A Well Intentioned Idea Poorly Executed can Lead to Tragic Consequences
By Scott Kirshner
The world of personal safety is an ever changing cacophony of companies attempting to innovate the next best product they believe will unequivocally guarantee your safety. Unfortunately, most products do not live up to hype. On the flip side, consumers tend to rely too heavily on products and have unrealistic expectations. Consumers who over rely on a product often fail to spend time training to a high level of proficiency with the product to include any ancillary safety skills.
One product I have seen advertised over the years are less lethal pistols that shoot a “pepper ball” projectile. The problem is the mechanism used to shoot the projectile has a profile that closely resembles a firearm in shape and mechanism of action meaning it looks like a gun, has a trigger and sights. Some even include rails to attach a light or laser. Companies market these less lethal devices to civilians claiming that the product has been thoroughly vetted by the military or private security agencies. Such less lethal pistols when used by the military or private security agencies do not necessarily correlate to situations that the average citizen will encounter.
A benefit that is often touted by companies that sell less lethal pistols is the ability to maintain distance from the threat because the pistol has the ability to shoot a pepper ball projectile. While I am an advocate for using distance when it is tactically sound, in this application you have distance from a threat while holding a less lethal pistol that strongly resembles an actual pistol. This is a recipe for disaster. If it looks like a duck… A well intentioned idea poorly executed can lead to tragic consequences.
Deploying a pepper ball is considered less lethal which is force that is not likely to cause death or serious physical Injury. Less-Lethal devices, if used contrary to their purpose and training, may constitute the use of deadly force. Devices that can be used to apply less lethal force may include, but not be limited to:
- Pepper Ball Rounds
- Batons/Impact Weapons
- OC Spray
- Conducted Electrical Weapon
Let’s examine some potential problems with a less lethal pistol that resembles and functions similar to a firearm:
Distance: An advertised benefit of using a less lethal pepper ball pistol is the ability to create distance from the threat. But with increased distance the threat may believe a firearm is being pointed at him since it looks like a gun, it is being held like a gun, and the person is in a shooting stance. The threat may interpret this as an unlawful escalation of the current encounter. If armed with a firearm he may use his firearm in self-defense. Would a jury consider this response as justified?
Low-Light Encounters: In a low light encounter the same issues as described above will be encountered with the added complexity of less light. This situation can be exacerbated for the threat when trying to determine what is being pointed at him especially if he has poor vision, is exposed to a chemical agent, or receives an eye injury during the encounter. This can lead to escalation of force.
Law Enforcement Response: If law enforcement is responding to a call, the responding officers may interpret the less lethal pistol as a firearm and use lethal force. An officer will not be able to differentiate if the weapon being pointed is a less lethal pistol, BB gun, replica firearm, or a real firearm.
Differentiation: An individual who carries both a less lethal weapon and a firearm may not be able to differentiate – by feel alone – the difference between these two weapon systems. This is especially true in a high stress, close quarters, ambiguous, dynamic, and rapidly evolving encounter with potentially lethal consequences. Stress changes everything and what one can do in a low stress or no stress training environment will not necessarily transfer to a real world encounter. It is easy to believe that one would never grab the wrong weapon but it happens…sometimes with lethal consequences. A Slip and Capture Error which is where you intend to do one thing and end up doing another action which is different from what you intended. Examples of slip and capture errors include cases where a law enforcement officer believes he is grabbing a Taser but actually grabs and fires his duty weapon resulting in death.
Perception of Touch: If the less lethal weapon looks, feels, and functions similar to a firearm there may not be enough difference to perceive by touch alone which weapon is being grabbed. In a no-light situation or an encounter where ones vision is impaired there is the chance that one will reach for a non-lethal weapon but actually grab a firearm. This can happen in a situation where a homeowner places both a firearm and a less lethal pistol on a nightstand and grabs the wrong one when awakened out of a deep sleep and is in a dark room.
