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by TillE 3970 days ago
No, it really isn't absurd. The German police do it very frequently.

http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/polizeibericht/article205518...

1 comments

... for some values of "very". German police don't shoot much at all.

That said I'm a former Norwegian King's Guard, and we were told to aim for the legs first if shooting was absolutely necessary. Admittedly, since we were shooting with 7.62mm NATO rounds at the time, a shot in the leg would basically be a very crude amputation. They use 5.56mm NATO now, but I bet getting hit in the leg is still not much fun. We were stationed at posts including the palace and the fortress, which are both in the centre of Oslo, so if you're really looking for trouble the threat is not academic. I've never heard of a guard firing at anyone since ww2 though (except themselves in suicide).