A fabulous article over at Police One about a Skokie, IL police officer who engaged in a gun battle with a Gangster Disciple bank robber who was one highly motivated bad guy who took 13 hits from a .45 auto – including six fatals – before a trio of head shots finally put him out of the fight 56 seconds into it.
And this was a firearms instructor who was a great shooter, not some rookie who “never fired a gun before he just finished the academy” shooter who struggles with the qualification shoot.
This is why you carry extra ammo.
Personally, I carry two spare mags always. When carrying in free states, I carry two extra mags, almost universally 17-round G17 mags even if I’m carrying my Glock 19.
It’s also another reason to fight politicians who would saddle you with 10-round magazines for some arbitrary reason.
Here’s the story. It’s a great read.
We’ll tease you with the summary.
Lessons learned from facing an “invincible” assailant
By Charles Remsberg
Sgt. Timothy Gramins who fired 17 .45-cal. rounds into a hell-bent suspect before putting him down offers these lessons learned from his extraordinary fight for his life:
1.) Beef up your ammo reserves. “A lot more rounds are being exchanged in today’s gunfights than in the past. With offenders carrying heavier weapons, going on patrol with just a handgun and two extra magazines no longer cuts it. Carry more ammo. Always have a backup gun. Carry a loaded rifle where you can reach it. I can’t express how quickly your firearm will go empty when you’re shooting for real. There’s no worse feeling than pulling the trigger and hearing it go ‘click’.”
2.) Practice head shots. “When you fire multiple ‘lethal’ rounds into an attacker and he keeps going, you don’t have the luxury of waiting 20 or 40 more seconds for him to die while he can still shoot at you. Don’t waste time arguing the relative merits of various calibers. No handgun rounds have reliable stopping power with body shots. Pick the round you can shoot best and practice shooting at the suspect’s head.”
But but but but but this only applies to the “only ones”.