To Double Tap or Not.... And Why??

[Mtbkski]

Just to get a good discussion going. I was wondering how many of you tell yourself that you will "double tap" the bad guy that gives you any trouble? I see this all the time. We say it on ZRT thread. Everyone preaches it. But is it really the best way to train ourselves?

Why are you shooting him twice? Don't you feel you ammo will do the job?
Shouldn't you shoot them and keep shooting them till they fall down? Are you going to shoot the bad guy twice, then pause for effect (of your ammo on him), shoot him twice again, pause for effect?

Why aren't you just shooting them once? Wouldn't shooting him more than you have too lead to problems later in court? Isn't telling yourself you have to double tap overkill. Aren't you endangering others the more you shoot. What if only one shoot was efficient? That is why you carry the gun and ammo you do. Don't you have faith in it?

Remember, this is just to make some of us think. Don't take it personal. But what are you thoughts on the way you train yourself, cause that is what your going to do in a "crisis situation". And you may have to explain that in court one day.

[normanvin]

Interesting question.

I would think that if you train to double tap that is what you would do. WOuld this create legal issues? I don't know. Would there be any more issues if you fired once and then needed to fire again ten seconds later because the Bg did not stop?

And another question would be. Would there be any more issues of where in the BG's body you shot him? Can you be charged quicker if you shot him in the face then if you shot him in the leg?

[sicario]

I will shoot until there is no more threat, if that takes 1 round great. If it takes 17 more, so be it. I have plenty of ammo to offer.

[MischaBurns]

you pull the trigger till the threat is eliminated.

[JoshT]

I would shoot until the threat eaither runs away then falls down.

Along the same lines I talked to the greensberg police chief a month or two again and he said that if it comes to a defense shooting the best thing you can do is empty your gun. He said it didn't matter weather you shot the perp or the ground as long as you empty your gun. The way he explained it is that you want the situation to look like a panic situation when the cops arive.

Cop: "Sir, how many shots did you fire"
Shooter: "I don't even know, I panicked, I just pulled the trigger until I couldn't anymore"

Josh

[CHEMICAL]

I would shoot until the threat eaither runs away then falls down.

Along the same lines I talked to the greensberg police chief a month or two again and he said that if it comes to a defense shooting the best thing you can do is empty your gun. He said it didn't matter weather you shot the perp or the ground as long as you empty your gun. The way he explained it is that you want the situation to look like a panic situation when the cops arive.

Cop: "Sir, how many shots did you fire"
Shooter: "I don't even know, I panicked, I just pulled the trigger until I couldn't anymore"

Josh

I dont agree with this at all...this could all be turned around against you stating that youre not the right frame of mind to be carrying a gun and that you cant keep your cool and be level headed in a bad situation, and that youre a threat to public safety....what happens next time you "panic"...see what i mean?

[jahwarrior72]

i'm going with my daughter on this one: always double tap, just to be sure. seriously, though, i'd shoot until they attack stopped. if that means one shot, or 8.

[Lycanthrope]

Because pistol rounds just don't hit very hard in terms of instant incapacitation. Shooting one round and actually looking for a response is wasting time when the assailant may be shooting back.

Personally, I'm systematically draining the mag until I can register that the attacker is folded.

Lycantriple-quadrupletap?thrope

[thefirstndsecond]

Shoot until the threat is neutralized.

[ar15jules]

Training to simply "double tap" everything is bad training in my opinion. If you do train to dt, what do you do after? Come to a low ready? Stay in a high compressed ready? Holster? I just read an article in a law enforcement journal that indicated that officers who were trained to double tap where being injured because they would double tap and come to a low ready. The author pointed out that firing the number of rounds until the threat is no longer a threat is and always will be the appropriate thing to do. We need to avoid things like "shoot until the guy falls". A man on his back can't shoot back?????It is also a novel idea that if we do hit someone center mass with either a single round or double tap that they are going to instantly cease to be a threat. It just isn't usually the case. This is also a good thing to keep in mind if YOU are hit center mass with a round. The chances are very good that you WILL survive and need to continue fighting for your life. Single round, double tap, triple tap....what ever tap. Do what you need to do to LIVE. That is using the force required to prevent you or others from being killed or suffering severe bodily injury.
Jules