First of all, 1200 fps is the typical muzzle velocity of a load from a shotgun, but also of a pretty typical 158 grain hollow-base wad cutter (practice target bullet) from my '357. I load 'em backward in my home-defense ammo, and, at close range, they'll tear the arm off an intruder, yet they won't shoot through a wall.

I don't know what the relevance of the planetary energy budget is, but I know that the designer, God or nature, provided that it be sufficiently capable of coping with non-industrial CO2 and heating. Nature provided sufficient resources to sequester any excessive carbon in from the atmosphere in various forms. It was only knocked out of kilter when MAN came along and started releasing it into the atmosphere. That had lots of effects, all adverse. To make matters worse, he removed most of the trees between the eastern seaboard and the Mississippi river in order to farm, and then he decided that, since he didn't really need all that grain, he'd feed it to animals that he eats, though their digestive systems weren't designed for grain, and then he had to start feeding them antibiotics too, which ultimately has made the antibiotics ineffective. He's getting what he deserves. Nature is patient. Clearly, God saw right away that he'd made a mistake and saw that man would ultimately self-destruct.

I don't live in Texas, but I did once do a bit of shooting. 1200 FPS is extremely slow for rifle bullet. It's pistol and shotgun velocity. I gave away my old P. O. Ackley reference, else I'd quote you some fast ones. I do remember that my .220 Swift exceeded 4000 fps and the 22/250 routinely got into the 3500+ range, albeit with much lighter bullets. My military .308 (7.62mm NATO) had a muzzle velocity on the order of 2750 with its 165 grain fmj bullet, and some common .30-06 rounds exceed 3000 fps.

Ralph Landon, back in the mid-70's, shot a world record 100-yard group with a rifle, (heavy varminter, 13.5 pounds) parts of which are still in my basement somewhere. The last elk I know he shot was dispatched at over 800 yards across a canyon with a 7 mm magnum with a muzzle velocity over 3200 fps and about a 160 grain bullet. I don't think the 1200 fps is far off what you'd get if you broke into my house at night, though the dogs would probably make the six-shooter entirely unnecessary. (I once lived in Oklahoma, though not too long.) I hung around Houston while working for NASA, too. That wasn't for long either. I didn't like neckties ... and still don't.

RE