[iudqnolq]

This is one of those sayings that's technically true but misses the point by a mile.

A wounded soldier is a greater burden than a dead soldier, so a possible tactic would be to deliberately wound. Some people thought that was especially amoral, so they added a rule against it to what they called international law.

So most police weaponry is illegal under international law, but it's illegal because it's less deadly than the permitted alternative.