"cop killer" gun...please read!
Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 7:08 pm
Three national police organizations and four Congressional lawmakers are warning officers about a new handgun that can fire high-velocity rounds that easily perforate bullet-resistant vests.
The gun is the "Five-seveN," made by FN Herstal of Belgium. It is a lightweight handgun that can carry 20 high-power rounds that, according to the company, can perforate any modern body armor and even ballistic helmets. The claims have lawmakers from New York and New Jersey clamoring to ban the weapon as top law organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police warning officers about its deadly potential.
The gun is designed to shoot 5.7x28 mm ammunition, a caliber that looks a like a hybrid of a pistol and rifle round. The maker says the bullets can travel at 2,100 feet per second, much faster than an ordinary handgun round. The speed and small size of the bullet allow it to punch through body armor.
"No one is safe from a weapon like this," Bernard Thompson, Director of the National Organization of Black Law-Enforcement Professionals, or NOBLE, said in a news conference earlier this year. "Police body armor won't offer protection if a criminal has this pistol."
But Robert Marcus, a top firearms expert and owner of Bob's Gun and Tackle in Norfolk, says the rhetoric over the "Five-seveN" is simply hysteria. He says the armor-piercing ammunition can't be sold to civilians in the United States. The company offers instead slower bullets with softer, or hollow-point, tips.
"Believe me, firearms dealers, manufacturers and distributors, none of us want to see law-enforcement personnel put to any more risk," Marcus said.
The ammunition available in the U.S. is not classified as armor piercing, according the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. However, when the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence test-fired the "Five-seveN with the substitute bullets, the rounds still penetrated a police vest, according to a video available on the group's web site.
The four Congressmen have offered the "Protect Law Enforcement Armor Act," or "PLEA Act," to ban the weapon. The bill states that even the slower, softer ammunition -- dubbed SS192 by the company -- will penetrate police armor, posing a "devastating threat to law enforcement." FN Herstal has stopped shipping that model ammunition to the U.S., but an Internet search showed it was easily available through gun shops and web sites.
So what can you do? Because there is a bill pending to ban the weapon, the next step will likely come from Congress. If you believe a ban is appropriate, or if you believe a ban is the wrong answer, contact your local representatives. Here are the Congressional representatives for Hampton Roads.
Jo Ann Davis, 1st District, 1123 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-4261, fax: (202) 225-4382.
Thelma Drake, 2nd Districe, 1208 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-4215, fax: (202) 225-4218.
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, 3rd District, 1201 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-8351, fax: (202) 225-8355.
Randy Forbes, 4th District, 307 Cannon House Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-6365, fax: (202) 226-1170
The gun is the "Five-seveN," made by FN Herstal of Belgium. It is a lightweight handgun that can carry 20 high-power rounds that, according to the company, can perforate any modern body armor and even ballistic helmets. The claims have lawmakers from New York and New Jersey clamoring to ban the weapon as top law organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police warning officers about its deadly potential.
The gun is designed to shoot 5.7x28 mm ammunition, a caliber that looks a like a hybrid of a pistol and rifle round. The maker says the bullets can travel at 2,100 feet per second, much faster than an ordinary handgun round. The speed and small size of the bullet allow it to punch through body armor.
"No one is safe from a weapon like this," Bernard Thompson, Director of the National Organization of Black Law-Enforcement Professionals, or NOBLE, said in a news conference earlier this year. "Police body armor won't offer protection if a criminal has this pistol."
But Robert Marcus, a top firearms expert and owner of Bob's Gun and Tackle in Norfolk, says the rhetoric over the "Five-seveN" is simply hysteria. He says the armor-piercing ammunition can't be sold to civilians in the United States. The company offers instead slower bullets with softer, or hollow-point, tips.
"Believe me, firearms dealers, manufacturers and distributors, none of us want to see law-enforcement personnel put to any more risk," Marcus said.
The ammunition available in the U.S. is not classified as armor piercing, according the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. However, when the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence test-fired the "Five-seveN with the substitute bullets, the rounds still penetrated a police vest, according to a video available on the group's web site.
The four Congressmen have offered the "Protect Law Enforcement Armor Act," or "PLEA Act," to ban the weapon. The bill states that even the slower, softer ammunition -- dubbed SS192 by the company -- will penetrate police armor, posing a "devastating threat to law enforcement." FN Herstal has stopped shipping that model ammunition to the U.S., but an Internet search showed it was easily available through gun shops and web sites.
So what can you do? Because there is a bill pending to ban the weapon, the next step will likely come from Congress. If you believe a ban is appropriate, or if you believe a ban is the wrong answer, contact your local representatives. Here are the Congressional representatives for Hampton Roads.
Jo Ann Davis, 1st District, 1123 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-4261, fax: (202) 225-4382.
Thelma Drake, 2nd Districe, 1208 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-4215, fax: (202) 225-4218.
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, 3rd District, 1201 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-8351, fax: (202) 225-8355.
Randy Forbes, 4th District, 307 Cannon House Building, Washington DC, 20515. Phone: (202) 225-6365, fax: (202) 226-1170