Motor Performance: If the less lethal pistol looks like a firearm then it is typically held in a holster that resembles a holster used for a firearm. Again, this creates a situation for increased confusion and the potential that the wrong weapon is used in a situation where it is not the appropriate response. Using a less lethal weapon during a lethal encounter is not good. Using a lethal weapon in a less lethal encounter is not good. Both have the risk of severe consequences. The motor skills will essentially be the same for both weapon systems because they look, feel and function similar. Less lethal devices should not look, feel, or function the same as a firearm. The motor actions to employ both should be different.
Gear and Gear Placement: Where and how gear is carried must also be considered especially when a firearm and a less lethal pistol is carried. It is critical to carry your equipment in the same location to reduce the chance of grabbing the wrong weapon. Anytime gear is modified, replaced, or repositioned it is absolutely critical to put in consistent training and practice to acquire new motor pathways to reduce confusion especially in a high stress, time compressed encounter. This is a lot of work. There is also concern when someone owns both a firearm and less lethal pistol but is not consistent in how they carry their weapons. For example, if there are times you carry your firearm in an OWB holster on your strong side hip and other times you carry a less lethal pistol in the same position, that can lead to problems in that you carry two different weapon systems in the same location at different times. A less lethal weapon should not be carried in the same location that a firearm is carried.
Speed of Violence: Many people fail to understand how fast violent encounters occur. The speed of an attack can occur in milliseconds to seconds. This is extremely fast. While beyond the scope of this article the speed of a violent attack is impacted by perception reaction times which impacts stimulus-response. At a fundamental level, if you lack situational awareness your response time will be slower. If you are the victim of an ambush attack you may not have the ability to respond. In an ambush attack the threat is using time, distance, and environment to his benefit. Because violence happens fast, it is imperative to consistently train so that you are better prepared. Ideally, you want to train to the point of automaticity which involves the learning of a cognitive process and a motor skill that when either is repeated sufficiently to automate it, the attention required to carry it out decreases to the point that it no longer requires conscious attention. It is critical to receive high-quality, contextually relevant training that leads to decisions and responses that are effective, legal, moral, and ethical.
Training: Most people do not train enough or train in a realistic manner that leads to retention and transfer of the skills being practiced. Training needs to occur in a contextually relevant environment that prepares you for situations you are likely to encounter. Research implies that training meet the following criteria:
- Specific to simulate the threat environment
- Physically, technically, and mentally contextually relevant
- Improve decision-making
- Adaptable under novel encounters
- Based on psychology, physiology, and kinesiology
- Dadelo, J. Piwowarski, R. Dadeliene; The Most Commonly Used Arrest and Self-Defence Actions Arsenal by Different Officers of Internal Services; Science of Martial Arts; Vol. 11:285; 2015.
These are important points considering how fast violent attacks occur. One cannot study violent encounters and simultaneously ignore the extreme speed of an attack. Failure to account for the speed of a violent attack can negatively impact training methodology. You are not going to have a lot of time to perceive a threat, analyze how your safety is impacted, decide on a course of action, and respond in a manner that is legal, moral, and ethical. And you must do this under extreme stress with potentially life threatening consequences. Are you training to this level?
Bottom Line:
The only weapon that should look like a firearm is a firearm. Companies need to significantly differentiate their design so that less lethal weapons do not look, feel, or function similar to a firearm. It doesn’t matter if the less lethal weapon is colored orange or it has another design feature that poorly attempts to differentiate it from a firearm. If a less lethal weapon looks like a firearm, feels like a firearm, and functions like a firearm it will probably be considered a firearm especially by the person it is pointed at during an encounter. A well intentioned idea poorly executed can lead to tragic consequences.
It’s all good; until it isn’t!
Scott Kirshner, M.Ed., INCI, is the President and Lead Instructor of Dedicated Threat Solutions, LLC where he facilitates courses on officer survival skills for government employees and violence mitigation strategies for civilians. He has extensive experience as an officer survival trainer to include lead defensive tactics instructor, firearms instructor, and use of force instructor.
