Posted on 11/11/2009 11:47:41 AM PST by neverdem
Four and a half years ago, three police organizations in the United States issued advisories to warn officers that a new handgun introduced into the U.S. market by a Belgium manufacturer of military firearms represented a unique threat to the safety of police officers.
It was a handgun that was designed to fire bullets through body armor. A U.S. Senator and a U.S. Congressman urged a legal ban on civilian possession of the firearm, which began being referred to as the "cop killer gun." The gun, manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium, is lightweight and easily concealable, and was designed as a military sidearm to complement military rifles made by the same company. One law enforcement expert referred to the Five-Seven as "an assault rifle that fits in your pocket."
While no police officer has reportedly been killed by a suspect armed with a Five-Seven, it may now have taken the lives of U.S. soldiers. Today, several news sources are reporting that it was the Five-Seven that Nidal M. Hasan used in his shooting attack at Fort Hood in Texas Thursday
In January 2005, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), released their alert to the police community at a press conference, joined by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Elliott Engel of New York.
When first launched for civilian sales, company officials wrote on the company website that “enemy personnel, even wearing body armor can be effectively engaged up to 200 meters. Kevlar® helmets and vests as well as the CRISAT protection will be penetrated.” That language has since been removed by FN Herstal.
In early 2005, Brady Campaign staff purchased the weapon at a Virginia gun dealer and test-fired it. The bullets successfully penetrated a police Kevlar vest.
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As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.
For continuing insight and comment on the gun issue, read Paul Helmke's blog at www.bradycampaign.org/blog/. Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org.
How is that other soldiers (his victims) didn’t have any guns (”cop killer” or simple “civilian killer” guns)?
The bottom line is that none of the people at fort hood had on body armor. A .22 long rifle round would have done just about the same amount of damage as the 5.7 did. I understand he also had a .357 magnum, but that seems to be lost in the news media hype.
What an amazing display of ignorance and deceit.
He got the gun over the counter just as you and I could.
They haven’t released whether he was using Armor Piercing Ammo illegally maintained.
In any event the Bullet is key to defeating body armor not the caliber. However, this particular 5.77 round travels at almost double the speed of normal handgun rounds and can defeat more kinds of body armor than a 9mm or .40cal.
Since he wasn’t up against body armor, and knew that, he wouldn’t need AP. Since AP is verrry hard to get and would risk arrest he probably used normal 5.77 ammo.
My personal thought was he wanted to be effective out to 50+ yards and this is the round for that. Or maybe that was just the kind of weapon he had. It is ideal for firing a lot of shots quickly because it has very little recoil. Just Pop Pop Pop like any other .22.
"IT" didn't take anyone's life. Hasan took their lives, with the tools he had at hand. The gun is not the weapon - it's just an implement of the human will. The mind is the weapon. Without his malice and forethought, "it's" just an expensive paperweight.
They need to stop whining about the guns. We are damn lucky the pig didn’t have resources to get his hands on a bomb. (which I suspect will be the next form of internal attack on the military)
5.7 mm, which is why it is called the Five-Seven.
That's one of the reasons I considered this gun for home defense (for the wife). Our Ruger .357 revolver is a bit too much for her and our H&K 9mm perhaps not enough in other ways.
It’s just too bad Hasan didn’t choose one of those
“muslim killer” hand guns. It would have saved a lot
of lives.
I didn’t mean by official title, but what they are stereotyped as.
It would be very good for home defense. Low recoil, low sound, low muzzle flash and decent mag capacity.
He was an Officer, all he had to do was show up at the armory and withdraw a rifle or a pistol and say he was going to the range to practice.
Not only are officers allowed to practice their marksmanship they are encouraged to do so.
Gee who didn’t see load of BS coming down the pike – too bad we can’t produce methane from this constant stream of excrement coming from the Disarm the law-abiding Statists.
Is there any doubt that if that bozo (I mean Hasan, not you know who) hadn’t been able to get a hold of a gun we would have made a bomb? Or driven a Humvee into a crowd of soldiers, Or?
Leave to the MSM to spin a .22 into a “cop killer.” Assuming this guy knows what he’s doing around guns I’d say knew he was not going up against cops or body armor and chose a weapon with minimum recoil for rapid firing. Sheesh.
“Armor piercing variants of the 5.7x28mm are only offered to law enforcement and military customers. Commercially available variants of the 5.7x28mm cartridge are classified by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as being not armor piercing and it was claimed that the SS192 and SS196 cartridge variants did not penetrate Kevlar vests in tests conducted by FNH USA.”
It was the 5.7x28mm. Basically a .22 magnum. Comparing it to a rifle round is laughable.
With any round you have a set amount of energy propelling the bullet, and you can choose lighter, faster bullets or heavier, slower ones. The anti-rights crowd jumps on the velocity (high relative to pistols, nothing compared to rifles) and completely ignores the tiny round.
The 5.7 has energy levels in the 300 ft-lb range. By comparison:
- Old police .38 revolvers are around 250 ft-lbs.
- The smallest round considered viable for self defense, the 9mm, has around 400 ft-lbs.
- The other two predominant defense calibers, the .40 and .45, have around 500 ft-lbs.
- The .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum revolvers pack about 750 and 1000 ft-lbs respectively.
- The “intermediate” cartridges in the AK and AR that the media love to vilify have around 1300 ft-lbs.
- Actual rifle cartridges, like your boring old .308 or .30-06 deer rifle, fall around 3000 ft-lbs.
There’s nothing “armor piercing” about it. It will go through a vest, the same way that any rifle, most magnum revolvers, and a variety of pistols will, because vests are designed for light pistol rounds. The fabric just can’t handle that much energy.
I completely agree. One of my next two guns will be either this gun or the 1911 .45. The wife can’t really shoot the .45 so I may go the FN route first.
I cannot envision a “cop killer gun” any more than I can a “cop killer automobile” or a “cop killer baseball bat” ... This is one of the limitations of my non-progressive mind.
To assimilate that article I have to ascribe will and volition to an inanimate object, and I am unable to do so.
Low stopping power too
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