This has come up on another forum and on the AR15 mailing list recently, so I thought I'd post my thoughts here.
Many people who keep a 12 gauge shotgun as their primary home defense weapon have contemplated the use of 12 gauge less lethal ammunition. This ammunition is available from a couple commercial sources as well as the traditional police supply houses. You may well have received a Blammo Ammo Company or Firestorm catalog in the mail and wondered about these rounds. On the surface, they may seem to be the answer to defending your family without actually killing an intruder. Lets look at this for a minute.
In police terminology, these are referred to as
LESS LETHAL rounds. That's right, not non-lethal or un-lethal (not even sure that's a word
). They can be lethal. Police departments only use them in a situation where use of deadly force is already justified. So loading the old 870 or Mossy with beanbags or rubber batons won't give you leave to shoot in a situation you couldn't ordinarily. You can't use them as the modern version of the mythical rock salt (that I have never known to be actually used) to teach the tresspassers a harmless, but painful lesson about not coming back. All the rules that apply for buckshot and slugs apply here.
The 12 gauge less lethal options available are not very effective. I know of at least one State Police Agency that will no longer employ the 12 gauge less lethal muntions. Because they are so unreliable as stoppers, you have to backup the person employing them with deadly force, should the less lethal option fail to stop the attack and even escalate it. This makes employment of them a team activity. So you'll have to train your spouse or significant other to back you up if you intend to use this option. So what happens if you have a break in while you're home alone and your shotgun is loaded with beanbags? What will you do if your first shot has no effect but to anger your assailant. How quickly can he be on you from the length of your hall or across your room? Can you load a lethal round and fire it in that amount of time?
Then there is the problem of controlling your intruder after you've shot him. Say it was a good night, and you made the perfect solar plexus shot with your beanbag and you've knocked the wind out of your assailant and he's laying on your hallway floor with the wind knocked out of him...Now what?? You've created another interesting problem for yourself. What do you do with your intruder? In a few moments he's going to recover. Will he sit quietly and wait for the police to arrive, or will you have to "shoot" him again? And what if the less lethal round doesn't have the desired effect this time? Do you have to add restraints to your home defense arsenal? That's not a good idea. More peace officers are injured handcuffing then almost any other activity they engage in. So slapping the cuffs on the guy you just stunned isn't the smartest idea either...besides the fact that in some jurisdictions, you may be charged with Unlawful Restraint for doing that.
In short...the next time you walk in from the mailbox with your catalog from one of the specialty ammuntion companys and you flip open the pages to the neat 12 gauge rounds, don't look at those beanbag, rubber shot, rubber or wooden baton rounds as the answer to your home defense problem. If you are in a position where you must use deadly force to protect your life and others....use deadly force.
Jeff
Many people who keep a 12 gauge shotgun as their primary home defense weapon have contemplated the use of 12 gauge less lethal ammunition. This ammunition is available from a couple commercial sources as well as the traditional police supply houses. You may well have received a Blammo Ammo Company or Firestorm catalog in the mail and wondered about these rounds. On the surface, they may seem to be the answer to defending your family without actually killing an intruder. Lets look at this for a minute.
In police terminology, these are referred to as
LESS LETHAL rounds. That's right, not non-lethal or un-lethal (not even sure that's a word
). They can be lethal. Police departments only use them in a situation where use of deadly force is already justified. So loading the old 870 or Mossy with beanbags or rubber batons won't give you leave to shoot in a situation you couldn't ordinarily. You can't use them as the modern version of the mythical rock salt (that I have never known to be actually used) to teach the tresspassers a harmless, but painful lesson about not coming back. All the rules that apply for buckshot and slugs apply here.The 12 gauge less lethal options available are not very effective. I know of at least one State Police Agency that will no longer employ the 12 gauge less lethal muntions. Because they are so unreliable as stoppers, you have to backup the person employing them with deadly force, should the less lethal option fail to stop the attack and even escalate it. This makes employment of them a team activity. So you'll have to train your spouse or significant other to back you up if you intend to use this option. So what happens if you have a break in while you're home alone and your shotgun is loaded with beanbags? What will you do if your first shot has no effect but to anger your assailant. How quickly can he be on you from the length of your hall or across your room? Can you load a lethal round and fire it in that amount of time?
Then there is the problem of controlling your intruder after you've shot him. Say it was a good night, and you made the perfect solar plexus shot with your beanbag and you've knocked the wind out of your assailant and he's laying on your hallway floor with the wind knocked out of him...Now what?? You've created another interesting problem for yourself. What do you do with your intruder? In a few moments he's going to recover. Will he sit quietly and wait for the police to arrive, or will you have to "shoot" him again? And what if the less lethal round doesn't have the desired effect this time? Do you have to add restraints to your home defense arsenal? That's not a good idea. More peace officers are injured handcuffing then almost any other activity they engage in. So slapping the cuffs on the guy you just stunned isn't the smartest idea either...besides the fact that in some jurisdictions, you may be charged with Unlawful Restraint for doing that.
In short...the next time you walk in from the mailbox with your catalog from one of the specialty ammuntion companys and you flip open the pages to the neat 12 gauge rounds, don't look at those beanbag, rubber shot, rubber or wooden baton rounds as the answer to your home defense problem. If you are in a position where you must use deadly force to protect your life and others....use deadly force.
Jeff
