Robert Wright at The Atlantic:
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And then there’s the part of the story the Reuters piece doesn’t address: According to other reports, Zimmerman’s gun was loaded with hollow-point bullets–bullets that expand upon impact, maximizing internal damage and the chances of death. You don’t need hollow-point bullets to stop a pit bull. And you don’t need hollow-point bullets to stop a robber.
Sure, some gun enthusiasts may warn that if you face an armed bad guy, hollow points minimize the chances of his returning fire after being shot. But how likely is it–in real life, not the movies–that this would actually come into play? And, anyway, there was no evidence that the robbers who had afflicted the neighborhood were armed; they were burglars, not muggers, and when in danger of being caught they’d fled. (And as for the reason police sometimes use hollow points–to cut the chances that the bullet will harm bystanders after passing through the victim’s body or after ricocheting: that makes a lot of sense in a crowded urban environment, but not much in Zimmerman’s neighborhood.)
The logic of this Reuters piece cuts two ways. If Zimmerman had in mind a profile of the neighborhood burglars as young black males, then, yes, it’s likely that he honestly believed Trayvon Martin was a criminal. But that also means that, on those nights when he patrolled the neighborhood, looking for would-be burglars, he probably had in mind the prospect of confronting a young black man. What we’ll never know is whether that prospect had anything to do with the fact that Zimmerman chose not just to carry a gun, but to load it with the kind of bullet that was most likely to kill anyone he shot.
I have held two different jobs where I carried a gun. The first was the military police. We carried those old M1911A1 .45 caliber pistols that were military issue from 1911 until today. They were loaded with six fully jacketed .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) rounds, but full metal jacket is required military ammunition by the Geneva Conventions.
I also carried a gun while working security. My weapon was a 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic loaded with 115 grain semi-jacket hollow points.
Why?
Guns are serious business. If you ever have to shoot someone it better be because you are in fear for your life or the lives of your loved ones. That means somebody is doing something that constitutes a threat. You want to stop that person, fast. You don’t want to piss them off. You don’t want to cause a bunch of neat little holes in them and then wait for them to slowly bleed to death.
You want to shoot them a minimum number of times and have them go down and stay down. And you don’t want your bullet to pass thru them and harm anyone else. That’s why the vast majority of law enforcement agencies use hollow points.
Hollow point bullets are safer:
1. Because each bullet does more damage, you can stop the attacker more quickly. When the attacker stops quickly, you are less likely to be injured. So hollowpoint bullets are safer for you.
2. Because each bullet does more damage, you will probably need to shoot fewer times to stop the attack. Leaving fewer holes in the attacker makes it more likely that the attacker will survive to go to trial. So hollowpoint bullets are actually safer for the bad guy.
3. The mushrooming or fragmenting activity of the bullet “puts the brakes on” inside the attacker’s body. That creates more damage. But it also makes the bullet far less likely to go through the attacker to strike a bystander or the loved ones you are trying to protect. Because of their shape, hollowpoint bullets that miss their intended target are also less likely to ricochet and hit innocent others. So hollowpoint bullets are safer for bystanders.
Why was George Zimmerman using hollow points? I don’t know.
Maybe he wanted maximum stopping power. Maybe he was concerned about a pass-thru bullet hitting someone besides his target. Maybe the person who trained him to use his pistol recommended them. Maybe they were on sale the day he bought ammo.
But we should not assume some racist intent on his part just because he was using a very common type of ammunition.
Filed under: Crime Tagged: | People v. George Zimmerman
Lots of people who concealed carry use hollow points, and most that I have talked to do it for the safety factor. If, God forbid, they ever need to fire their gun, they don’t want the bullet to go through 2 walls and hit some neighbor kid a half block away.
Hollow points are safer – not for the person you are aiming at (not a concern, since you are assuming you would not be shooting at them in the first place unless in deadly peril) but for any innocent bystanders.
Asshats who claim with a straight face that Zimmerman is “white Hispanic” will neither know nor care about how common hollow point bullets may be. They’ve made it clear that anything & everything about this case makes Zimmerman a r@cist.
These are people who are screaming that Trayvon was “executed” without due process — that kind of fundamental ignorance on the law, while a sad indictment of our educational system, is not going to be counteracted by stats on ammo sales.
It’s not just ignorance of the law. These folks can’t seem to think with any logical consistency.
There are people who really believe that GZ went out that night looking for a black teenager to kill. How on earth they make this supposition jibe with the fact that GZ called 911 before he shot TM is beyond me. I dunno about anyone else but if I were going to do something illegal, the last thing I’d do is call LE to let them know the whereabouts of me and my intended victim as the crime unfolded. Methinks they’ve seen too many movie plots with the sinister psychopath who likes to taunt the cops with such tactics. (sigh)
You’re right — It’s just plain old all around ignorance and a refusal to dispel that ignorance even in face of actual facts that are contra to their narrow, smug, self-righteous POV.
Best advice that I have read is to use the same ammunition as the local law enforcement. The assumption being that they will use ammunition that is “safest” as far as over penetration, etc. Also mitigates the accusation of using “special lethality rounds as they are trying to do to Zimmerman.
Good analysis, thanks.
When I bought my gun my cousin had it checked out for me and supplied me with the ammo. Hollow points. When questioned about it he said just what was implied here. The bullet will stop where it was intended and go no further.
Forgot to mention that he’s a cop.
“According to other reports….”
As far as I’m concerned I’ll need to know exactly which “reports” he’s referring to before I accept this hollow point stuff as factual. There have been way too many rumors and false info being bantered around.