Hollow-point bullets OK’d for (US military) post police

[unhappycamper]

Hollow-point bullets OK’d for post police
By Joe Gould - Staff Reporter
Posted : Monday May 17, 2010 10:34:35 EDT

The Army’s provost marshal has approved the use of jacketed hollow-point bullets for law enforcement officers on Army installations in the U.S., a decision that comes after a gunman opened fire at the Pentagon in March and a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood in November, and almost a year to the day after the fatal shootings at Camp Liberty, Iraq.

The rounds are said to be more lethal and carry less risk for bystanders because they lose velocity on impact. The new policy, issued May 10, asserts installation police “require the tools necessary to secure our posts, camps, and stations from both internal and external active shooter threats.”

With hollow tips and several lines of weakness, these rounds deform and fragment upon striking a hard-tissue target. Mushrooming into a larger diameter, the rounds create a larger wound cavity but penetrates only up to 13 inches versus ball ammo, which penetrates up to 24 inches.

A 2009 study of hollow-point-related head wounds in the journal Military Medicine found that these would create tough wounds to treat. They found embolisms and bullet fragments in the path of the bullet. Without exit wounds, kinetic energy is transferred to the body, causing more damage. This ammo is barred from combat and allowed on overseas posts only on a nation-by-nation basis. Bullets that expand or flatten are banned by the Hague Convention of 1899, one of the first international statements of the laws of war.

Although it is controversial to some, hollow-point ammo is in wide use by law enforcement agencies around the country and on some Army posts. For instance, Army Criminal Investigation Command has used it since 1998. The new policy expands the standard to all Army law enforcement personnel.

[AllentownJake]

1. As long as they are not used in combat

They are within the grounds of the treaty. If soldiers start carrying them in a war zone, this is a clear violation of the treaty.

[FarCenter]

2. The reason that hollow points are outlawed in war is that wounding is preferred over killing

A dead enemy soldier is simply removed from the fight.

A wounded enemy solder is a burden to his comrades, who may expose themselves to drag him to cover, and who have to treat wounds and transport him to the rear. It further strains the enemy's logistics to maintain field hospitals, transport wounded soldiers to the home front, and give long term care to the wounded. It also affects the enemy civilian populations morale more to cope with seriously wounded veterans than to simply bury the dead.

So the military effectiveness of ball ammunition is greater than that of hollow point ammunition, even if hollow point ammunition wounds more seriously.

[Statistical]

4. Technically it was to appease the Germans.

UK was doing experiments on expanding ammo rounds. The early name "dum dum rounds" comes from Dum Dum arsenal where research was conducted. Germany was upset by this seeing it as a tactical advantage and demanded "expanding ammo" be included in the treaty.

We have been stuck with it ever since.

Hollow-point doesn't necessarily need to be more lethal. The British research was to use high velocity expanding ammo to enable rifles calibers to DECREASE. Thus maintaining same lethality with smaller, lighter ammo. Smaller lighter ammo means the soldier can carry more and thus sustain a higher rate of fire and tactical advantage.

I carried a 9mm pistol as backup in Iraq due to the treaty it was loaded with ball ammo. I figured it might be useful as a club. Luckily I never needed to use it. Was nice to be able to leave M-4 back in barracks when going to chow hall though. :)

[X_Digger]

3. Less chance of ricochet, less overpenetration. Good call. n/t

[old mark]

5. GOOD! The 9mm military ball cartridge is notorious for going straight through

people and into bystanders. The JHP (Jacketed Hollow Point)bullet is designed not to penetrate entirely and is a much more effective cartridge for use against people. The whole point is to STOP someone from doing what they are doing, such as shooting large numbers of people at random, without inadvertently shooting someone else. The situation is quite different from combat where extra hits from one shot would be considered a bonus, although the 9mm is not the ideal round for that purpose, either...(at least not in my opinion)...
It is possible that lives could have been saved if this bullet had been in use at Ft. Hood...


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