Quote:
Cop-Killer bullets feared
Powerful ammunition found in Trumbull
TRUMBULL - The town' s cops had heard about this type of deadly ammunition -- bullets that could pierce the vests they wore for protection.
Last October, town police officers found a new Herstal FN 5.7 handgun on the freon seat of the car driven by Andrew Komlosi, 60, a Kent Lane man charged with drunken driving.
The gun in the vehicle, for which Komlosi had a permit, was loaded, police said.
Officers confiscated the gun and its powerful hollow-point ammunition, designed to penetrate modern, military-style bullet-resistant vests.
"We had information that these existed," police Lt Keith Golding, the department spokesman, said about the bullets.
On Monday, police Sgt. Leonard Scinto, one of the department's firearms training officers, took the gun and ammunition to the shooting range and took aim at a kevlar vest. His reaction when it pierced the vest? "Uh-oh"
"I had my suspicions it was going to go through because of the way the bullet is designed," Scinto said.
In a recent demonstration, the 5.7-by-28mm bullet had pierced the vest and lodged in the back.
"This is by no stretch of the imagination a scientific test," Scinto said of the demonstration, adding that it was nonetheless chilling.
When the department's standard ammunition was fired from a .45-caliber Glock, the vest was knocked off its holder, but it was not penetrated.
When department members realized what they had found, Scinto sent out a teletype to other law-enforcement agencies around the country.
That bulletin drew the interest of WNBC-TV in New York City, which is producing a segment on armor-piercing bullets that is to air sometime this week.
Komlosi purchased the gun and ammunition from a local gun shop, police said. Scinto said the only armor-piercing bullet specifically banned in Connecticut is the .50-caliber.
Scinto said he's still trying or figure if the bullets are banned under federal law.
He and his fellow officers say they see no need for civilians to have bullets that can pierce body armor.
"It's totally unnecessary to me," Scinto said.
"It's made for nothing but killing someone wearing a vest," Golding said. "There is no other reason."
For now, the Police Department is holding the gun until the courts tell it what to do with it.
"Hopefully, they will tell us to destroy it," he said.
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The article is accompanied by this picture and caption:
Here we go again with lies and misinformation about guns and their owners. The 5.7 pictured is obviously not a hollow-point, making that part of the article nothing but a blatant lie. The 9mm round isn't even in the picture. Aside from factual errors, the thing that really bothered me is that the police and the reporter are making a big deal over something that happened several months ago in order to demonize gun owners. The guy had a permit for it, he should have had it locked up since he was intoxicated, but he did own it legally. The article also mentioned that it was loaded. What the hell do you expect people to do with their carry weapons, duck behind a barrel while the bad guy shoots at them?
I'm writing a letter to the editor about it, anything you guys think I should include? I'm going to point out the errors mentioned above, and give a brief explanation of what hollow-points really are and how they work. The people around here are politically pretty moderate, so maybe I can undo a little bit of damage if they print a reasonable, well-written counter-argument.
(Note: I've posted this on another forum, so if you happen to run into it posted under a different username, it's not plagarized, just double-posted for maximum audience/response)