Reminds me of a trip to walmart. I bought a brick of .22 rimfire. The lady asked if I was buying this for a handgun or for a rifle? Didn’t think much of it, just thought she was curious. I told her I was going to shoot it in a rifle.
She said good, if this was handgun ammunition she would have to get a manager to approve the sale.
She was following the law. If the .22 is being purchased for a rifle, you have to be 18. If you purchase it for a hangun, you have to be 21.
If it does hit the fan, .22 rimfire ammo will be more valuable than gold.
This is funny! But it is New Jersey.
There IS a difference between handgun and rifle ammo, once one gets above .22 caliber. The reason is that the long barrel of a rifle allows time for a larger propellant charge to be effective. The bullet should be accelerating all during its travel through the bore. In a pistol, there is not such a long travel-time in the barrel, so a large charge in an elongate cartridge makes little sense.
Really bizarre pistols are now being made which use certain rifle cartridges. From the standpoint of realistic design, these things are a joke, and an inefficient joke. I saw one of those weapons which has a tiny, short barrel, perhaps about 1 cm long. The barrel was much shorter than the cartridge itself! It means that most of the powder in the gigantic cartridge is being wasted, and goes only to make much smoke and noise.
The pending NJ bill is just as stupid, and has nothing to do with officer safety.
If the state were interested really in public safety, they would issue pistol carry permits to law abiding citizens, as is done in about three-quarters of the states; and then they could watch the crime rates drop. It is not a particular style of gun or cartridge which threatens police officers: it is criminals who threaten them, and criminals also threaten everyone else. The courts in NJ made this mess, and they must be reformed for the protection of everyone.
It is interesting that back in the days of Gov. Christie Whitman (a liberal, or RINO), a law was passed allowing retired policemen to have pistol-carry permits. The stated purpose was to have more good guys around who were armed, and thus increase public safety. Actually, this was a perfectly good idea, and it is now law. Well, there is very little difference between a superannuated, retired policeman and me. Arm qualified citizens, and you get the same effect. That is what NJ should be doing.
I am not an extremist about this: I favor permitting, and I think training would be a good thing. (I wish drivers were better trained!) But the point is, the more armed lawful people, the better the protection from the criminal elements.