Reply #286: Actually, it's to hit.

[AtheistCrusader]

Humans are difficult targets, and most humans are unprepared to kill. There are also aspects of this, such as courts finding people who fired at someone's leg to disable, by default, in fact did not fear for their lives, and were therefore not justified in using deadly force.

If your goal is to kill, honestly, you'd be practicing with moving targets the size of a silver dollar, and in an actual conflict, be aiming for the lower half of your target's head.


The torso is simply the largest available target, and compensates for the fact that the shooter's hand is unlikely to be steady (adrenaline, etc), and the target is likely to be in motion. Improves the odds of scoring a hit. Unfortunately, it doesn't ensure your safety, as you pretty much have to hit the spine to actually STOP your target. Still, a hit of any kind is better than no hit at all, and there is a chance you'll get a CNS hit, and flat-out halt your attacker.