AR Gun Store Owner Says Foreign Made "Cop Killer" Ammo Should Be Banned
By: Jonathan Athens, KARK 4 News
Updated: November 15, 2012
A Cabot gun store owner says shotgun ammunition that can penetrate bullet proof vests is a "cop killer" and should be banned in the U.S.
"They have no proper use here," says J.D. Belden, owner of Cabot Gun and Ammo.
Belden first came across Dupo 028 rounds when a customer brought them into his shop. They are made in Latvia and are sold online.
Belden did a test two weeks ago, firing a 12-gauge round into a protective vest that had a "trauma plate" tucked in the back. The round went through the front layer and back layer, leaving a golf ball size dent in the metal plate.
KARK did a similar test without the metal plate. The foreign made shotgun slug easily went through both layers of the vest.
Law enforcement is concerned.
"When they come out with these rounds that can easily defeat our body armor it's very unsettling," says Lt. Carl Minden with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.
"They have no proper use here," says J.D. Belden, owner of Cabot Gun and Ammo.
Belden first came across Dupo 028 rounds when a customer brought them into his shop. They are made in Latvia and are sold online.
Belden did a test two weeks ago, firing a 12-gauge round into a protective vest that had a "trauma plate" tucked in the back. The round went through the front layer and back layer, leaving a golf ball size dent in the metal plate.
KARK did a similar test without the metal plate. The foreign made shotgun slug easily went through both layers of the vest.
Law enforcement is concerned.
"When they come out with these rounds that can easily defeat our body armor it's very unsettling," says Lt. Carl Minden with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.
Comments
I've been shooting for 25 years and knew OF these rounds but would have never even imagined they had this potential till now. They were made for hunting game and as such only hunters had any interest in them and even then only an even smaller group of hunters would've even tried them because they cost triple what a basic slug does.
Now that you folks decided to make a big deal out of it , especially using the inane term "cop killer", every miscreant on the street is going to know about these rounds and be clamoring to get some. Great job guys and gals. This article has just put more cops in real danger than if these obscure rounds would have remained just that - obscure. Maybe you should ask the police how they feel about everybody and their brother knowing about these rounds now.
David B.
November 15, 2012 at 9:39 am
It would be nice to see some actual reporting rather than basing an article on hearsay from a source that obviously has no real knowledge of body armor. What was the NIJ rating of the vest? From the NIJ web site, %u201CUnfortunately, there is no such thing as bulletproof armor. Body armor can provide protection against a significant number of types of handgun ammunition, but law enforcement personnel must keep in mind that armor is categorized and rated for different threat levels.%u201D http://www.nij.gov/topics/technology/body-armor/welcome.htm
Why did the article not mention that soft vests are not made for stopping solid projectiles from long guns?
%u201CSOFT Body Armor vests only offer pistol, Fragmentation, and shotgun protection (birdshot and buckshot, but NOT shotgun slugs). Even doubling up TWO Level III-A soft vests would NOT stop a rifle bullet!%u201D http://www.bulletproofme.com/Quick_Answers.shtml
According to this distributor < http://www.afmo.com/GH-Special-Threat-Trauma-Plate-p/412-00101.htm> it takes NIJ level III to be considered protection from a 12 gauge slug. Level III is also considered protection from non AP (armor piercing) rifle rounds. However, due to price and bulk most law enforcement agencies use level III A or below.
So, the vest acted as expected when shot with a long gun, it took a hard plate to stop the projectile. Just because the vest happened to stop one foster slug (the first slug used in the video was this type) does not mean any responsible and informed person would consider it protection from that threat. There are two reasons for this I can think of off the top of my head. First, foster slugs are the least effective of any slug due to the fact that they are soft lead (plenty of US manufactured slugs are not). Secondly, the blunt trauma resulting from the fact that a soft vest does not spread out the force of impact could be enough to rupture vital organs, causing death even if the round does not penetrate the vest.
Calling these rounds %u201Ccop-killers%u201D is irresponsible and uninformed. AP ammunition is illegal in the US and just because a round will go through armor does not make it an AP round.
Micah M.
November 14, 2012 at 6:59 pm
