Shootin' It Straight- Flesh Wounds

With every shooting involving both citizens in uniform and those not, the same question inevitably arises from people unfamiliar with the realities of defensive shootings. Across every media platform, you'll see repeated calls insisting the "good guy" should have shot the "bad guy" in the leg, arm, shoulder, or some other supposedly less-lethal area.

The theory is that doing so would stop the threat while reducing the chances of killing the person being shot. While that may sound reasonable from the comfort of a couch, it ignores the realities of lethal force encounters. The ideal method of stopping an immediate deadly threat is to disrupt the central nervous system, producing an almost instantaneous stop. In reality, however, accomplishing that under the stress of a violent confrontation is extraordinarily difficult.

The next best option is to disrupt the cardiovascular system as quickly and effectively as possible. A shot to the brain or spine will generally end the fight immediately because the body can no longer process the commands to continue. Shots to the chest target the largest area containing the cardiovascular system, though even those are not guaranteed to produce an instant stop.

The biggest problem with these discussions is that we have the luxury of analyzing them in reverse. We examine events in slow motion. We pause and replay video with an editor's precision. We dissect news footage frame by frame, deciding what we believe should have happened without ever experiencing the chaos of the moment.

No legitimate training program, for law enforcement or responsible armed citizens, teaches people to shoot to wound. Training is designed to develop fundamental motor skills until they become second nature, allowing the brain to function under extreme stress without interfering with split-second decision making.

The objective is simple: stop the threat as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The "shoot them in the leg" crowd also ignores the fact that a wound to the upper thigh can sever the femoral artery, causing a person to bleed to death in just a few minutes. There is nothing inherently "safe" about shooting someone in an arm or leg.

Under extreme stress, we all default to the skills we've practiced the most. The idea of intentionally trying to wound someone and then calmly reassessing the situation is simply unrealistic. If de-escalation has failed and every reasonable avenue of retreat has been exhausted, then the priority is to stop the threat as swiftly as circumstances allow. Leave the Monday morning quarterbacks to debate the rest.

There is no rewind button in real life. There is no pause button when violence erupts. It happens fast, it happens chaotically, and it rarely unfolds the way people imagine from behind a keyboard. Yes, good people can make bad decisions. Human beings are not infallible.

That said, until we've stood on the banks of the Rubicon ourselves, we should be cautious about passing judgment on those who have. The only decision that can be made with certainty is the one that gets any of us safely home if that fateful day ever comes our way.