Here's what Congressman Steve Scalise and family are learning this week. From "What Bullets Do to Bodies" by Leana Wen in The New York Times:
"I learned that it is not the bullet that kills you, but the path the bullet takes. A non-expanding (or full-metal-jacket) bullet often enters the body in a straight line. Like a knife, it damages the organs and tissues directly in its path, and then it either exits the body or, if it is traveling at a slower velocity, is stopped by bone, tissue or skin.
This is in contrast to expanding bullets, especially if shot from an assault rifle, which can discharge bullets much faster than a handgun. Once they enter the body, they fragment and explode, pulverizing bones, tearing blood vessels and liquefying organs.
I truly hope Steve Scalise recovers completely. He did not ask to be shot.
That said, this is a teaching moment about why everyone needs health care, about why all guns are not the same, and about how being locked and loaded (and even having two professional armed guards with you) will not keep you safe.
2 comments:
That description of bullet performance was so grossly over-simplified it was fundamentally incorrect. I went to the linked article. It's since been corrected and bears re-quoting.
Thanks for that -- corrected it after they corrected it.
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