The Ballistic Pressure Wave Theory of Handgun Bullet Incapacitation

This paper presents a summary of seven distinct chains of evidence, which, taken together, provide compelling support for the theory that a ballistic pressure wave radiating outward from the penetrating projectile can contribute to wounding and incapacitating effects of handgun bullets. These chains of evidence include the fluid percussion model of traumatic brain injury, observations of remote ballistic pressure wave injury in animal models, observations of rapid incapacitation highly correlated with pressure magnitude in animal models, epidemiological data from human shootings showing that the probability of incapacitation increases with peak pressure magnitude, case studies in humans showing remote pressure wave damage in the brain and spinal cord, and observations of blast waves causing remote brain injury.