re: Mom kills masked intruder in gunfight protecting disabled son while handcuffed to chair

quote:

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This should be a lesson to everyone. She was shot repeatedly, with probably a 9mm, and lived, unattended for hours. Amazing. She smoked her attacker with the closest thing you can get to a .45ACP (.38 and .40 don't really count), and he's dead. She isn't.

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I get the sentiment, but caliber has far less to do with it than shot placement. Her bullets hit vital stuff and his didn't. Even good shot placement, in general terms, is no guarantee that specific things get hit.

Most gunshot wounds, believe it or not, are non-fatal. The human body is extremely resilient and will do incredible things to compensate for injury and stay alive. You have to hit major plumbing or electrical to kill it.

Caliber isn't a non-factor, but it's a ways down the list. Whatever caliber you can shoot with reliable and consistent accuracy, under pressure, is better than a hand cannon that you cannot.