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magillapd wrote:The truth is it doesn't matter. If this officer did have a G17 with this same exact situation, if the first bullet from the officers gun hit the guy in the right place, 1 shot with a 9mm could have stopped it. Heck, even a .22 in the right spot could have stopped it in one shot.

The point is, like others have pointed out, you don't stop shooting until the threat is over.

People have taken hits with a .45 numerous times and have lived.

It's about shot placement and luck! 9mm, 40, .357 sig, .45 ACP or heck .45 GAP all work if bullet hits in those magic sweet spots that instantly turn the BG's life switch off. Also, any of the above can miss all those spots and the fight continues.

I carry a G19 9mm right now and I have full faith that it can help to save my life. I will soon be carrying a G23 .40 and will feel just as safe with it.

If hitting those"magic sweet spots" was easy, everybody would be doing it.

The fact is they're few, tiny, and far between.

In a real fight when everyone is moving and shooting, both skill and luck are needed to put a round in a place that instantly drops the opponent. That's why it doesn't happen often, and one shot stops are the exception rather than the rule when facing a determined, deranged, or drugged up adversary.

03Lightningrocks wrote:Wow!!! These stories just keep on popping up! Like I said the last time. It gives me serious pause about my Kahr P380. Heck... it makes a feller wonder about his 9mm.

It is indeed prudent to reevaluate one's weapon choice in light of real life events to see how you might fare if you found yourself facing a similar adversary. If 17 rounds of .40 S&W took 4 minutes to stop a felon, one might consider how many rounds of .380 it would take, how quickly those could be delivered - and if that many rounds would even be available without a time out and a visit to an ammo counter.

There is a reason why folks who have been there when these types of events were happening often choose to carry the biggest gun in the biggest caliber that they can conceal on their bodies. They know that really bad people are incredibly hard to stop in a time frame short enough to do them any good.

Little guns in little calibers don't get the job done with anything close to a frequency that might provide some comfort. A more powerful handgun provides a better chance (not a certainty by any means) of surviving an encounter against a determined or drugged up adversary.

Lots of folks still count on bad guys falling down like the ones in the movies when hit with a small caliber round or two. Folks who have seen the results of little gun and big gun use up close and personal don't harbor any such illusions and find the inconvenience of a larger weapon envelope and a little more weight trivial in comparison to what can be done with it when the chips are down.