I encountered a bug with Skippy's firing modes. According to a quick search on the internet I'm not the only one.

I started with the "Puppy Loving Pacifist" mode, had The Talk with Skippy and had it permanently switch to the "Stone Cold Killer" mode. Unfortunately this switch was only apllied to aimed fire. When hip firing, Skippy still uses the PLP mode.

I do remember him firing at knees still, but it wasn't ONLY at them.
He would switch up or down based on where I was aiming.

... it's probably intended so you can shoot weather to maim or kill.