Why COM and not Pelvis?

[American1776]

Conventional training (in LE and private citizen) in use of force would have us shoot "center of mass" on the threat that needs to be stopped. The reasoning, as I take it to be, goes: COM is a large target and it houses many of the life supporting organs that allow the attacker to continue to harm us. It's the best bet for hit probability and for a stop.

I have heard several top trainers talk about shooting at the pelvis if the COM fails. The reasoning for pelvis shots: It's an area exposed by soft body armor, and it also is the cross-member support system of the bi-pedal attacker. A service caliber round to the pelvis has a good chance of shattering the bone, thereby causing the attacker to drop immediately.

My question is, why don't we aim for the pelvis first? It fits all the criteria for why we shoot COM, and in some respects is better at a quicker incapacitation. The pelvis is as large an area as COM. The pelvis is bowl shaped, almost like a huge catcher's mitt for a bullet. A single one shot stop is highly likely.

Dropping to the ground instantly is a better type of 'stop' than a heart or aorta shot where the attacker is still ambulatory.

Thoughts?

[streaker69]

[Walleye Hunter]

I like the idea of both, COM first, pelvis second. Chances are the perp has no health insurance and we, the taxpayers, will be footing the bill for his rehabilitation. I am opposed to that expense.

[mpan72]

Conventional training (in LE and private citizen) in use of force would have us shoot "center of mass" on the threat that needs to be stopped. The reasoning, as I take it to be, goes: COM is a large target and it houses many of the life supporting organs that allow the attacker to continue to harm us. It's the best bet for hit probability and for a stop.

I have heard several top trainers talk about shooting at the pelvis if the COM fails. The reasoning for pelvis shots: It's an area exposed by soft body armor, and it also is the cross-member support system of the bi-pedal attacker. A service caliber round to the pelvis has a good chance of shattering the bone, thereby causing the attacker to drop immediately.

My question is, why don't we aim for the pelvis first? It fits all the criteria for why we shoot COM, and in some respects is better at a quicker incapacitation. The pelvis is as large an area as COM. The pelvis is bowl shaped, almost like a huge catcher's mitt for a bullet. A single one shot stop is highly likely.

Dropping to the ground instantly is a better type of 'stop' than a heart or aorta shot where the attacker is still ambulatory.

Thoughts?

I don't think the pelvis is nearly as large as COM unless you break it down to lungs, heart, liver etc. As a whole COM is much larger. JMO.

I also believe in the heat of the moment COM is almost a natural area to point and click.

[American1776]

If one dual wields, one can go for the COM and one can go for the pelvis, all at once.

since I train to only shoot with the one pistol at a time, I can choose only one area on the attacker to shoot at first. Why not aim for the pelvis first and always, like we do now for COM?

[eyecanshoot]

My OCD is telling me to start at the top and work my way down.

[cdi]

Breaking the pelvic girdle can make people fall down- sometimes. Pistol rounds are not reliable enough to do that.
Shots to the pelvis are a failure drill in the event of body armor. The pelvis is loaded with blood bearing arteries and organs and outside the CNS, pistol rounds incapacitate through exsanguination. That's why com and not pelvis first.

[FLICK]

The pelvis, while it houses a lot of large blood vessels and is extremely painful when damaged, still allows the subject to fire back. It is not a critical injury that incapacitates quickly. They may be immobile and in extreme pain, but they can still fire back. Hard to fire back with brain box shots; heart and lung shot take less time for the subject to die or become unable to fight back....

[Knightshift]

Under extreme pressure a shot aimed the the center mass may end up being a pelvic shot with a quick trigger jerk. This would not be so bad if some follow ups DO hit farther north. There just have to be multiples going the bad guys way. Eventually between the eyes would do it.

[raxar]

There's something inherently rude about shooting someone in the dick, especially if you haven't given them the opportunity of being shot somewhere else first.