laststandonzombieisland

A longheld trope of defensive shotgun use is to run low brass birdshot as the first shell to “pepper” the threat as sort of a less-lethal round. Discouragement in the form of BBs. Dave Chappelle recently reinforced that with his whole (rather blue) “pepper em up nicely” bit that ends with the gun being “Jamaican: buckshot, buckshot, buckshot.”

The thing is– as they teach you in every “less-lethal” shotgun course covering bean bags, rubber buck, et. al– is that even those low-powered special-purpose rounds can be very deadly under many circumstances, especially in shots above the waist delivered at close range. Fundamentally, if you are pointing a gun in someone’s general direction, consider it a lethal force encounter, no matter what it is loaded with.

In a nutshell, warning shots aren’t, and “less lethal” is still lethal.

An example is given: A 76-year-old man was recently involved in a self-defense encounter in his home when he fired a single round from his Taurus Judge at a 36-year-old subject who he felt was about to batter him. The round was a .410 birdshot load, aimed at the aggressor’s shoulder. The subject did not make it.

For a good primer on birdshot effectiveness at range, check out Professor Harrell, below