High-Powered Handguns Dangerous Threat to Police Officers
“Big Boomers” - Handguns with rifle power capable of penetrating body armor—are growing threat to lives of law enforcement officers, according to new VPC study.Drug traffickers are already using these “vest-busters” to kill police in Mexico
WASHINGTON -- Powerful new handguns called “big boomers” by the gun industry are a growing threat to the nation’s law enforcement officers, a new 36-page study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals. (See below for the full study) Body armor used by police has been able to stop handgun rounds and saved thousands of lives over the last three decades, the study states, but standard body armor cannot stop rifle rounds.
"Big Boomers"—Rifle Power Designed Into Handguns warns that the gun industry is aggressively marketing a growing number of new handguns designed to fire bullets with rifle power. The rounds these guns fire can penetrate all but the most resistant body armor (such as that used in raids by many SWAT teams).
“The gun industry has once again proven that it is willing to put profits over health, safety, and even national security,” VPC Senior Policy Analyst Tom Diaz, the study’s author, states. “The firearms industry is congratulating itself that ‘big boomers’ are ‘good for business,’ even while these guns are ending up in the hands of felons and drug dealers in the United States. One need look no further than Mexico—where these guns are smuggled in by drug traffickers and used to kill police— to understand the growing threat these weapons represent to U.S. law enforcement and security forces.”
The study traces the proliferation of various “big boomers” and the gun industry’s increased marketing of vest-buster handguns following the 2003 introduction of the first vest buster: the Model 500 S&W Magnum from Smith & Wesson.
Adds Diaz, “Marketing deadly firearms such as these is yet another reckless spasm of an industry that finds its markets shrinking and is willing to do anything to try to pump them up.”
Click here to read a copy of the study
Click here for a summary presenting the key findings of the study.
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High-Powered Handguns Dangerous Threat to Police Officers
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get real
Oh get real!
You, the "Violence Policy Center" (a liberal anti-gun zealot organization), are citing evidence from biased sources to support your own biased views?
You did not even say what kind of so-called big boomers you are complaining about.
And you did not cite a single fact to support that the big boomers are used in crime.
I would suggest that the truth is that most of the guns used in crime are the the easiest and cheapest ones to acquire, like 9 mm guns that are stolen from inept police who leave their guns at the donut shop.
Quit sensationalizing these firearms. Your views are without grounds to back them up and you are just crying wolf. Get real people. There are actually millions of gun owners who are good and honest people, and those people have inalienable rights to have those guns.
- spatin
March 4, 2009 12:00AM
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Is this satire?
This reads like something from "The Onion".
I loved this part from the summary of the "study" (calling this a study in itself MUST be satire):
"During the 1990 to 1999 period, 20 law enforcement officers were killed by gunshot wounds as a result of rounds penetrating their body armor. All of these rounds were fired from rifles. However, the big boomer handguns that are now being designed and marketed by the firearms industry have elevated the power of handguns to the level of rifles. Big boomers have thus become “vest busters” and present a deadly challenge to law enforcement body armor’s life-saving record. "
They couldn't find ANY cases in which these pistols were used to defeat body armor and kill police officers, so they cited statistics from ten years ago to give the impression that they have some statistics to support their claims.
The money quote: "ALL of these rounds were fired from RIFLES..." [emphasis added]
In other words, because Police Officers are occasionally killed by RIFLE rounds penetrating body armor, we need to ban something completely different.
VPC "logic".
BTW: The .50 AE was developed in 1988 and the .454 Casull in 1959 so high velocity/power handgun cartridges are hardly a recent invention and they existed during the 1990-1999 time frame during which the VPC couldn't find any instances where they killed police officers by penetrating their body armor.
Moving past the "summary", the majority of the "study" is nothing more than regurgitated condemnation of the firearms manufacturing industry. Nothing to support their case there, just a diatribe about why the industry is teh evil!!!!11!!
When you finally get into the "meat" of the "study" (It makes me cringe to even use that word in relationship with this tripe), they get very cute.
You see, the basis of their argument is that the muzzle velocities generated by pistol cartridges like the .500 S&W are what make them so dangerous. The relatively high muzzle velocities generated out of a pistol with an 8 1/2 inch barrel, combined with a large bullet, creates muzzle energies comparable to those of rifles.
Then they try to address the basic fact that a huge pistol with an 8 1/2 inch barrel is not exactly conducive to criminal use, being very difficult (if not impossible) to conceal. They do this by revealing that S&W now makes .500 S&W pistols with barrels as short as two and a quarter inches.
However, they never bother to mention that muzzle velocity is dependent upon barrel length, which determines how long the propellant imparts propelling energy to the bullet. Shorter barrel lengths = lower velocity = lower muzzle energy.
Can you say "bait and switch?" Sure you can.
What was that term that the brady campaign used the other day again? Oh yeah..."disingenuous".
- Sailorcurt
March 4, 2009 9:57AM
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Wrong photo
Interesting...the article is all about some mysterious beastie called "high powered handguns"...and the photo is of a Browning Hi-Power pistol (which comes in either 9x19mm or 40 S&W). One would think the author would at least do a little bit of research and get a photo that goes with the main topic.
Oh, wait, this article was written by the very liberal mainstream media. I should know better than to have high expectations.
- crebralfix
March 4, 2009 12:43PM
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Always Have Been Always Will Be
In the first year of my 33 year career in law enforcement it dawned on me that your agency gives you a gun because they know you run the risk of being shot at. And my agencies didn't give you the right to shoot first. So you're expected to rely on your training, your experience, and your gut to not get shot. A gun in the hands of an honest citizen may save your life every bit as much as a gun in the hands of a crook may kill you. So you see the gun really has no say in how it's used. My suggestion is to arm every law abiding citizen in the U.S. and watch gun violence decrease. Remember the maximum that when a life and death decision needs to be made in seconds the cops are only a few minutes away.
- Grace O Malley
March 4, 2009 7:12PM
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Oh, please...
"Powerful new handguns called “big boomers” by the gun industry..." "vest busters"?
Absolute rubbish. The gun-industry uses no such terms - these terms have been invented by the VPC in the hopes that they become mainstream.
Second - handguns firing rifle-caliber ammo have been around for many, many years - as one example, ever heard of silhouette shooting?
As for Tom Diaz - you, sir, are a bald-faced liar, an incompetent "researcher" and a biased lobbyist. Seeing as the Mexican drug-dealers are using fully-automatic AK47s, grenades, plastic explosives and rocket-launchers, please tell me where exactly I can buy these over-the-counter in the US? I won't hold my breath for an answer.
If this is any form of legitimate research, cite your sources - but again, I won't hold my breath.
VPC = vapid, hysterical drama queens.
- AndyCinDallas
March 4, 2009 9:38PM
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At it again (newspeak)
"Vest-busters", "big boomers" (LMAO); here we go again inventing stupid words. What happened to "cop killer" etc. ? Did you anti second amendment nuts get tired of that one ?
I sincerely doubt that any of the slime on our streets are using .50 caliber weapons; they are almost impossible to conceal in the first place and cost many thousands of dollars on the street. Secondly, an ever increasing proportion of criminals are using vests these days and the people need something that will handle these in order to properly protect themselves.
- gjdagis
March 4, 2009 11:44PM
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In the words of wikipedia,
"Powerful new handguns called “big boomers” by the gun industry..." citation needed
- adamisawesome
March 6, 2009 9:28AM
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