Not being a lawyer, capable of considering placement of commas... My fear is that an authority could declare any such caliber armor piercing merely based upon its capability to be fired from a handgun and permeate soft armor. The wording of the statutes is less than clear, could it be construed to make any ammo AP, as opposed to a round engineered as AP, i.e. solid or penetrator core?
Paul On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 9:51 PM, Phil Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > 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<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0790/Sections/0790.31.html#> > 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<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.082.html>, > s. > 775.083<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.083.html>, > or s. > 775.084<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.084.html> > . > (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<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.082.html>, > s. > 775.083<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.083.html>, > or s. > 775.084<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.084.html> > . > (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<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.082.html>, > s. > 775.083<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.083.html>, > or > s.775.084<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.084.html> > . > (3) This section does not > apply<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0790/Sections/0790.31.html#> > to: > (a) The possession of any item described in subsection (1) by any law > enforcement > officer<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0790/Sections/0790.31.html#>, > 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* > > _______________________________________________ > To post, send message to [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see > http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof > > Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as > private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are > posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or > wrongly) forward the messages to others. > > -- *Paul R Laska* *PO Box 1423* *Palm City, FL 34990* * * *772-781-9014 landline* *561-722-4435 cell*
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
