Can Aggressive Ammo Hurt you in court??

[Mtbkski]

I read an interesting article on picking ammo for your pistol for Self Defense. It gave a couple examples where the lawyer for the guy shot, used the fact that the person who had shot this individual in "self defense" was using bullets designed to "kill".

One round he was talking about was the Hydra-Shox. In two of the examples that he gave, the individuals were convicted, due to the fact that they shot the other individual with a "round designed to kill". Hollow Points are suppose to expand and kill whatever it hits.

I found this rather interesting. Has anyone ever considered this side of the Ammo issue? Is the round your carrying going to hurt your defense or help it when you finally have to go to court and defend using your handgun to defend yourself?

Before you mention it. In one case it was brought up that these rounds were used to prevent exiting the body and or ricochets, and hence keeping those around safer. Less rounds had to be fired to stop the individual.

But back to the start. If you are being judged by 12. Will the ammo your carrying be used against you once your in court. What kind of reputation does your ammo have? Cause they will use it against you if they can once you end up in court.

[TonyF]

Trying to damn a bullet by a major ammo maker that many police agencies use is a dead end strategy by plaintiff's counsel. You SHOULD be using a high tech hollowpoint unless you're in New Jersey or other locales where they are prohibited.

[Emptymag]

That's why I carry blanks in my gun.

KIDDING!
Hope I don't start THAT ONE back up again.

I guess the only one that can answer that is the jury. (Can Aggressive Ammo Hurt you in court??)
I've heard something similar before. I've also heard the same argument for extra magazines. (Who NEEDS that many bullets unless they are LOOKING for a gunfight...)

Not much you can do about it except hope your lawyer is good enough to convince the jury just how ridiculous that claim is.

[mauser]

Other than plastic, rubber, wooden or other "training bullets", what bullets aren't designed to kill? I certainly wouldn't want to defend myself or my family with something designed to be less lethal than what might be used by whomever I might need to be defending against. (Might as well load up with blanks!)

[JustinM]

Trying to damn a bullet by a major ammo maker that many police agencies use is a dead end strategy by plaintiff's counsel. You SHOULD be using a high tech hollowpoint unless you're in New Jersey or other locales where they are prohibited.

I was actually going to say the same thing.

As long as it was a justified shooting, I doubt the ammo used would matter.

[KeithPA]

Are you talking about the Fisher case? Is that his name out in AZ? If so, his atty. wasn't exactly the best it sounds like. Bullets had nothing to do with using a gun in self defense, but the atty didn't say anything about it from what I've read.

I find it insane they would convict just because of a bullet. Police use HPs so we shouldn't?!!? Gotta love the jury system.

I carry FMJs in the 45 and HPs in anything smaller. Why? Don't know. If you get hit by a .45 doesn't matter what it is.

[JustinM]

If you get hit by a .45 doesn't matter what it is.

Does it matter where you hit him, or with a .45 will he vaporize nomatter what?

[KeithPA]

Smartass.....although I would probably have the same response.

I actually switched after reading the Fisher case.

Prosecution made a big deal about 2 facts. It has a Kimber 10mm which they said was "bigger than police guns" which I'm not sure if it even is. 9mm is .357-.380 roughly. So 10mm is roughly around .40 cal. 2nd they made a big fact about the HPs.

As unfriendly as I may seem to be with regards to LEO, I'm not crazy. I can read and infer what people say and know if I need to use my gun I don't want to end up on the wrong side of some pyscho DA.

Lastly, a 45 is a large round. I figure if a DA can pull one irrelevant fact out of his ass it doesn't mean much. That won't cause that much of a problem. But if he can pull 2 irrelevant facts ouf ot his ass then it could be a much larger problem.

[Frenchy]

Silly how this reminds me of a member In the club I belonger to in Quebec.. After all the expert witness had gone by, and people had talked about this lady being an expert shot.. Trainer... NRA certified... Expert whitness in the gun field.. People takled about the bullets, 357 VS. 38 and Wadcutter VS. FMJ...The judge asked one question.

Why is it if you are such a great shooter, a trainer and accomplished gun expert, is it that you hit the door knob when the perp was 12 feet from you... You completely missed him!

Her answer was short and sweet.


She said "I Hit the Door knob because I aimed at the door knob. It showed him that he had better wait till the police came to his rescue then try to leave with out permission. "

[Mtbkski]

Just to keep this going and interesting. I'll play Devils Advocate.

I'm the attorney trying to convince the "jury" (most of who probably won't know nothing about handguns) that your shooting my client was an attempt to kill him, not just stop him.

Sir, why do you carry a pistol that carries 14+ Rounds. Were you intending to shoot my client that many times? And why are you carry a 45. Isn't that an awfully big bullet. There are lots of smaller rounds out there that would "Stop" a bad guy. The police are using 9mm. They are so much smaller. Then, not only are you using a great big bullet, but now you have to use a hollowpoint. Isn't that round meant and designed to expand and do lots of damage. Wouldn't a big round like the 45 work well enough. Why do you have to use a hollowpoint, which causes so much more destruction. I believe that the only reason your carry that big a gun, with all those rounds, all of which are hollowpoints, is because you intended to kill whoever you shot. You didn't just want to stop them. You wanted to kill them. Isn't that so.

Now, don't get me wrong. I carried a 45 with silver tips for years. (Sold it during my divorce to pay bills) I know carry a snubbie 38 with Corbon hollowpoints. I want to "stop" whoever I plan on using my weapon on. (There will be another 45 in my near future) I just never thought about the issue of the "round" I carry being used against me if I ever had to actually use my pistol for self defense.