[GTL]

my understanding of a "double tap" is that it is referring to a technique that law enforcement (and to a lesser degree) military personal are trained to use when firing small arms at an armed assailant. when a police officer fires his weapon at someone he very often will not hit the target. in the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping it is very hard to be accurate with a pistol unless extremely close to a target. firing once or even twice at a target often is not enough to even hit the target.

for this reason, it is my understanding that police officers are trained to shoot a "double tap". this means using the sights on the pistol to aim at the targets center of mass and firing 2 shots. the second shot is fired after realigning one sight or simply bringing the gun back into the same position as the first shot using "feel".

there are arguments that 2 shots placed closely together aimed at a targets center of mass are more likely to be deadly, but it is also obvious that if you put one in the chest, one in the gut, and one in the head, it would be more lethal than putting three in the chest right next to each other.

the biggest advantage that a "double tap" gives is a way to practice shooting technique that will give you the best chance of hitting the target. also, it has been proven that after more than three shots in rapid succession accuracy drops off markedly. therefore, your best bet is to attempt a "double tap" at center mass, then pause and shoot another "double tap" if the target hasn't been knocked down.

if you are an amazing marksman and calm and collected under pressure you could theoretically pop the guy twice in the chest and then shoot him in the head. most people aren't capable of doing something like this quickly, with a gun pointed at them, or with someone shooting at them. so their best bet is to shoot a series of controlled bursts at center mass untill the target is on the ground. thats just the reality of it.

the bottom line is, a pistol is not a gun you bring to a gunfight. and police officers do not head into a gunfight with a pistol. they send in the swat team with rifles. when a police officer uses his gun it is almost always in a suprising situation where they are going to have a lot of factors making it difficult for them to fire accurate shots. the "double tap" is designed to get the most bullets shot accurately in the shortest period of time.

I'm not a gun owner, but I like reading about this kind of thing. I guess i'm kind of a gun nerd. can any of the gun nuts confirm or adjust my understanding here?