apart from the permanent cavity’3, Fragmentation does not reliably occur in soft tissue handgun
wounds due to the low velocities of handgun bullets. When fragmentation does occur, fragments
are usually found within one centimeter (.39") of the permanent cavity.4 Due to the fact that most
modern premium law enforcement ammunition now commonly uses bonded projectiles (copper
jacket bonded to lead core), the likelihood of fragmentation is very low. For these reasons,
wounding effects secondary to any handgun caliber bullet fragmentation are considered
inconsequential.
Psychology
Any discussion of stopping armed adversaries with a handgun has to include the psychological state
of the adversary. Psychological factors are probably the most important relative to achieving rapid
incapacitation from a gunshot wound to the torso.’ First and foremost, the psychological effects of
being shot can never be counted on to stop an individual from continuing conscious voluntary
action. Those who do stop commonly do so because they decide to, not because they have to. The
effects of pain are often delayed due'to survival patterns ‘secondary to “fight or flight” reactions
within the body, drug/alcohol influences and in the case of extreme anger or aggression, pain can
simply be ignored. Those subjects who decide to step immediately after being shot in'the torso do
so commonly because they know they have been shot and are afraid of injury or death, regardless of
caliber, velocity, or bullet design. tt should also be noted that psychological factors can be a leading
cause of incapacitation failures and as such, proper shot placement, adequate penetration, and
multiple shots on target cannot be over emphasized.
Tactical Realiti
Shot placement is paramount and jaw enforcement officers on average strike an adversary with
only 20 - 30 percent of the shots fired during a shooting incident. Given the reality that shot
placement is paramount (and difficult to achieve given the myriad of variables present in a deadly
force encounter) in obtaining effective incapacitation, the caliber used must maximize the
likelihood of hitting vital organs. Typical law enforcement shootings result in only one or two solid
3 Fackler, M.L., Malinowski, J.A.: “The Wound Profile: A Visual Method for Quantifying Gunshot Wound
Components”, Journal of Trauma 25: 522-529, 1958.
4 Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness: Firearms Training Unit, Bailistic Research Facility, 1989.
* Ibid.
