The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Where Does True Stopping Power Come From?

vox rationis · January 4, 2009, 05:29 PM

Stopping power is anything that stops the aggressor, and that can range from directly disrupting the CNS (brain or spinal cord) like Bill said, to disrupting the cardiovascular system to the point of causing decreased cerebral blood flow and therefore brain ischemia with a resultant collapse and loss of consciousness (this is again disrupting the CNS), or by causing "psychogenic collapse" if you will, where the aggressor, for one reason or another, stops after being molested by force. On the last point, aggressors have been known to stop even when hit by a non life threatening wound, like in the pinkie for example.

I forgot to add that a bigger and faster projectile that gives adequate penetration, all else being equal, is generally thought to achieve the above ends more quickly and efficiently, with psychogenic factors being a wild card obviously.

January 4, 2009, 05:29 PM	#21
vox rationis Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2007 Posts: 1,855	Stopping power is anything that stops the aggressor, and that can range from directly disrupting the CNS (brain or spinal cord) like Bill said, to disrupting the cardiovascular system to the point of causing decreased cerebral blood flow and therefore brain ischemia with a resultant collapse and loss of consciousness (this is again disrupting the CNS), or by causing "psychogenic collapse" if you will, where the aggressor, for one reason or another, stops after being molested by force. On the last point, aggressors have been known to stop even when hit by a non life threatening wound, like in the pinkie for example. I forgot to add that a bigger and faster projectile that gives adequate penetration, all else being equal, is generally thought to achieve the above ends more quickly and efficiently, with psychogenic factors being a wild card obviously. Last edited by vox rationis; January 4, 2009 at 05:39 PM.