by the Du Pont Company, have so far been credited with saving the These small caliber, pointed bullets, usually made of brass or steel, differ from regular ammunition in two chief respects: their rapid speed of travel, and their capacity to retain their shape on impact. Perhaps the best known version of this ammunition is the KTW bullet, manufactured by the North American Ordinance Corporation in Pontiac, Michigan. In a test conducted by the California State Police, this bullet, with an apple green Teflon coating to enhance its penetrating ability, was found capable of piercing four standard bulletproof vests (72 layers of Kevlar) and five Los Angeles County phone books placed behind the vests. The awesome power of the KTW bullet is not significantly greater than other types of armor-piercing ammunition. - - In fact, a 1982 FBI study identified eight different bullets five domesticallyproduced and three imported that can easily pierce the standard vests worn by law enforcement officers (18 layers of Kevlar). I submit that these bullets have absolutely no commercial Armor-piercing bullets were first designed for use by law enforcement officers themselves, shooting at cars and barricades, but since then they have been strictly prohibited by most police departments. In fact, there is not one single police department in the country known to sanction officially the use of this ammunition. value. With good reason: Armor-piercing handgun ammunition is too unpredictable for police use.. It often richochets off the objects toward which it is fired, significantly increasing the chance of bodily injury to other law enforcement officers and innocent bystanders. Some types of armor-piercing ammunition are so volatile that they damage irreperably the barrel of any handgun from which they are fired. As Captain John Sibley of the Rochester (Minnesota) Police Force observed: There can't be any other reason for such bullets in Every major law enforcement organization in the United States shares this sentiment. The National Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Union of Police Associations, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Sheriffs' Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, in addition to hundreds of State and local police groups and the National Association of Counties, strongly support a ban on cop-killer bullets and have urged Congress to act on this legislation. This legislation also is supported by several New York Police Department, and the Metropolitan Police Conference of sportsmen. Armor-piercing handgun ammunition is of no use to hunters and Standard ammunition can be used to achieve the same objectives, and in a safer and more certain fashion. Animals shot with armor-piercing projectiles die slow deaths, usually from loss of blood, because the bullets typically pass through the body cavity without fragmenting on impact. Indeed, for this reason, many States explicitly forbid the use of such bullets for shooting game. The legislation Congressman Biaggi and I proposed in the 97th Congress, and introduced in this Congress as S. 555 and H.R. 953, would direct the Department of the Treasury to determine which bullets, when fired from a handgun with a barrel 5 inches or less in length, are capable of penetrating the equivalent of 18 layers of Kevlar, the standard composition of most police vests. The Department then would publish its findings in the Federal Register, and 60 days after publication those bullets so identified would be banned from further manufacture, import, sale, and criminal use except when authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury for public safety or national security purposes. The Secretary of Treasury could allow domestic manufacturers to continue testing armor-piercing bullets, and authorize the sale of such bullets to local law enforcement agencies or foreign governments. A licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer who violated this act would be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than 10 years, and the revocation of his Federal license. In addition, a person using or carrying an illegal bullet during the commission of a Federal felony would be subject to a mandatory sentence of not less than 1 year nor more than 10 years for a first offense, and not less than 2 years nor more than 25 years for a second or subsequent offense. The stipulation in the testing procedures, to focus on bullets for handguns with a barrel length of five inches or less, was not arbitrary. In 1981, Joseph Albright of Cox Newspapers studied data on some 14,268 handguns confiscated from criminals. His study, widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive of its kind, revealed, Two out of every three handguns used in murders, Mr. Albright also found that the 15 handguns predominantly used The vest thickness prescribed in the testing procedures of my legislation also was carefully chosen. The vast majority of police vests worn today consists of 18 layers of kevlar. This is the same vest thickness used in the FBI's 1982 demonstration project, a study which showed these vests capable of stopping any conventional handgun bullets (including the .44 magnum, the most powerful standard handgun ammunition), but unable to defeat eight types of specially-designed armor-piercing ammunition. Let me make clear what this bill does not do. Our legislation would not limit the availability of standard rifle ammuntion with armor-piercing capability. We recognize that soft body armor is not intended to stop high-powered rifle cartridges. Time and again, Congressman Biaggi and I have stressed that only bullets capable of penetrating body armor and designed to be fired from a handgun would be banned; rifle ammunition would not be covered. To further clarify this intent in our legislation, both Congressman Biaggi and I would favor an amendment explicitly to exclude standard rifle ammunition. In addition, our bill would not limit the availability of conventional handgun ammunition to law-abiding citizens for selfdefense and sporting purposes. The legislation has been drafted so as to apply only to the narrow class of bullets capable of penetrating bullet-resistant armor when fired from a handgun. Gun owners who already have armor-piercing handgun ammunition in their possession would not be subject to criminal sanctions. Our sole objective is to keep those handgun bullets specially designed to pierce soft body armor out of the hands of criminals. more is intended; nothing less will suffice. Nothing On March 7, 1984, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Law conducted an informative hearing on this legislation. Four important issues were discussed at this hearing: The pressing need to ban "cop killer" bullets; the best approach to defining "armor-piercing handgun ammunition"; the narrow scope of this bill's ban on criminal possession of such ammunition; and the unequivocal support of this legislation from every major police organization in the country. As I have already detailed the need for this legislation, I would now like to focus on the other three issues. A number of individuals and organizations are concerned that our legislation might restrict the availability of certain commonly used handgun and rifle cartridges. I share their interest in preserving legitimate shooting sports, and I wish to assure this Subcommittee that it is not the intent of either Congressman |