Hoi Chummer, thought you might get a kick out of this one. When Science Fiction becomes Science Fact.

http://www.discover.com/issues/jun-04/rd/e...ets-save-lives/

Fades to Black

QM.

So, in effort to pull it to SR... does John LeBourgeois win Dunk's nonlethal bequest some 50 years before he dies?

My second thought is... okay, one shot does 50k volts and does bad things to muscles and nervous systems to shutdown the individual.

Would that really be much of a difference in the case that supposedly inspired this guy? 40 rounds before he hit the floor? Um... that much stun overflow, even at one box a stage... Guess Mr. Amadou Diallo would have had to have been a Troll.

Gun. Raygun. Though I do find the image of a machinegun toting, armless, legless cartoon character vaguely amusing.

In any case, point about the Diallo case was that they could've put him down with one round had they had Shockrounds, or so the advertisements claim. Of course, lots of people would suggest that cops just be better trained, but that's neither here nor there.

True. Their marksmanship in the Diallo case was horrible.

-Siege

Yep. By being better trained they coulda saved the taxpayers almost $5 in bullets.

Well, and not killed the guy, which some would consider more valuable.

JaronK

Without video evidence, it is impossible to determine what actually happened.

However, if Mr. Diallo did something like reach in a pocket while turning around, most cops would assume that to be a threatening gesture.

Especially in the face of three officers with drawn weapons.

Now, since we don't have video evidence, it's equally possible the officers opened fire without any provocation and were just incompetent.

However, the fact remains the marksmanship was atrocious, especially for close quarters work.

-Siege

Not to mention that 40 rounds on target and many more off tends to ring false with most people as professional, cool headed action.

3 cops managed to put 40 rounds into him. I'm assuming nobody stopped to reload just to be a dick about it. Allowing for high capacity magazines that's, what, 5 missed shots? Hardly "many more off."

More info here.

Ah. Discover needs to realize that “the police put 40 bullets in him before he hit the ground" is not the same as "the police fired 40 bullets at him before he hit the ground."

But it sounds more dramatic, so run with it. It's only news after all.

Put these puppers in an Ares Alpha and street sams REALLY have the playing field levelled for them against spirits.

NYPD is one of the worst places a cop would work for. At the time all the weapons they issued or authorized were fed a standard pressure 115gr. 9mm Ball from 15-shot magazines. 9mm is NYPD's only authorized cartridge and police departments are notorious for cutting weapons training at any budget crunch.

The four cops at the diallo shooting carried a Glock 19 (with modified horrible NY heavy trigger), 2 Sig-Sauer P-226 (DAO) and a S&W 5946 (horrible DAO).

I wouldn't feel comfortable if the only choices i had in sidearms were DAO 9mm FMJ, and it gives me the feeling that their training program is little more than spray n pray.

http://www.thegunzone.com/glock/phase3.html

about the Taser Bullet, he says he has yet to test it. nuff said.

What does DAO mean, again?

Double Action Only

@ Capt. Dave/Siege: Ahhhh, right...Thanks!

Back to the drifted topic...*sigh* I guess they get more target practice on-duty than in training.

Poor standards in training require more initiative from officers to keep their weapons skills sharp.

Unforunately, expecting officers to pursue such training outside of department mandate is more of an ideal than any real basis in fact.

As I understand it, most departments handle weapons training like a college course -- you take it and then move on to your next course. Given how mission-critical this happens to be, I would expect a heavier emphasis on such duties.

-Siege

Maybe it's because I live in a small Ga. town, but 90% of the officers here train
with weapons a lot. Our S.W.A.T. team is made up of beat officers, and I
know they keep up their training.

Oddly enough, they've only had to shoot one person. Most of them feel that if they have to use their weapons, they should be able to use them effectively.

Hell, they'll get a few of them together at the range
off duty to practice for fun.

Another Georgia geek -- glad to meet you.

-Siege

Same here

A few quotations off of The High Road.

It's not especially surprising given how little firearms training is given in some areas.

However, I choose to console myself with the idea that these are the exception and not the rule.

Yes, I have a first class ticket to denial.

-Siege

I had 2 pistols once when I got pulled over. The arresting officer tried to put the wrong clip in the wrong pistol and would wind up jamming the clips in the wrong guns. It was a bitch getting them repaired. In my state your weapons are not allowed to be loaded while in transferre. When the cops saw them they retreaved all the weapons and components. When they saw two were clip fed they tried to put the clips in the pistols. Which like I said jammed them up. Luckly no rounds were int he clips. I am amazed the cops couldn't tell the difference between the different caliber pistols. I was further amazed they didn't try sticking a click in the cyclinder gun after I found they jammed the clips in the guns.