A lot of assumptions there. How do you know she was confident? Why must she have fired it before? Maybe she was intimidated but by all accounts this was at point blank range so no need to aim accurately. And there's a Mythbusters episode on paper armour where layered paper armour outperformed steel and there are endless videos on YouTube of gormless people firing through all sorts of things including books. A .22 won't penetrate a textbook about an inch thick. A 9mm will. There's a video I found where two and a bit packs of printer paper stops a Magnum.
The problem is that no one should have a gun that powerful outside of the military or the security services in order to even try such stunts. If you're relying on 'common sense' to stop a young pregnant mum being able to shoot at the father of her child with a lethal weapon there is something fucked up with that society.
Assumptions based on personal experience and seeing people react to various firearms. I've been shooting on and off for over 20 years, 10 years with 9mm and .357 semi autos and reveolvers. I've taken quite a few non shooters to the range and every time, the first time they picked up any handgun, they've gripped it much too tight and its wobbled everywhere. The Desert Eagle is a big, heavy gun - they weigh almost 5 pounds and are very intimidating. Novices flinch, they anticipate the bang, they do things like shut their eyes, they never ever pull the trigger slowly, they snatch at it and the firearm always drops. Even at a foot, its easy to miss the book, I've seen people drop the barrel 6 to 8 inches and bounce the round off the floor of the range.For him to be confident enough that she's not going to do any of those things and kill him, then its logical to conclude that she was used to firing handguns.
I'm aware of layers being used to stop bullets, that's how bullet proof vests are made, layer upon layer laid on top of each other, but there comes a point when the energy in the bullet is too much for the book or vest to stop it. I wouldn't expect a .22 to go though a book, they are used in rifles for hunting small game such as rabbits or in pistol form mainly for target shooting, although they are capable of killing people as the bullet stays inside the body and bounces around, a head shot will send the bullet rattling around inside the skull. A .22 is a small bullet that is lighter than a 9mm, is fired from a very narrow case with a small amount of powder, so it is slower and carries 3 times less energy than the 9mm parabellum, which is why the .22 doesn't go through the book when a 9mm does. A .50 Cal has four times the energy of a 9mm due to the size of the case and the amount of powder.
Totally agree that the gun should not be available to the general public. I can see a need for anyone who HAS to be where bears are likely to be, eg Park Rangers, for defence from a bear, but for a sport shooter its a pointless thing. If you are one of these I need a gun for home defence, its not a good choice for that either, too big and heavy, a .45 or a 9mm semi auto is a much better choice.