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Can we reload for self defense?

mpguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia
I saw HP bullets in my caliber at the gun store, but I was hesitate to grab it. Could this be consider the same as tampering with features of a gun, and having the lawyer say you did it with intent to harm?

I guess I worded that right?

.45 or bust
 
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MSG Laigaie

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Philipsburg, Montana
Is there a law against the use, possession of HP rounds in your area? I know NJ throws a hissy fit about them. I carry them daily and reload them too, but I am in Wa State and we are a bit less restrictive than the other States
 

mpguy

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Location
Suffolk Virginia
Is there a law against the use, possession of HP rounds in your area? I know NJ throws a hissy fit about them. I carry them daily and reload them too, but I am in Wa State and we are a bit less restrictive than the other States

There is no restrictions on us using hollow points. It did get me thinking, if your reloading them, someone could throw the argument of hot loading ammo, or it's not factory specs.

.45 or bust
 

mpguy

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Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia
I guess reading this got me thinking about it

Quote:
§ 18.2-308.3. Use or attempted use of restricted ammunition in commission or attempted commission of crimes prohibited; penalty.
A. When used in this section:
"Restricted firearm ammunition" applies to bullets, projectiles or other types of ammunition that are: (i) coated with or contain, in whole or in part, polytetrafluorethylene or a similar product, (ii) commonly known as "KTW" bullets or "French Arcanes," or (iii) any cartridges containing bullets coated with a plastic substance with other than lead or lead alloy cores, jacketed bullets with other than lead or lead alloy cores, or cartridges of which the bullet itself is wholly comprised of a metal or metal alloy other than lead. This definition shall not be construed to include shotgun shells or solid plastic bullets.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly use or attempt to use restricted firearm ammunition while committing or attempting to commit a crime. Violation of this section shall constitute a separate and distinct felony and any person found guilty thereof shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony.

.45 or bust
 

CCinMaine

Regular Member
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Jun 27, 2012
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Location
Windham, Maine
HPs are designed to prevent over penetration. I have never worried about carrying them and never would worry unless they became illegal to use.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

mpguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia
HPs are designed to prevent over penetration. I have never worried about carrying them and never would worry unless they became illegal to use.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

That I understand. Again, these were for reloading, not from factory. I would have bought the box and put some cases aside, if I knew I wouldn't be sued, due to not using factory hollow points.

.45 or bust
 

MAC702

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Joined
Jul 31, 2011
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Location
Nevada
I've never seen a case where the reloaded ammunition made a difference.

I carry reloads.

If a lawyer starts attacking my ammunition, that's a sure sign he's getting desperate.
 
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SaltH2OHokie

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Apr 26, 2008
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416
Location
Bottom of Suffolk, VA
*Opinion, not rooted in any legal precedent*

Wouldn't worry about it. Such a low yield sort of thing to worry about. To my way of thinking, the odds of you using your weapon, having the ammo examined to the point that they determine it was handloads, then that info being used against you...are pretty slim. Even if some attorney puts forth some sort of "more deadly" argument, I'd think YOUR attorney would point out that you only shot in a situation where the law allowed deadly force...and there's nothing more deadly than deadly. HP's are accepted as self defense ammo when factory loaded, so by logic, they should be okay in your handloads. Heck, you can buy the very same bullets, powder, primers and brass that are used to build commercially available ammo. Would hope it doesn't matter who actually puts it together.

ETA: If I load once fired Hornady brass with the same XTP I fired out of it the first time...could you tell the difference?
 
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Grapeshot

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peter nap

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Valhalla
This has been covered many times here.
User put it to bed the last time.
Handloads, factory loads, hollow points, soft points, FMJ....it doesn't make any difference.
 

mpguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia
This has been covered many times here.
User put it to bed the last time.
Handloads, factory loads, hollow points, soft points, FMJ....it doesn't make any difference.

I'm sorry for bringing it back up. When I did the search, it didn't really bring anything up that stood out, and nothing came up in the Virginia forums.

