Let\u2019s return to the things which justify our choice of hollow-point bullets.\u00a0 A major factor \u2013 the one that convinced police chiefs in even the most \u201cpolitically-correct\u201d cities to insist on this ammo when some were calling for a ban on \u201cdum-dum bullets\u201d \u2013 was reduced penetration.\u00a0 Cops called them \u201ccontrolled expansion rounds\u201d because as the nose of the hollow-point bullet widened as it passed through flesh, it met more resistance and came to a stop sooner.\u00a0 Therefore, it was more likely to stay inside the only backstop the Good Guy or Gal pulling the trigger had: the body of the violent criminal attacker.\u00a0 Self-defense shootings, after all, aren\u2019t likely to take place on gun ranges with the Bad Guy standing in front of a backstop.<\/p>\n
Your typical military \u201cball\u201d ammunition will tend to shoot through and through a human body with more than enough power to kill another human standing behind the intended recipient of the projectile. A full metal jacket (FMJ) round nose 9mm bullet will pierce two feet or more of ballistic gelatin, which is designed to replicate the resistance of human muscle tissue.\u00a0 A .45 \u201chardball\u201d round in this configuration will penetrate 26\u201d to 30\u201d depending on the load.\u00a0 A human thorax is simply not that deep, nor that solid.\u00a0 Stand three average adult men in line: such a bullet will completely perforate the upper torso of the first, enter the chest and exit the back of the second, and lodge deep in the body of the third.\u00a0 It can kill three people in a row, two of them theoretically innocent bystanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be sure of your target and background\u201d is altogether too simplistic an approach to reducing that danger.\u00a0 Tunnel vision is known to occur in a majority of gunfight participants.\u00a0 Darkness may hide the innocent from the sight of the Good Guy who is firing.\u00a0 The Bad Guy\u2019s body may even physically block the Good Guy\u2019s view.\u00a0 This is why it\u2019s important to have a bullet which is highly likely to remain in the intended target and not pass through.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll hear the argument, \u201cThere\u2019s more danger to bystanders from misses than from over-penetration, and you\u2019re likely to miss some anyway, so don\u2019t worry about it.\u201d That is \u201capples and oranges,\u201d and terribly short-sighted.\u00a0 It\u2019s like saying \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of herpes, AIDS is worse.\u201d\u00a0 In each example, the smart person wants to avoid both bad outcomes.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you come under fire from an armed robber this very night, and have no choice but to shoot back. One of your shots misses and strikes a bystander. It is tragic, but you have a very strong defense: in the Doctrine of Competing Harms, your disciplined defensive gunfire presented less danger to innocents behind the Bad Guy than his<\/i> wanton, criminal gunfire presented to the innocents behind you. <\/i>You were forced into difficult circumstances (a moving target in the dark, as you ducked desperately to avoid being shot as you returned fire), and the proximate cause of your less than perfect marksmanship was his <\/i>action, not yours.\u00a0 It will very likely be seen as excusable: that is, it shouldn\u2019t have happened, but it would have happened to any cautious, competent person in the same situation you had been forced into.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s say your full metal jacket .45 ball round hit the bad guy in the chest, exited his back, and then struck the unseen bystander.\u00a0 You had ample time beforehand to select appropriate ammunition, and you knew or should have known this could happen\u2026yet you used the wrong ammo anyway.\u00a0 Now, opposing counsel has the ingredients to cook up a recipe of \u201cwillful, wanton disregard for innocent human life\u201d on your part.<\/p>\n
So, reduced likelihood of dangerous over-penetration is one strong reason to use hollow points\u2026but not the ONLY reason.\u00a0 There are more, and we\u2019ll discuss them as this series continues.<\/p>\n
![\"expanded](\"http:\/\/backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/hollowpoint.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"