The Huffington Post
Though the scenario plays out in virtually every western and action
film ever made, good guys stopping bad guys with guns is a rare
occurrence as we know from reports from the U.S. Department of Justice's
National Institute of Justice and the Harvard Injury Control Policy Research Center's David Hemenway.
Every year there are even a few token incidents in the news of this
occurring, but for most part these events are uncommon. And there is a
good reason for why that is: Human physiology.
When people are put in a crisis situation the fight-or-flight
response is triggered and the sympathetic nervous system kicks into
action involuntarily. Stress hormones like epinephrine are released en
masse into our blood stream increasing arterial pressure and blood flow
to major muscle masses, dilating the blood vessels. This boosts our
gross motor skills. Still some blood vessels constrict which reduces
blood flow to the ends of appendages to limit injuries. The heart rate
increases. A report
from Killology Research Group, that studies the science of combat,
explains that "extreme SNS activation will cause catastrophic failure of
the visual, cognitive, and motor control systems." Tunnel vision and
auditory exclusion impair our ability to take in our surroundings, we
lose complex motor control (meaning we fumble performing anything but
the most basic movements) and irrationality and confusion prevent sound
action.
