# Question about LEO "bragging rights", re: getting shot **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188 "2021-03-18T16:03:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/1 "2021-03-18T16:03:01Z")
Just a light question I thought of last night. On FBI, one of the characters got shot (at) by the bad guy, and his vest stopped the round. I believe his comment was “bruised a rib, but didn’t break the skin.” It got me thinking - would you say he “got shot”? He definitely got shot “at”, with ill intent. But I wouldn’t say he “got shot” if the skin wasn’t broken. IMO, the bullet has to go in before you have been “shot”. But he had physical damage. If he’s bragging up with fellow LEOs, and he says “I got shot”, but there’s no entry wound, no scar, would they laugh at him? “Vests don’t count!” So what do you think? Shot or not? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/2 "2021-03-18T16:10:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Shot or not? “Shot”. He was struck by the projectile, even injured slightly. Even the existing word “grazed”, meaning struck slightly in a fashion that resulted in a shallow laceration rather then a penetrating wound, implies “shot”. If ballistic armor becomes prevalent for long enough, maybe a new word meaning “shot but not penetrated” will arise in the lexicon of gunshot wounds. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/3 "2021-03-18T19:00:14Z")
Many years ago, a friend was shooting at a match. Another shooter’s bullet ricocheted off something and the spent bullet hit friend in the crotch. There was much shock and outrage, but no damage to friend or clothing. (The bullet actually landed on the ground in front of him and he had it plated and made into a necklace for his wife.) To this day, over 30 years later, friend still talks about that time he got shot in the balls. So, to my thinking, the person who got hit by the bullet gets to decide if they were shot or not. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/4 "2021-03-18T19:32:02Z")
Hell my ex-husband (who’s a cop) would talk about the time he was “shot at.” He wasn’t even hit, but figured being shot at was enough to prove that his job was dangerous. Ditto with getting Malotov cocktail thrown at him – he wasn’t hit, but the point was that the danger element was there. It’s not as impressive as getting shot, but it’s something. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/5 "2021-03-19T04:03:31Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > “Shot”. He was struck by the projectile, even injured slightly. Even the existing word “grazed”, meaning struck slightly in a fashion that resulted in a shallow laceration rather then a penetrating wound, implies “shot” By this definition, and I’m not saying I disagree, I’ve been shot. I was participating in a pistol match, shooting steel targets, and a piece of bullet jacket bounced back and struck me just below my right eye. There was little pain, but a moderate amount of blood. The piece of jacket was plucked from my face and discarded. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/6 "2021-03-19T05:36:30Z")
Shot. Not that I’ve been in any conversation like that. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/7 "2021-03-19T06:32:32Z")
Hit with a bullet fired by a gun? 100% shot. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/8 "2021-03-19T07:35:30Z")
If someone picked up a bullet and threw it at him then he was not shot. If the bullet was fired from a gun then he was shot. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/9 "2021-03-19T16:44:29Z")
What if I’m wearing puffy MC Hammer pants, and the bullet goes through my clothing but doesn’t hit my body? Shot or shot _at_? In both this case and with the vest, the bullet hit something I was wearing but not my body. Personally, I’d use the hockey rule that it only counts as a shot if it would have gone in without the goalie. So hitting my vest is shot, putting a hole in my pants is shot at. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/10 "2021-03-19T16:51:02Z")
I’m glad you put “bragging rights” in quotes. I’m guessing that the majority of the time an officer gets shot, it’s because they weren’t taking proper precautions. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/11 "2021-03-19T18:47:13Z")
🍿 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/12 "2021-03-20T01:15:25Z")
When I was in Baghdad, a sniper shot the guard in front of my office and hit him square in the vest, which cracked. He got shot. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-leo-bragging-rights-re-getting-shot/938188/13 "2021-10-24T15:44:56Z")
Legally, he was shot. Physically, he was struck by a non-penetrating projectile issued by a firearm. Medically, he suffered a gun shot wound (GSW) with minor contusion but no penetration. FWIW, I have been hit in body armor by a relatively low power handgun round (.380 Auto). It hurt like a motherfucker and left a bruise that turned a remarkable array of colors and left subcutaneous scarring in the immediate location of the strike. I would definitely say that I was shot. Stranger