# Why don't police use tranquilizers in their guns instead of bullets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986 "2005-06-27T03:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/21 "2005-06-27T17:16:00Z")
It’s a clique in many a work of fiction to end a hostage situation by having some coffee brought to the hostage taker which is (a) loaded with sleeping pils and (b) delivered by a plain clothes police officer who ihas some many uppers in him that an elephant tranquilizer wouldn’t cause him to blink, much less fall asleep. The hostage taker makes the delivery guy drink first, assures himself there’s nothing in the drink, then drinks the rest and nods out. I don’t know if this is ever done in real life. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/22 "2005-06-27T17:31:00Z")
Also, tranquilizer darts are probably more likely than bullets to get hung up in someone’s clothing and not actually penetrate through. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/23 "2005-06-27T17:46:46Z")
Another thing. Cops aren’t exactly trained to “shoot to kill”. They’re trained to stop the target. But guns are always deadly force, every time you shoot a gun at someone you are using deadly force. You can’t shoot to wound, attempting to shoot someone in the leg can easily kill them, even if you actually hit them in the leg. Every time you shoot at a live target you are shooting to kill, no matter what you think you’re doing. Cops are trained to shoot for the center of mass because that’s the best way to hit the target and the best way to stop the target. Getting hit in the center of mass is very likely to kill someone, but that isn’t the goal even if it is a forseeable consequence of shooting someone. If the target turns out to be alive after the shooting stops the cops don’t finish him off like they might if the goal was a dead target, they call for medical assistance for the guy. If “shooting to kill” isn’t justified, then using a gun at all even as a threat isn’t justified. If deadly force isn’t warranted, then using a gun isn’t warranted. If deadly force is warranted, then you use deadly force, even if the goal isn’t neccesarily to end up with a dead target. You want the target on the ground incapable of doing anything, and if the only way to achieve that is if the target is dead, so be it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/24 "2005-06-27T17:55:02Z")
I demand that all police officers be taught the Vulcan Nerve Pinch! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/25 "2005-06-27T20:47:55Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > I demand that all police officers be taught the Vulcan Nerve Pinch! The majority of officers today have been exposed to Pressure Point Control Tactics in some form or another. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch is actually an attack against the Clavicular Notch pressure point, delivered with downward pressure and intended to make the subject go to the ground. When I teach PPCT, we always laughingly refer to this as the Spock Pinch, in much the same manner as we refer to the brachial plexus origin as Frankenstein’s Bolts. Anything that helps the students remember… ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/26 "2005-06-27T21:35:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The majority of officers today have been exposed to Pressure Point Control Tactics in some form or another. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch is actually an attack against the Clavicular Notch pressure point, delivered with downward pressure and intended to make the subject go to the ground. > > When I teach PPCT, we always laughingly refer to this as the Spock Pinch, in much the same manner as we refer to the brachial plexus origin as Frankenstein’s Bolts. Anything that helps the students remember… So far as I know the Vulcan Nerve Pinch used on Star Trek was invented on the spur of the moment by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, because the script called for Nimoy to shoot someone and he thought it was out of character for the pacifist Spock. I doubt either Nimoy or Shatner had been trained in the use of pressure points, so any resemblance to an actual technique is probably coincidental. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/27 "2005-06-28T00:57:41Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > While we don’t have a drug for an instant knockdown, do we have anything that will cause extreme pain instantly, which would also drop someone in a ‘less then lethal way’? It’s called a taser. See above. Cops also have bean bag guns that will knock a normal person down and make them very cooperative, and prison guards have wooden bullets they shoot. All of these are pretty useless against someone charging at you with a knife while ranting on cocaine or PCP. You don’t have the time to convince the person. My future-CHP buddy points out that a person can cover about 20 yards in just a few seconds. This gives you just time enough to shoot them and hope they can’t make it the last remaining few yards on momentum and adrenalin. That’s with 9mm bullets, not dowels or bean bags. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/28 "2005-06-28T01:38:34Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > That’s with 9mm bullets, not dowels or bean bags. And this is where we adroitly dodge the hijack/trainwreck of 9mm vs .45ACP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986/29 "2005-06-30T04:29:11Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > So far as I know the Vulcan Nerve Pinch used on Star Trek was invented on the spur of the moment by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, because the script called for Nimoy to shoot someone and he thought it was out of character for the pacifist Spock. I doubt either Nimoy or Shatner had been trained in the use of pressure points, so any resemblance to an actual technique is probably coincidental. I agree. However, the location of the pressure point and the position of the hand when applying pressure do bring pointed ears to mind… 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-police-use-tranquilizers-in-their-guns-instead-of-bullets/309986.md?page=1)