From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If I was two yards from the guy and I could read the make and model
I would still treat it as a lethal threat. You have no idea what
the guy could have done to it to increase the power of the gun.
For all you know he could have bought it in France or somewhere
where they have a much higher muzzle energy.
If it's an air _pistol_, okay, fair enough, but air rifle?
No way, I'd shoot him! How many of you lot would volunteer to
be shot at close range with a 12 ft/lb air rifle?
Steve.
---
Steve, if I was dressed in the knife-proof or bullet-proof
vests the cops get, with thick clothes on, and a face shield
of some kind, yes, you could shoot me with a 12ftlb air-rifle.
I know you only have one shot (before I get to you), and that
yes, it might hurt like hell, but at least the poor bastard
isn't dead. I shot myself in the foot with a faulty airrifle
back when I was about 15, and it hurt a lot, but it didn't
kill me, or even stop me walking, and while no masacist, I
would rather take that again than know I killed someone's
husband or father, when I didn't have to. Odds are the
pellet wouldn't penetrate a thick coat, let alone a
stab-resistant vest. As for a head shot, well, that's perhaps
a bit different, but then an aimed (head)shot is VERY different
to some "raising a gun". With ballistic glasses on, I would
probably risk that too, thou.
As an aside, couldn't someone have used a scope to see it
was an air-rifle? After all, I've seen dozens of them, and
very few are even approximately the same as a real firearm. The
main give-away is, of course, the size of the hole in the
muzzle.
If someone sticks a blank-firer under your nose it is one
thing, but if it is an air-soft or a pellet gun, anyone who
has been around guns for a while should be able to call it 90%
of the time, even leaning on the pessimistic side. Pistols are
harder, but there aren't any of those now they are illegal...
The bloke with the airgun could have been taken down by
throwing a can of CS at him, from cover. After all, even a
real gun is no use without a target. This is how the
US police handle many of these situations, by backing off
and clearing the area, making it safe for a time so they can
talk (or take) the guy out.
Nigel
--
Few AFOs have face shields, and a shot in the eye could
be very serious. And even if he had been able to identify
it is an air rifle, it could have been much higher power
than 12 ft/lb. There is no way I would stake my life
on the guy shooting me in the chest rather than the face,
or stake my life on the rifle only having a muzzle energy
of 12 ft/lb. And I doubt there are any coppers who would
either.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
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