http://guncontrolpolicy.com/commentary/8.htmlConflicting Analysis of the Cop-Killing Five-seveN Handgun
by Scott
February 8, 2005
Currently on the pro-control agenda and making news headlines is the FN Herstal tactical handgun called the Five-seveN. While it looks like a typical handgun, the 5.7 is unique in that is shoots a powerful 5.7 x 28mm round in a magazine that typically holds 20 rounds. Magazines holding more than 10 rounds have been legal since the expiration of the "assault weapons ban" last September.
The Five-SeveN retails for around $900 and is sold primarily to law enforcement officers, however versions of the weapon are available to civilians. The ammunition is costly compared to other handgun calibers.
The Brady Campaign recently released an 18-minute video supposedly comparing the impact of the 5.7 x 28 mm cartridge on Type II soft body armor with that of the 9mm, .40 caliber and the shotgun round, in order to demonstrate the unique power of the Five-seveN.
The demonstrators used only one vest and fired two rounds from each caliber into the material. After firing into the vest with each gun the demonstrator examined the impact of each shot. What's interesting is that the video is edited so that we don't see the entire examination process in one capture. The exit wounds look different each time the camera examines the back of the vest.
For the purpose of this article, however, we will assume nothing was done on the part of the Brady Campaign to intentionally fix the results, fully aware that the type of ammo used was not disclosed on the video nor the Brady Campaign website and in its press releases.
After discharging two rounds from each gun into the vest the examiner acknowledges that the Five-seveN easily penetrated the material while the other calibers didn't.
But his findings should be suspect because we're not sure what type of ammo was used. Moreover, contradictory evidence on the strength of the Five-seveN has been published by the Firearms Technology Branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a body that serves under the Department of Justice.
What the ATF found regarding the FN 5.7's specific ammunition capabilities is the exact opposite from what the Brady Campaign showed. The type of ammunition available to the general public (SS196) was thoroughly studied.
FTB classified SS196 ammunition as not armor piercing.
FTB has also examined a 5.7 X 28 mm projectile that FN Herstal has designated the "SS196." The SS196 is loaded with a Hornady 40 grain, jacketed lead bullet. FTB classified SS196 ammunition as not armor piercing ammunition under Federal firearms statutes.
According to FNH USA, FN Herstal tested the SS192 ammunition. SS192 ammunition did not penetrate the Level IIIA vests that were tested. FNH USA states that SS196, Hornady V-Max 40 gr. bullets fired from a 4-3/4 inch barrel did not penetrate the Level II vests that were used in testing.
FNH USA has informed FTB that SS192 is no longer imported for commercial sale to the United States and that commercial sales of 5.7 X 28mm ammunition are restricted to the SS196 (not armor piercing).
Now having read the government's conclusions you can either trust the agenda-driven anti-gun group or the official agency that would have an interest in finding the ammunition available to civilians a potential threat to its own officers. No such conclusions could be made on the part of the ATF.
The Brady Campaign did not specify which type of ammunition was used or how the gun was acquired, and according to official government documents the ammunition available to civilians cannot penetrate body armor.
But keeping up with the Brady Campaign's video, we examine the proposals put forth by the examiner to get a better idea of the purpose for trying to make the Five-seveN unavailable to the general public.
At 3:40, the demonstrator offers an usual hypothetical: A person can walk out of a gun store having purchased the Five-seveN which comes with three 20-round magazines and use it against police officers who usually carry weapons with magazine capacities no greater than 15 rounds.
The demonstrator is assuming that a criminal would/could afford to pay the $900 for an expensive handgun plus ammunition and pass a federal background check at the same time.
If the customer can pay for the expensive weapon and pass the background check, the probability that he's an offender who either hasn't yet been caught or is just deciding to start a life of crime is rather small.
At 5:35 the demonstrator brings up an even more improbably scenario, saying that people with concealed carry permits can legally walk around with the gun in their communities, and if he/she is "having a bad day or things aren't good" and happens to encounter a police officer, this can "turn into a very very deadly situation."
Based on -- and only on -- that hypothetical situation, the demonstrator concludes that the Five-SeveN is a threat to public safety and police officers. At no point in the film can the demonstrator recall even a single instance where a cop was hurt or killed by the weapon, let alone a single instance where a criminal was caught possessing a Five-SeveN.
On the issue of permit holders attacking police officers, there is no record in history suggesting a legal permit holder has ever spontaneously attacked a police officer. Remember that to be a permit holder in most states one must pass an extensive background check, have his fingerprints analyzed, undergo weapons training and not have a criminal past. The claim that civilians with permits will use this gun to attack police officers because they "were having a bad day" is pure hyperbolic rhetoric.
The examiner in the film concludes that the Five-SeveN has "no purpose in the civilian market." Of course he ignores for the purpose of sport, fun, and most importantly, self-defense.
The Five-seveN has never been used by a criminal to either confront a police officer or kill one. That the Brady Campaign labels the Five-SeveN a "cop-killer" is both irresponsible and unfounded.
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