When room clearance is the order of the day, SWAT cops work as a team. Provided they have a choice, they would no more clear a room all by their lonesome than wear frilly clothes and sing Broadway show tunes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that . . .
If and when you hear a genuine bump in the night, don’t be so quick to go clear you house — even if you’ve been taught the fine art of “pieing” a room. Assume a defensive position, call the cops and let them scare away the bad guys and/or root them out.
Will they care if it’s a false alarm? They will not. Well, at least the first two times. Hey, your tax dollars hard at work.
There is a technique that SWAT teams have in their arsenal that you might want to consider: the contact or close contact shot.
As my good friend GY6 points out in his own special way, contact shots are devastating. When it comes to stopping an imminent credible threat of grievous bodily harm or death, devastating is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Don’t get me wrong: SWAT teams use rifles. Rifles are much better than handguns in a lot of ways. They’re especially awesome at longer distances. See bad, shoot bad guy. As many times as necessary. Threat stopped.
MAYBE.
Sometimes bad guys get lucky or dodge bullets (who knew?). Sometimes they wear body armor. Pelvic shots — one of the best way to defeat body armor — are a bitch on a moving target. Head shots? Same deal, only more so.
These disabling shots are harder at long distances than close (d’uh). So SWAT guys are taught to get close if and when they can’t git ‘er done from far a distance. You know: aggress towards the target. Fast.
How close? As close as possible. In fact, when it comes to active shooters, who may have a bomb activation device on their person, contact shots are a primary tool in the SWAT cops’ strategic toolbox.
It’s not something the police like to talk about, for obvious PR-related reasons.[So-called “anchor shots” even less so.] But contact shooting is something you should have in your head — and not just for close-quarters combat (as demonstrated above).
For home defense, contact or close contact shots have the three main advantages.
First, you’re less likely to miss. The possibility of collateral damage due to “stray” rounds or over-penetration (bullets penetrating walls and such and hitting friendlies) is reduced if not eliminated.
Second, again, close-range shots pack an extra special punch. As wikipedia.org points out, “Wounds caused by contact shots are very devastating, as the body absorbs the entire discharge of the cartridge, not just the projectile.”
Also keep in mind that your refrigerator provides the only real cover (a material that bullets can’t penetrate) in your entire house. Good luck putting your ‘frig’s condenser between you and a bad guy.
The trick: get close. How? Find your inner warrior and move, make that run towards the bad guy; ready to fire, several times. Bring your gun to the bad guy’s body and press the trigger.
Some people worry about their semi-automatic pistol going out of battery during a contact shot (i.e. the gun won’t fire when the slide’s pressed back). I’m not sure how much a real world problem this is. If you’re concerned, don’t jam your pistol into the bad guy’s body, make a close-contact shot and call it good.
I’m not saying that it’s always possible to get within bad breath distance of a bad guy, either practically or psychologically. But I am saying that you should give contact or close contact shots serious consideration.
Bonus! Most bad guys won’t be expecting you to attack. And what is a defensive gun use except a counter-attack? Nothing. Literally.