Dear Editor:
Re: If You Cannot Evacuate, by B.A.F. Regarding this bit of mis-information…
“If someone trying to get into your home is high on Methamphetamines or PCP, he won’t even feel a 9mm and a .40 Smith will only enrage him. The bare minimum I would have is a .38 +P or a .357 Magnum. Jacketed Hollow Points are the order of the day here! A .357 SIG in my opinion is also inadequate in these circumstances. Bottom line: Buy either a .357 Magnum for anyone or a .45 ACP such as a 1911 type semi-auto.”
I understand that the 9mm vs. 45ACP vs. whatever debate is endless and won’t be settled here. So, I don’t intend to advocate one caliber over the other with this response, but the statement above is bad information and bad information can be dangerous. Shot placement is the primary factor in the lethality of any gunshot wound. The difference between the damage caused by one round over another outside of placement is generally negligible. The idea that someone who “wouldn’t even feel” a 9mm would otherwise be stopped effectively by a .45 is just ludicrous. I don’t mean to be inflammatory, but that statement is dead wrong and could have deadly consequences for anyone foolish enough to accept it as truth. – Rochester-W.