What if you're really really really shit at aiming?

Perhaps it's for the fear factor. Having a gun aimed at you is terrifying either way, but when you can feel it pressed against your forehead it has a much more fundamentally profound effect, I would have thought.

exactly. the point of having a ranged weapon is that you dont need to get in their face with it. a gun is just as effective from a range of zero meters as it is at a range of 3 meters.

which is, like, exactly what he said?

Even more effective.
The bullet is still being somewhat accelerated by the cloud of gases about one meter out of the muzzle.

By pressing the muzzle against the target, you technically waste that kinetic energy.

You're right, of course. Hadn't thought of the gas.
Typical technician-blindness.

Actually, bullets become more lethal once they slow down. Slower velocity = more time inside the body to collapse and cause a larger hole. So really, you would want to be a bit further than that with most guns, but a pistol this size, use a hollow point, it wont matter how far you are...

Don't forget hydro-static shock.

No. It's about the energy the projectile can transfer into the target.

Ekin = m*v²/2

If a projectile slows down in flight to the target, it has more time to do damage inside of the body. Hence why it is harder to fix a wound in which the bullet is either still inside, or if the bullet made a larger hole on the way out. If a bullet stays completely in tacked and does not mushroom, it just creates a hole. If it slows down, and mushrooms, it creates a pocket inside of the victim, which causes more damage. Mythbusters went over this whole thing. I'm sure you can find more on it from there.

I see what you're trying to say, and you're explaining it incorrectly.
Slowing down inside the target means a loss of kinetic energy to the projectile.
That lost energy (Thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.) is transformed into deformation work of both the projectile and target, namely the mushrooming/fragmentation of the bullet and the temporary wound cavity/hydrostatic shock in the target.

It's this exact energy deposit of the bullet into the target that does the damage.
The higher the difference between the projectile's speed outside and inside the target , the higher is the amount of energy transformed into destructive work.

Meaning that a faster bullet will always do more damage than a slower one given they slow to the same speed inside the target.
Just much more energy.

OKAY EVERYONE THIS GUY IS CORRECT! You have proved your point and I will gladly acknowledge that you know your shit, and you can explain it in a more scientific way than myself.

Or a more massive bullet traveling at the same velocity*

Great explanation though. Have Math-humor.

Now I know all I need to know about shooting someone.

No, you're missing the part about hitting the target.

*Now I know everything about shooting near someone.

You know, hitting someone is really easy.
Just don't miss and you're good every time.

Either way. Headshot = death.

(although sometimes there are those random people that survive)

It's because the part of our skull that is our forehead is thick and hard (That's what she said) and I guess sometimes it manages to deflect a bullet or stop it/slow it down enough that it doesnt do enough damage.

About the deflecting though I'm not sure it would deflect unless it was at an angle or something lol.

there was a case here in brazil i bet you can find it on the internet, this guy got shot on the middle of his forehead he got knocked out the bullet hit his skull then fell to the floor .. the guy was christian so you can imagine how annoying the next couple of weeks were in my city with a bunch of .. idk how you say it but like parties? banners and a bunch of people walking in the middle of the strret together with a huge soundsystem playing some christian songs ... good times good times ... >.>

Stippling and tattooing usually occurs with a contact wound. How neat is that?

WAHT

Why does it happen?

Ah! I wasn't familiar with the terms.
Yes, unburnt powder or other particles bury themselves into the skin.

That's pretty neat!

Not to mention all the technology that is put into making modern bullets... bullets actually fail. It's true. All modern bullets are specially designed for a purpose, and sometimes, they fail. Rounds which are not properly fused can lead to poor ballistics later on, and they may not do their intended job once they hit a target. Not all headshots are lethal, because there are many factors at work when a gun is fired into a skull- and you won't always get consistent results.