[x0054]

How about loading the first round with blanks. Some times just the sound of the shot is enough to startle and stop a suspect. Shooting in the air would be an option too, but it could be a little problematic, as what goes up, must come down. The blank option would also give an officer a split second to maybe rethink his actions. And if the officer really needs to use lethal force, it's easy to quickly squeeze off 2 rounds, with the second one being the real deal.

[remarkEon]

No. From experience, the only other rounds that would go into my magazine were tracer rounds. Additionally, the mechanics of how these weapons work make that not possible.

Edit: Beyond the above, from a tactical perspective...just think through the game theory on that and you'll see why that would be unwise.

[x0054]

Hmm, I am no expert in guns. Is it not possible to use blanks in a standard automatic pistol? I have seen people use blanks in revolvers. Is it because a blank cartridge would be missing the bullet part, so it would be shorter? Just curious.

I suppose that logically speaking, if I know that most cops have a blank loaded as their first shot, logically, I shouldn't be startled by the first shot. But that said, an encounter like that is so traumatic, to both the officer and the suspect, that I hardly think any one in that situation is thinking very logically at the time of the encounter.

[jccooper]

Automatics commonly work on recoil, sometimes on gas pressure. Without a bullet, recoil is less (see Newton's laws) and so is gas pressure (there's no temporary plug in the barrel). Most semi-auto pistols will not operate with blanks unless modified in a way that would make them incompatible with regular ammo.

[x0054]

Ah, interesting. Never mind then, stupid idea on my part :)

[Daviey]

Pistols can use blanks quite happily, both revolvers and the semi-automatic pistol used by most as they use recoil.

I think the issue being raised here is rifles that make use of the pressurised gas produced by the bullet leaving the rifle... as there is nothing to retain the pressure it will not load the next.. Which is why they have 'Blank Firing Adapters' to create the pressure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank-firing_adaptor

[mc32]

That sounds a bit too close to Russian roulette. What happens in the case where you really need to incapacitate rather than warn? But, no you have a blank in there.

This has a likelihood of being a nice idea which in practice makes things worse.

On the other hand, in Germany, dogs are used more widely to stop people who don't need the orders to halt.

[branchan]

That's a terrible idea. Now on top of an already stressful situation, the cop has to remember whether the round that is about to go off is a blank or not. Also if the suspect is quickly approaching the cop, the blank round would only serve to slow down the officer's reaction time.