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Wasp spray, then a .45 loaded with snake shot.

Shooting to wound someone is simply asking them to take all your assets and property. Shoot to kill. Shoot until dead. Do not leave survivors (aka plaintiffs)

I guess I misinterpreted the post. I was thinking about those mobs that attack people in their cars or on the street. Someone who’s been sprayed with wasp spray or hit in the face with snake shot is not about to continue their attack.

If I may interject... Whew! So you're wearing one holster for wasp spray and another for the Judge loaded with snake shot - where's the 3rd one for when the swarm has missed or ignored your hints? Dunno where you live, but I wouldn't leave an aerosol can under pressure in the car during summer months, ya know?

I'm not making fun of you (or anyone else) whose first inclination is to shrink from taking a life. Lord knows I don't want to, either. If you can drive away or otherwise leave the scene, do so immediately. Nobody says you have to get the whole crowd - just the ones keeping you from fleeing to safety. But stuck in traffic means stuck until the bodies are piled too deep to keep coming at you. Remember, the question is about a flash mob, a swarm of people. And to quote Tommy Lee Jones's character in Men in Black, "Sure, a person is smart. But people are stupid." How much wasp spray ya got? Does it make an unmistakeable BOOM when you pull the trigger, so the ones further out recoil and make way for the closer individuals to scatter away?

With regard to so-called less lethal projectiles, consider the circumstances in which our LEOs/military personnel (or even the IDF) uses them: fired from a position of cover from the perp, along with an advantage in numbers. The guy shooting beanbags, rubber bullets/whatever is being covered by his comrades who are wielding lethal force.

Not even the professionals load less lethal ammo in their personal defense weapons, and it goes beyond not leaving a plaintiff who will sue. If you must fire at handgun distance, you are doing so in immediate fear for your life. Other means of avoidance are already impossible.

After the fact: You may declaim all you wish that you only meant to wound, but The Law, actually The System, names firearms defense "deadly force" under the presumption that you meant to kill. If you must shoot, shoot to stop, and if your attackers happen to fall dead, that's their problem. You flee to the nearest cop and enter your story first.

And yes, it is called "less lethal," vice "non-lethal," for a very good reason. That's been addressed on this thread by other posters. The other humans involved, and even your mindset at the time, are the variables. Don't screw it up even more with an iffy defense.

All IMHO, of course.