High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Stopping power is the ability of a firearm or other weapon to cause a penetrating ballistic injury to a target (human or animal) enough to incapacitate the target where it stands. This contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon`s ability to incapacitate quickly, regardless of whether death ultimately ensues. Some theories of stopping power involve concepts such as "energy transfer" and "hydrostatic shock", although there is disagreement regarding the importance of these effects.