Are not a myth. Apparently. “Investigators in New Mexico say a Chaparral man who was cleaning his handgun Saturday morning accidentally shot his 4-year-old son and the bullet passed through the boy and hit the man’s mother.” Assuming the AP’s reporting a negligent discharge, it seems the man from The Land of Enchantment forgot all that stuff about checking your weapon before cleaning (or doing anything else with it for that matter), always keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, never placing your finger on the trigger until you are in the act of destroying your target and only working on your gun in a sterile (as opposed to target rich) environment. Never mind all that . . .
Or the dangers of not penetrating your target enough. (Studs that they are, the FBI requires bullets capable of 11″ penetration) And never mind all the bullets that miss their intended target completely, which could cause a single penetration problem for an unintended victim. We must concentrate on buying bullets and shotgun pullets that don’t over-penetrate their target. You have been warned.
Oh and what about this? “Investigators regard it as an accident but are sending the case to prosecutors to determine whether negligence played a role.” So it could have been a non-negligent discharge where a gun owner shot two people by accident? Go figure.
Updated:The shooter is believed to be 26-year-old Aaron C. Eliserio, based on phone records, but Nevarez declined to confirm or deny that information.
Eliserio identifies himself both as a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and a corrections officer at a detention center on his MySpace profile online. One of his photos, in which he shows one of his sons how to hold a small handgun, is titled, "never to [sic] early to play with guns."
Sounds like that DEA guy "I am the only one in this room qualified to handle this POP!"
So because a projectile penetrate a 4 year old and was able to wound another individual overpenetration is a serious concern. Gotcha.
Maybe if you think all the bad guys you will face are 4 year olds.
And the FBI minimum is 12", not 11" and it is the minimum. The optimum is about 16" to 18" of penetration, with reason.
Overpenetration largely is a myth. Hitting an adult is significantly different than hitting a child.
A 4 year old’s torso is about as thick as my thigh. If the bullet managed to miss bone, you are looking at about a 10 inch block of ballistics gel. Even if it managed to hit a rib, you are talking about an small, underdeveloped bone. Basically you could have written this article about a man who shot his dog and hit someone behind them.
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