I've heard this stance before in the past. And there is some logic to it if you're up close and can guarantee multiple head shots.
When I was in high school debate club I did a thing on gun control and used my mothers experience from working as a phlebotomist in the Huntington Memorial trauma center as part of my research.
She said that the overwhelming majority of the bullet wounds that she saw were small caliber(.22LR, 32 and 380 ACP) and good amount of 38 Spl.
According to the stories, she found that there were more instances of fatality with the small caliber shootings that were up close and personal (10 feet or less) than the ones that were at a distance. Logical right
. She said that she'd seen a number of guys survive 38s, 9mms, and 45s, shot from a distance but they were never the same physically. But the 38s up close, she said were usually fatal.There were a couple of 357 cases and shotgun blast cases neither of which the victim survived.
There are always various factors. There are those that will say that the 9mm is a bad stopper, but at what ranges. How big was the guy?
My brother was shot in the shoulder area where deltoids and chest muscles come together with a .22LR at about 25 yards by his estimate, while he was chasing some goblin after he caught him crawling out of his apartment window. He said he stopped in initial shock and the goblin did as well and when my brother realized he was shot but still up he became enraged and charged at the guy (now keep in mind that at that time my brother was fresh out of the military, super healthy and strong and weighing about 260 pounds).
The goblin emptied his magazine in a panic scoring no further hits, and turned and started to run. But it was too late as my brother caught up to the guy and pummeled him until he(my brother) passed out (I guess from shock).
The guy was beaten so badly that the authorities were considering charging my brother, but the case was fortunately dropped.
On another occasion, at a party gone out of hand, he took a gut shot from a 32 ACP and he said that one dropped him but not before he was able to grab the guys gun at the moment it went off, thereby jamming the mechanism and preventing any further shots. People pounced on the shooter and got things under control before the police arrived. (yes my brothers lived an "interesting "life).
Back to my moms experience. She also said that she saw a higher percentage of fatalities from knife wounds, both stabs and slashes than from gun shots in general.
She saw another guy walk in, yes WALK in with a hatchet stuck in his head. And he lived.
Yet another guy walks in with a black eye and some minor facial bruising wearing a beenie cap and complaining of an excruciating head ache, but not knowing why. He said he had been involved in a gang fight but was only punched once and could not figure out why his head was on fire. Docs pulled off his beenie and found that it was soaked with blood towards the back of his skull. Upon further examination they discovered a bullet, later determined to be from a 25 caliber pistol, lodged between his scalp and his skull.
Apparently the bullet entered somewhere in the corner of the orbit of his eye and some how skinned its way across the inside of his scalp to the back of his head. He didn't recall hearing any gun shots in the fight so it was assumed that the shot was fired from a good distance.
My G-ma and G-pa used to run a neighborhood dance club in Boyle Heights. Guy comes in tries to rob the place holding my G-pa at point with a .22 with everyone there. G-pa grabs the guys gun hand and in the struggle the gun goes off and G-pa is hit in the foot. G-pa back hands the guy into the bar where he is promptly met with a barrage of wing tips to the head and ribs (just a friendly little East LA massage). Turns out that the bullet went through G-pas foot, ricocheted off the floor, and traveled upward through his leg and stopping about midway in his thigh muscle severing the femoral artery on the way up.
Lot of military vets and a couple nurse wives in that old place including G-pa. Knew exactly what to do and saved his life with the help of the neighborhood doctor (good old Doc.Offenberg). Doc said that a lesser man might have lost the leg but G-pa was very fortunate to have been treated quickly.
Like I said, lot of different factors. Against a withered tweeker, a.22 might do the job
excluding head shots. But if you come up against a raging 300 pounder , you might be in trouble. If you know what your doing, a decent sized knife may even serve you better in that case, or a 28 ounce ball peen hammer.
What it boils down to is make the best of what you've got.
