Quote:
|
The new weapon is designed to "cause immediate incapacitation and maximize officer safety," Swoboda said.
|
I'm surprised these guys haven't had a guest spot on "Future Weapons" yet, making such statements. All we can say for sure is that a bigger hole means the target will exsanguinate faster, and that the shooter has a very slightly larger margin of error - about an extra 1/10" - to clip something vital. Exsanguination is not a one-shot stop, and shouldn't be relied upon where your target can shoot back. The extra bullet diameter hitting something incapacitating also shouldn't be counted on, because if you're depending on that kind of fortuitous luck to make your rounds effective you need to get your butt to the range. Perhaps we'll find out that hydrostatic shock, energy transfer, round momentum, or one of the other killing power theories is correct at some point in the future, but right now as I understand none of them receive much scholarly acceptance.
So shot placement - yes, accuracy and precision - is the dispositive concern. A well-placed shot from a small round might not always end the threat, but if you're not hitting anything important the biggest round never will. That's not to say you need Camp Perry accuracy. Close friend of mine who worked as a DS agent is a pretty questionable shot by my standards. But for the purposes of his work, keeping them all on the silhouette at 10 yards is all you need. Nobody's saying officers need to be held to some super-high standard of accuracy, but that they need to hit what they're shooting at, big round or small round. The better the hit, the safer they'll be.
I always wonder how guys like Swoboda come out of the woodwork when it's time for a public announcement. The law enforcement agents I've known have all been well versed in the tools of their trade (and very pro-gun with the exception of two who don't like black rifles). But whenever it's time to go on TV or talk to the papers, you get Sarge Fudd running to the mic to blather some preposterous misinformation to the sheep.