I thought modern kneecaping involved the use of a Black and Decker drill. Indeed, before that a pistol was used. A shotgun could take off the whole leg, while the purpose of a kneecapping should be short term pain and a long term reminder.
Agreed, I always heard kneecapping was done with a baseball bat. A shotgun tends to kill....I think the paper brought out the most extreme case, to scare the normal sheep....