http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Psychological-Cost-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932
My sister was involved in investigating a case in Germany where the OSI and German police fired hundreds of rounds at targets who were trying to kill an undercover agent. Dispite the fact that the targets had zero cover, the OSI and German police hit no one. The book above explains why and the investigation revealed that they were incapable of actually killing anyone, even to save one of their own. The book above is an awesome read. Anybody who carries concealed or protects their house with a gun should read it. Mostly, people use display behavior. They fire for effect with no intention of killing. (Animals do this by hissing and trying to look bigger. It’s the same thing.)
We have trained our cops and FBI to the point where they are more a danger to themselves and bystanders than to somebody trying to kill them.
The upshot of the investigation was that no OSI agent was actually capable of killing anybody. The report was sent back and re-written to a conclusion less embarrassing.
Maybe they were just lousy shots. When adrenalin kicks in, it easy to pull, not squeeze the trigger.
I was trained to shoot center mass. I think that if I had to pull the trigger I would have hit my target, but I am thankful still that I never did. After reading that book, I am grateful that I was not put in that situation. (To be accurate, I did have a pistol or shotgun aimed at people a couple of times, but the situation was resolved without gunfire.)
Thanks for that.
That’s incredibly interesting.
I read once about battlefield forensics, that it was common for archeologists and those who dig up old weapons at old battlefields to find a musket loaded with as many as 10 rounds.
That means that a soldier was out there running around on the battlefield and loading his weapon but never firing it.
Not just once, but it appears again and again.
Thanks again for the link and info.