Everyone I know that carries a 9mm uses hollow points or cartridges like “Critical Defense”.
To me that is tacit acknowledgement they are under-gunned.
The 9mm (.357/.38) was originally designed to put the .38 Colt cartridge into a auto-loading designed pistol. It was rejected by Army Ordinance Department (Col. Thompson of “Tommy gun” fame) as inadequate from test results on cadavers, gelatin, and sides of beef in it’s search for a new service pistol to replace the .38 revolver.....
To put this all in prospective Officer Wilson emptied (”dumped” in the words of a witness) his pistol on a charging felon who had already assaulted him once.
Many police departments require their officers to carry the 9mm then teach them to fire repeatedly until their target is down. Again tacit admission that they are under-gunned.
Note that firing a pistol is the application of “deadly force.” Given that, the firearm should be truly deadly on a range of bodily types....even 6’ 5” 290 lbs. “gentle giants” on PCP. To fire multiple times or empty your 9mm’s magazine on someone leaves a very poor image in the public’s eye.....time for the police/sheriffs to dump their full auto M-16s for the more traditional pump shotguns, and upgrade their pistols to a pistol/caliber more akin to the 19th centuries Colt “Peacemaker in .45 Colt Long......
just saying.....
Handguns are anemic weapons as far as instant stops, unless CNS hit. Of course, people have been killed instantly by drive by with a .22 and survived self-inflicted head shot wound with .44 mag. There have been reports in war of a person taking .50 cal round to shoulder and still running forward, or by police of a person getting struck by slug and still advancing. Could be there already dead but motor functions still working, haven’t bled out enough. Louis L’amour did studies on the gun fights of the old West, noting some taking 11 shots and still going. Like animals, some just have a will to live.
The +p 125 jhp .357 magnum load has the best record of performance for one shot stops by police..of course it was the most common load for years so there is more data.
In my opinion, part of the de-militarization of police is return back to 6-7 or even 8 shot revolvers in .357, .45 LC, shotguns and bolt/lever long guns. Leave semi auto stuff with SWAT, for their intended purpose, hostage role, etc. Not no knock raids, etc either.
This will also bring the shoot and spray under control by law enforcement, like the incident in Miami this past year where officers were shot by their own force with all the ammo unloaded on 2 copkillers in car, or the incident in Boston bombing chasing after 2 Chechyans firing at night, rounds going into apt building, or NYC where police open fire on busy street hitting only civilians...examples go on and on..