New York Assembly bill would require cops to use “minimum force” when shooting bad guys – “wing’im, Dano”.
The so-called “minimum force” bill says, “(a peace officer or police officer) uses such force with the intent to stop, rather than kill, the person who he or she reasonably believes is using unlawful force, and uses only the minimal amount of force necessary to effect such stop.”
And any cop who actually shoots to kill will be charged with manslaughter.
Understand that under current law, a policeman is justified in using his or her weapon only under the most dire circumstances. In effect, they can’t use deadly force unless their life or the life of bystanders is in danger. So faced with that situation, they should shoot for the perp’s gun hand? Sheesh.
I’m a fair shot with a pistol and at seventy-five feet, on a range, without adrenaline, I can put most of my shots in a six-inch group. On the street, with someone shooting at me, could I really aim for his leg or shoot the gun out of his hand? Someone up in New York has been watching too many westerns. You aim for the body mass and keep shooting until the bastard goes down.
(Since I don’t carry a gun except on a range, I actually could do nothing were a bad guy to shoot at me except duck. But if I were an armed police officer, I sure wouldn’t want to worry about a manslaughter charge applying were I to miss the shooter’s arm and put a bullet in his chest, instead.)