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Originally Posted by DanaC
Absolutely. Only shoot as a last resort, ...
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This is true. Shooting someone should only be done when the situation warrants the use of lethal force, with the goal of immediately incapacitating that person, and the realization that the person will likely die as a result.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanaC
... and generally aim to disarm or disable not kill. ...
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This has no basis in reality. It's only for television and movies. In this country, no modern law enforcement agency, no branch of the military, no private security firm and no credible civilian concealed carry or personal defense course teaches their personnel to shoot other than to immediately totally incapacitate with the expectation that they will have to kill to accomplish that. Courts here don't accept the premise that it's appropriate to shoot in a situation that requires less than lethal force. That's what less than lethal weapons are for. Shooting lethal weapons to disarm or disable rather than to immediately totally incapacitate constitutes excessive use of force and is prosecuted. If the person shot dies, it's manslaughter. We don't even shoot fleeing felons just to "wing" them anymore without coming under intense scrutiny.
With all the variables encountered under the stress of an actual confrontation, very few people in this world have the skill to shoot to disarm or disable without running a significant risk of unintentionally killing their target or hitting innocent bystanders. Even the best counterterrorist operators who drill day in and day out in live fire exercises can't guarantee that circumstances beyond their control won't arise to alter a situation requiring less than lethal force resulting in an unintentional kill if they were shooting at someone under those circumstances. Here, no one is supposed to shoot unless the situation warrants killing and when that situation arises they're trained to shoot to kill. If the person shot in such a situation survives, they're just lucky the variables in their situation worked out in their favor to that extent.
Just sayin'.