But one of the most disturbing details from the report is certainly that the agent who discovered Routh fired six rounds from a distance of five feet and failed to hit the target even once. How is that even possible? I’m not a trained agent, and I’m sure I could have hit that target at least once with that many shots at such close range. This is a whole new level of incompetence that simply cannot be comprehended. [More]
Every person I’ve taken shooting for the first time has done better than that.
How did he pass requisite pistol training standards, and for that matter, what are they? Somebody ought to be pulling his records and — not to kneejerk cast unfounded aspersions — also asking if he had reasons not to hit the target.
[Via bondmen]
Wasn’t Routh behind a fence that was covered with foliage? Did the agent even see his target when he began blamming in its general direction?
Many cops never fire their weapon except to practice for and hopefully pass their annual qualification. Their (in)ability to hit a target reflects that. The average concealed carry license holder practices frequently, and as a result, is much better than the average cop when it comes to getting hits on target.
https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/justice/new-york-empire-state-shooting/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Empire_State_Building_shooting
“The officers fired with a total of 16 rounds, killing Johnson and injuring nine bystanders, none of whom suffered life-threatening wounds. Three of the bystanders were directly hit by police gunfire, while the rest of the injuries were caused by fragments of ricocheting bullets, or by debris from other objects hit by police.”
It gets better (or worse depending on your point of view).
After one of our hurricanes trashed Trail Glades Range in western Miami-Dade County., the firing line structures were rebuilt/renovated. Included was an overhang that would inhibit wild rounds from being able to fly over the backstop and contribute to lead pollution of the wetlands behind it.
The quantity of bullet holes that overhang now displays is simply mind boggling.
Also mind boggling are the number of range patrons I have observed that are unable to hit any part of a standard slow fire pistol target at 7 yards, much less keep their shots “in the black.”
We live in an imperfect world LOL!