab-roll and a .32 ball hits another guy in the heart, are you going to draw the conclusion that the .34 fmj is a better stopper than the .357 because that's what happened in that case?
I've worked on a
lot of handgun killings. I've seen people shot in the liver, kidneys or lungs, fatal wounds, who eventually died but were not "stopped." I've seen people who were shot several times, with several wounds that would have been fatal, but who were stopped only when the aorta was nicked. I've worked on cases in which people were killed with .22s, .25s, .32s, .380s, 9mm Maks, 9x19s, .40s, .38 spls, .357s, .44s, and .45s. I've yet to see someone fall over dead who wasn't hit in a vital structure.
Shot placement (and, of course, adequate penetration) are what stop people. Bullet design plays a part in ensuring adequate penetration and in trying to prevent overpenetration. If it makes a bigger permanent wound channel, great - better chance of nicking something vital. But
unless you hit "the good stuff," he ain't gonna stop - I don't care
what kind of bullet you've got in there.
Since the works (which I believe were undertaken with the best of all possible intentions by the two policemen who gathered and promulgated the data) that were quoted by Mr. Deckard purport to give percentages for the effectiveness of various bullets without reference to
what vital structure was hit or how many times the person was hit or which wound/s the pathologist declared to be the fatal one, I feel justified in saying that those works bear no relation to the real world.
If you care to respond, please let me know how many handgun killings you've worked on, and in what capacity, and please be willing to email me your bona fides.
I'd be happy to email you mine. Me, I've worked on criminal appeals with the appellate divison of my state public defender since March, 1995. My office handles about 95% of the criminal appeals in the state. I've handled many handgun killings myself, and I consult to some extent on virtually every murder appeal that comes through my office. Prior to working for the appellate division, I was a trial prosecutor (only worked on a couple of murders, but got to learn pathology details of several others from colleagues in the office and various police departments), and prior to that I clerked (while in law school) for the trial division of the public defender for a year and a half and worked as a law clerk and private investigator for one of the top trial attorneys in the state (working on handgun killings at both jobs). I've seen a
lot of handgun killing cases, talked to pathologists, and read a
lot of OMI reports. I don't claim to know everything or be a pathologist, but I've sure seen a lot of handgun killing cases and I've got a real good idea of how bullets stop people in the real world.
