ACP
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- Dec 29, 2002
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I spent some time last night with Marshall and Sanow's book "Street Stoppers" in order to get some idea as to self-defense shooting distances.
I know this is a limited set of examples, and that they apply to both police and civilians. But I thought I'd share the results here. Please note, Marshall and Sanow do NOT give exact distances in this book, nor do they attempt to break down shooting scenarios by distance. This is my extrapolation based on the descriptions given. Some are more precise than others.
Anyway...
57 (100%) total shooting scenarios are described, with calibers ranging from .32 ACP to .44 Magnum.
3 (5.26%) occurred at distances I could not determine from the description.
33 (57.9%) occured at contact or arms length/conversational distance. This really surprised me. A lot of these shootings were preceeded by a physical assault, i.e. a stabbing, gunfire, or use of a blunt instrument such as a baseball bat or iron bar. There was quick escalation of force. Many of these scenarios were one-on-one, but several involved a group. Usually, when one of the group was shot, the others fled. These self-defense shootings rarely occured while the good guy was standing in a Weaver stance; he/she was usually crouching, on the ground, or struggling against an advesary.
10 (17.54%) occured at less than the length of a residential bedroom, which I take to be 10 to 12 feet. In this category I include shooting across a vehicle or a Dumpster.
3 (5.26%) occured inside a convenience store.
8 (14%) occured at what I'd call "moderate" distance, i.e. an estimated 30 to 50 feet (shooting from a tree behind a home to a doorway, from the corner of a building to the scene of a crime, from behind a pickup truck, from behind a door to a sidewalk, etc.) What's interesting about these "moderate" distance shootings is that in five of them, the good guy was behind some kind of hard cover (a tree, a brick wall, a support beam, a door, a truck). In one other instance, the person was concealed in high weeds. In the remaining two, the good guys appeared to be completely out in the open (one was cloaked in pitch darkness, though).
Just some food for thought next time I'm at the range. I think I'll spend more time on drawing from concealment and hitting a target 7 FEET away while I'm moving, crouching, or shooting one-handed.
I know this is a limited set of examples, and that they apply to both police and civilians. But I thought I'd share the results here. Please note, Marshall and Sanow do NOT give exact distances in this book, nor do they attempt to break down shooting scenarios by distance. This is my extrapolation based on the descriptions given. Some are more precise than others.
Anyway...
57 (100%) total shooting scenarios are described, with calibers ranging from .32 ACP to .44 Magnum.
3 (5.26%) occurred at distances I could not determine from the description.
33 (57.9%) occured at contact or arms length/conversational distance. This really surprised me. A lot of these shootings were preceeded by a physical assault, i.e. a stabbing, gunfire, or use of a blunt instrument such as a baseball bat or iron bar. There was quick escalation of force. Many of these scenarios were one-on-one, but several involved a group. Usually, when one of the group was shot, the others fled. These self-defense shootings rarely occured while the good guy was standing in a Weaver stance; he/she was usually crouching, on the ground, or struggling against an advesary.
10 (17.54%) occured at less than the length of a residential bedroom, which I take to be 10 to 12 feet. In this category I include shooting across a vehicle or a Dumpster.
3 (5.26%) occured inside a convenience store.
8 (14%) occured at what I'd call "moderate" distance, i.e. an estimated 30 to 50 feet (shooting from a tree behind a home to a doorway, from the corner of a building to the scene of a crime, from behind a pickup truck, from behind a door to a sidewalk, etc.) What's interesting about these "moderate" distance shootings is that in five of them, the good guy was behind some kind of hard cover (a tree, a brick wall, a support beam, a door, a truck). In one other instance, the person was concealed in high weeds. In the remaining two, the good guys appeared to be completely out in the open (one was cloaked in pitch darkness, though).
Just some food for thought next time I'm at the range. I think I'll spend more time on drawing from concealment and hitting a target 7 FEET away while I'm moving, crouching, or shooting one-handed.