To clarify your statement: common rifle caliber, e.g. .223, 30-30, etc., is now
armor piercing because of it being chambered in a pistol package
I assume that you mean those rounds with a hard core, etc.?
Phil
________________________________
From: Paul Laska <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 3:37 PM
Subject: RE: Armor Piercing ammunition
18USC Chapter 44 921 (a) (17) (B) (definitions):
(B) The term “armor piercing ammunition” means—
(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is
constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances)
from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze,
beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended
for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of
the total weight of the projectile.
18USC Chapter 44 929 (a) (a)
(1) Whoever, during and in relation to the commission of a crime of violence or
drug trafficking crime (including a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime
which provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly
or dangerous weapon or device) for which he may be prosecuted in a court of the
United States, uses or carries a firearm and is in possession of armor piercing
ammunition capable of being fired in that firearm, shall, in addition to the
punishment provided for the commission of such crime of violence or drug
trafficking crime be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not less than five
years.
Obviously, these are the federal laws defining and dealing with armor piercing
ammunition. States may have different takes, as my home state of Florida...
790.31 Armor-piercing or exploding ammunition or dragon’s breath shotgun
shells, bolo shells, or flechette shells prohibited.—(1) As used in this
section, the term:
(a) “Armor-piercing bullet” means any bullet which has a steel inner core or
core of equivalent hardness and a truncated cone and which is designed for use
in a handgun as an armor-piercing or metal-piercing bullet.
(b) “Exploding bullet” means any bullet that can be fired from any firearm, if
such bullet is designed or altered so as to detonate or forcibly break up
through the use of an explosive or deflagrant contained wholly or partially
within or attached to such bullet. The term does not include any bullet
designed to expand or break up through the mechanical forces of impact alone or
any signaling device or pest control device not designed to impact on any
target.
(c) “Handgun” means a firearm capable of being carried and used by one hand,
such as a pistol or revolver.
(d) “Dragon’s breath shotgun shell” means any shotgun shell that contains
exothermic pyrophoric misch metal as the projectile and that is designed for
the sole purpose of throwing or spewing a flame or fireball to simulate a
flamethrower.
(e) “Bolo shell” means any shell that can be fired in a firearm and that expels
as projectiles two or more metal balls connected by solid metal wire.
(f) “Flechette shell” means any shell that can be fired in a firearm and that
expels two or more pieces of fin-stabilized solid metal wire or two or more
solid dart-type projectiles.
(2)(a) Any person who manufactures, sells, offers for sale, or delivers any
armor-piercing bullet or exploding bullet, or dragon’s breath shotgun shell,
bolo shell, or flechette shell is guilty of a felony of the third degree,
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(b) Any person who possesses an armor-piercing bullet or exploding bullet with
knowledge of its armor-piercing or exploding capabilities loaded in a handgun,
or who possesses a dragon’s breath shotgun shell, bolo shell, or flechette
shell with knowledge of its capabilities loaded in a firearm, is guilty of a
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083,
or s. 775.084.
(c) Any person who possesses with intent to use an armor-piercing bullet or
exploding bullet or dragon’s breath shotgun shell, bolo shell, or flechette
shell to assist in the commission of a criminal act is guilty of a felony of
the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or
s.775.084.
(3) This section does not apply to:
(a) The possession of any item described in subsection (1) by any law
enforcement officer, when possessed in connection with the performance of his
or her duty as a law enforcement officer, or law enforcement agency.
(b) The manufacture of items described in subsection (1) exclusively for sale
or delivery to law enforcement agencies.
(c) The sale or delivery of items described in subsection (1) to law
enforcement agencies.
History.—s. 1, ch. 83-253; s. 1, ch. 92-141; s. 1221, ch. 97-102.
As an above writer noted, in the late 1970's KTW marketed, to the law
enforcement community, handgun ammunition using green teflon coated truncated
cone bullets. Their existence resulted in the NBC crusade against cop killer
bullets, which resulted in the passage of these laws. Prior to their enactment,
none had been used in any cop shooting, to be sure a shooting involving an
officer wearing soft armor; post NBC's crusade, the number of head shots
against police rose significantly as criminals learned of the use of body
armor. KTW is no longer marketed.
ATF has ruled on some commercial ammunition offerings; some were solid metal
bullets, e.g. solid copper, which were determined to be amor piercing. The FN
5.7 round in one configuration has been banned from commercial sale by ATF for
the same reason, but other rounds for the 5.7 are not considered AP.
Perhaps the most frightening aspect, with the growth of pistols chambered in
rifle calibers (not only pistols based upon the AR-15 or AK-47 platforms, but
hunting pistols such as Thompson Contender), is a ruling that a common rifle
caliber, e.g. .223, 30-30, etc., is now armor piercing because of it being
chambered in a pistol package.
Paul
--
Paul R Laska
PO Box 1423
Palm City, FL 34990
772-781-9014 landline
561-722-4435 cell
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