Ralph Yarl: How does a person get up after being shot in the head?

We are all very happy about the news that Ralph Yarl, the young man in Kansas City who was shot by a homeowner for the “crime” of being on the wrong front porch while being Black, has been released from the hospital, quite possibly with no permanent damage to his body. You might be wondering how someone can be shot in the head, then again in the body, and still manage to run away and end up in pretty good shape, so I thought I’d write a quick note about it for your edification.

First off, all handgun cartridges are relatively ineffective, and people routinely receive multiple bullet wounds from a handgun and manage to survive — even if the cartridge involved was relatively effective (e.g., 9x19mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP). The same is not true of wounds caused by a rifle cartridge; these are all extremely serious and likely to result in death. (I’ll ask those who are detail-oriented to please refrain from nitpicking; I understand it isn’t that simple.)

Second, the racist shot at Mr. Yarl using a .32 caliber handgun. It isn’t clear which of the several .32 caliber cartridges this was, but in general, this cartridge size is considered to be inadequate for any purpose according to anyone who knows anything about ballistics. The cartridge case is relatively small, so it holds less powder, and it is an older cartridge, so the powder specified is less powerful (i.e., slower burning) than more modern powders. The bullet is relatively light.

To be clear, there are people who keep a .32 caliber handgun for “self-defense” but it’s a weird choice that I suspect only older people would make. Most .32 caliber cartridges will fire a bullet that weighs about 100 grains at about 700 feet per second. Contrast that with the best handgun cartridge, the 9x19mm, which would fire a heavier (at least 115 grains) bullet at around 1135 feet per second. These may not seem like dramatic differences, but in terms of ballistics, they are.

I say “older people” for a couple of reasons: 1) They might have just never received the memo that .32 is an inadequate round, and that 9x19mm is objectively the best handgun round; 2) They may have hand strength issues and are choosing a less powerful cartridge for that reason. The weakest cartridges I recommend to people (and only if they have hand strength concerns) would be .380 ACP (9x17mm; typically around 90 grains and 960 feet per second) or .38 Special (158 grains, 770 feet per second) for revolvers.

It isn’t clear exactly which .32 caliber cartridge he used, but even under “ideal” conditions, a .32 caliber cartridge is not reliably deadly, and these were not “ideal” circumstances: The racist fired the first shot through a door at Mr. Yarl; it isn’t clear whether the second shot was through the door as well, but I suspect it was. Regardless of what type of door that was, it would have decelerated and deformed the bullet. A slower bullet is significantly less dangerous than a faster one. The bullet having lost its intended shape can have unexpected consequences, but would generally be expected to make it less likely to penetrate a person’s body.

Between the marginal cartridge that the racist chose and the fact that he chose to fire through a door, the impact on Mr. Yarl’s body was probably closer to what you might expect to experience with an air gun than a firearm — certainly a very bad thing (i.e., still in the realm of “seriously wounded”), but very survivable. All head injuries are very serious business, but based on Mr. Yarl’s quick release from the hospital, he probably has no brain damage (probably not even a concussion). Thank God.

Finally, in terms of the act of getting up after being shot, the most important factor is the psychology of the person. Even a gunshot wound that will ultimately be fatal is unlikely to be immediately fatal, and that allows a person who has been shot to make a choice about what to do in the immediate aftermath of having been shot — though, not the kind of “choice” we generally imagine making. To his credit, Mr. Yarl chose to get up and run.

One thought on “Ralph Yarl: How does a person get up after being shot in the head?”

  1. What genius “objectively” decided the 9mm parabellum is the best handgun round? You are right that a long gun is more effective, which is why a pistol is best when it’s used to fight your way to a nearby rifle if one’s available.

    Yes, 9’s typically hold more rounds than the same model of handgun in a larger caliber. That’s important because; A) limp-wrists can’t deal with the “punishing recoil” of larger rounds, and B) those extra rounds are necessary because limp-wrists need more rounds to hit a target.

    I have it from a professional in the field, my county’s medical examiner, that one of the most effective rounds out right now is Federal Hydra-Shok Deep Jacketed Hollow Point in .45ACP. He says that of all the one-shot-stops he sees, the Hydra-Shok, and other .45ACP rounds are over represented. Especially anything with a +P+ after those golden numerals!

    Another stellar round is Double-Tap’s 10mm 135gr Controlled Expansion which trundles along at 1600 fps out of my 5″ Wilson Combat 1911 (9+1) and my XDm (15+1). The 10 is also a very effective hunting round, able to take most animals in the lower 48. Try that with a 9 and you’re going to jail for attempting to unethically harvest a game animal.

    I’ll admit I have the XDm in 9mm parabellum (19+1) as well but only because the round is so damn easy to suppress. I will gladly give up the extra 4 rounds to you spray-and-pray commandos for the ability to disable a running car or bear, put food on the table and protect the lives of everyone in my household when you limp-writs decide to gang up on us peaceful folk.

    True story, I was at a LGS and saw the guy behind the counter was carrying a Sig 1911. I noticed it because it had the typical rounded 1911 slide profile rather that that stupid squared profile Sig uses to make the other 1911s in their lineup look more like Sig’s P models. Anyway, he bragged that it was in 9mm and carried 9+1. I pointed to the Dan Wesson Silverback 1911 on my hip and told him my 10mm carried the very same 9+1. Both were full sized “government models.”

    Yeah, you limp-wrists can keep on with your mag-dumps and I’ll keep training on 2 hits home and another in the dome!

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