Repeat after me: “Hollow points are not cop-killer bullets”
So the New York Post wrote a story about a turnstile jumper who got caught carrying a concealed weapon with “cop-killer” bullets. You can almost hear the reporter’s breathless voice as she says “cop-killer bullets” and see the exclamation points popping up beside it. The problem is that the thug in question wasn’t carrying “cop-killer!!!11!11!!!!” bullets, he was carrying hollow points.
But, TJ, aren’t hollow points cop-killer bullets?
No. If anything, hollow points are the opposite of cop-killer bullets. The reason “cop-killer” bullets are called “cop-killer” bullets is that they’re designed to defeat a protective measure that cops have and the majority of civilians don’t, bullet-proof vests. A hollow point bullet isn’t going to penetrate a bullet-proof vest because those rounds are designed to flatten and expand on impact. Now, that’s a great feature for a defense round because the goal of a defense round is to STOP an attacker, not necessarily KILL them. An expanding bullet does more damage and creates a larger wound channel, therefore forcing an attacker to stop using less rounds.
An armor-piercing round or just your standard full metal jacket ball round goes straight through tissue without stopping or expanding. This is how it’s possible to shoot a guy ten times and not kill him. Unless the bullet’s path intersects with the heart, the lungs or a major blood vessel like the aorta, the short-term damage doesn’t kill him. It’s why a .22 can be a man-killer without being a man-stopper. The bullet will eventually kill him, just not right then and there.
The military uses FMJ ball ammunition because they’re required to. It’s one of those Geneva Convention things that’s designed to keep wars as humane as possible. It’s easier for a military doctor to repair the wounds inflicted by an FMJ than an expanding round. (The use of “dum-dum” rounds in the Boer War and the development of things like exploding bullets in the U.S. Civil War really turned people off to the idea of what amounted to torturing a man to death for doing his duty.)
So really, the “bargain basement” FMJ rounds the article talks about are closer in nature to “cop-killer” bullets than the expanding rounds this dude was caught with. Cops use hollow points because they’re less likely to ricochet or penetrate walls and more likely to stop an attacker… the exact same reasons many civilians use the same.
The breathless, panicked reporting about “cop-killer” bullets in this case really comes down to a problem the military is often faced with when dealing with the media. Most reporters are ignorant when it comes to these things. They don’t know the difference between a tank and a Humvee. Likewise, they don’t know the difference between FMJ and hollow points. They only know that “hollow points” sound bad and scary and OMG you mean not even the MILITARY uses these?! Oh, sweet merciful monkey Jesus! Ken Cooper, the firearms expert the reporter quotes in this story, commented on the story and pointed out the reporter’s ignorance.
“Armed civilians and law enforcement do use what she calls hollow point bullets- I have no knowledge of a handgun round being called a “cop killer” bullet. This is a fantasy from over a decade past, being reinvented. Controlled expansion rounds are less likely to penetrate objects, including bullet resistent (sic) vests. I will be more careful, should I get an inquiry from a reporter.”
I’m sure he will.
TJ
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