How Rubber Bullets Can Injure You, Explainer

WASHINGTON — Rubber bullets fall under the category of kinetic impact projectiles that are used for crowd control purposes by law-enforcement. This is how badly they can injure you.

According to a 2016 report by Physicians for Human Rights and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, rubber bullets can be spherical or cylindrical and can be made of hard rubber, plastic or PVC. They can also be fired as single shots or in groups of multiple projectiles within a cartridge.

Not all crowd control projectiles are made of rubber though. San Antonio journalist, Mark Dunphy, shared a photo of his injuries on Twitter after being shot by a wooden projectile. According to a report published in BMJ Open in 2017, rubber bullets can cause serious injuries and even death.

The study found that out of 1,984 individuals who sustained injuries from kinetic impact projectiles, 53 died and 300 were permanently disabled from the injury. 71 percent of the survivors had severe injuries.

If an individual receives a shot from a rubber bullet in the neck it could lead to permanent damage or a deadly injury to their airways. A shot sustained in the eye could lead to losing it and a point-blank shot could lead to death.

According to the report by Physicians for Human Rights and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, rubber bullet impacts affect bones, muscles, and limbs most severely.