They were just having some innocent fun

I feel like 2 consenting adults committing almost murder on each other should be legal as long as others weren't in danger.
- Well, if they were drunk, they can't legally consent...
  
  While I kind of agree, what if they consent sober and then the drunken duel begins?
  
  They aren't having sex, a voluntarily drunk person can engage in stupid activities with another voluntarily drunk person and there isn't really an issue with either party "consenting".
  Like if they were both voluntarily drunk and one shot the other and killed them during one of these exchanges, the shooter would still be responsible for a crime despite being drunk, and the other persons consent to the action isn't really applicaple to a manslaughter charge except you may get a plea deal. However I am an idiot, IANAL, so take all that with a grain of salt.
  Also if I'm just taking a joke too seriously I'm sorry.
  (By voluntarily drunk, I mean no one drugged them, they did this to themselves)
- I've been reading about that guy in german in 2001 as far as the extent of what two men can do with consent. The German government didn't agree, but at least he had a big meal before he went to prison.
  
  Denn das ist MEIN TEIL 🎶

This is illegal? Well there goes my weekend. Thanks OBAMA.
- More like OBUMMER amirite

I guess they did that on open streets?
- Lol, probably. I doubt these guys had the judgement to do it in private.
  
  Instructions unclear; Shoot in privates??
- Consent makes all the difference... but yeah bullets do tend to travel.
  
  I would say if they didnt killed themselves in private area i would guess it would be "legal" but in the moment someone dies its murder and thats then illegal. But i am no legal expert so i could be wrong.
  
  I want to know how far they travel. Like if you're out in the middle of the dessert, nothing around for hundreds of miles.......no trees, no cities, just open air seemingly forever.
  How long until the bullet just runs out of momentum? And there MUST be a point where it's still technically traveling, but with so little momentum that if it hits a body it would just not even penetrate. Just kind of hits a person, and falls to the floor. It's probably several miles, but that point HAS to exist SOMEWHERE, right?

Uh .. aside from being stupid, why is this illegal?
- well "arrested" doesn't actually mean it's illegal, it just means the cops thought they likely did something illegal
  
  Unfortunately true.
- Sounds like they were arrested for aggravated assault https://wreg.com/news/arkansas-men-arrested-for-shooting-each-other-while-wearing-bulletproof-vest/
  
  Doesn't Arkansas have a mutual combat law?
- Reminds me of that YouTuber that convinced his pregnant partner to shoot him with a desert eagle while holding an encyclopedia in front of his chest. He died, she was sentenced to 180 days for manslaughter
  
  Did the bullet penetrate the book and still have enough momentum to penetrate his sternum, or did he die from the force of impact? That's the thing about bulletproof vests too. Sure, they may stop the bullet, but it's still going to fuck you up.
- Especially in the US?? It's not like they won't be paying for their own healthcare lmao
- I would imagine the blanket statute to refer to is something like reckless endangerment, or perhaps more likely would be the firearms themselves being unlicensed.
  Additionally, if I shot at someone who was wearing a bulletproof vest, it still would be attempted murder. If they asked me to shoot at them, it still would continue to be attempted murder ("no judge, they asked me to shoot them and I missed").
  I mean, even if someone explicitly asked for you to kill them, in writing, notarized, and all that legal jazz, then you're getting into the realm of assisted suicide and that lovely grey area of morality. Though I believe it's still illegal throughout the US.
- Generally a bad idea to allow ppl to shoot at each other.
  
  What do I care if a couple of idiots want to shoot each other while wearing bulletproof vests? The government would almost certainly allow it if they applied for a bunch of special permits and shit. This basically comes down to your philosophy, does the government grant rights, or do you inherently have rights, and only things that harm other people without their consent should be illegal.

Honestly reading the story, and I'm no lawyer ya see, but it seems like the guy first shooting the other guy to try out the vest seems... dumb but legal? But then getting mad when your friend does exactly what you asked for and firing a bunch of rounds into his back after his friend put the vest on seems... dumber but quasi-illegal?
I guess I just generally feel like if two hillbillies want to test out a bulletproof vest, and they both consent, and no one else is in danger, then why should it be illegal? Lord knows being dumb isn't illegal, otherwise half the country would be in jail.

Survival of the fittest
- One of these days they will invent a bulletproof Arkansan.
  
  I immediately thought of the jeff goldblum JP meme lol

"Ah. The old bulletproof cop gag. Back in my days we used to haze the rookies the same way. But we also used blanks!"
- That little guy?
  
  I wouldn't worry about that

You're a sick mother fucker Mac.
- How did I have to scroll down so far to find this?

Honestly the most likely charges here are operating a firearm while intoxicated? Let boys be boys coppers.

We couldn't afford the vest when we played this in my youth. #rip_bros #therecanbeonlyone

While this was a problem that might have solved itself if left alone, I think it's best that they were stopped so no nearby innocents got hit.

Odds are they werent involved in the equipment selection

Let them self-select out of the gene pool.

Hmm. Only one of the two shooting stories I read in the news today was about Americans. Something's wrong.