.45 or bust
 

WalkingWolf

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Jul 31, 2011
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North Carolina
You are either justified to use deadly force or you are not justified. You can use a homemade shovel if you are justified, just as long as what you carry is not illegal in the state you are in at the time of use. Such as using a shotgun with barrel less than 18 inches, it will not make a difference on justification but it could be a charge for violating state and federal laws. This was the only way they could get a conviction on the subway vigilante, can't remember his name at the moment.
 

Grapeshot

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You are either justified to use deadly force or you are not justified. You can use a homemade shovel if you are justified, just as long as what you carry is not illegal in the state you are in at the time of use. Such as using a shotgun with barrel less than 18 inches, it will not make a difference on justification but it could be a charge for violating state and federal laws. This was the only way they could get a conviction on the subway vigilante, can't remember his name at the moment.

You maybe are referring to Bernhard Goetz.
 

Grapeshot

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Yes that is the one, I believe they eventually got him on a firearms charge.

A jury found him not guilty of all charges except an illegal firearms possession count, for which he served two-thirds of a one-year sentence. The incident has been cited as a contributing factor to the groundswell[SUP][6][/SUP] movement against urban crime and disorder, and successful National Rifle Association campaigns to loosen restrictions on the concealed carrying of firearms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz

He was also sued civily 11 years later and lost.
The jury awarded Cabey $43 million – $18 million for pain and suffering and $25 million in punitive damages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz#Civil_trial

Sorry 'bout the Wiki-links, but they were quick and easy :cool:
 

MAC702

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Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,331
Location
Nevada
...This was the only way they could get a conviction on the subway vigilante, can't remember his name at the moment.

How could you possibly forget:

"What Bernie wants, Bernie Goetz!"

That man not only saved his own life, but probably a dozen more in the aftermath of thugs wondering what other good guys might be illegally carrying defensive capability against their sharpened screwdrivers.

He successfully defended himself from being screwdrivered by thugs, only to get expectedly screwed by the government.
 
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mobeewan

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
652
Location
Hampton, Va, ,
I think most here would agree that Massad Ayoob is an expert in self defense. He has a column in Combat Handguns Magazine called Self Defense and the Law. In the column he sites multiple cases about the particular topic of self defense that he is writing on in each column. He goes over each case and the outcome of each case. Some that he was personally involved in and others that he wasn't. In one of his columns years ago he advised against the use of reloads. Someone he wrote about had loaded 6 rounds of 38 SPCL ammo for self defense carry. They wound up in a self defense shooting that was justified and shot and killed an assailant with that ammo. The prosecutor went after the guy on the pretense that he had loaded powerful ammo and was looking for an excuse to shoot someone so that he could see how powerful his ammo was. There was an attempt by the defense to get the court to allow the testing of the remaining 4 rounds of ammo that the police removed from the revolver that had not been fired to prove the ammo was similar to and no more deadly or powerful than that of which the local police carried. The judge refused saying that it would result in the destroying of the remaining evidence. The prosecutor was able to convince the jury that the guy had done as accused and he was convicted and sent to prison.

So much for the shooting being justified.
 

WalkingWolf

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
11,930
Location
North Carolina
I think most here would agree that Massad Ayoob is an expert in self defense. He has a column in Combat Handguns Magazine called Self Defense and the Law. In the column he sites multiple cases about the particular topic of self defense that he is writing on in each column. He goes over each case and the outcome of each case. Some that he was personally involved in and others that he wasn't. In one of his columns years ago he advised against the use of reloads. Someone he wrote about had loaded 6 rounds of 38 SPCL ammo for self defense carry. They wound up in a self defense shooting that was justified and shot and killed an assailant with that ammo. The prosecutor went after the guy on the pretense that he had loaded powerful ammo and was looking for an excuse to shoot someone so that he could see how powerful his ammo was. There was an attempt by the defense to get the court to allow the testing of the remaining 4 rounds of ammo that the police removed from the revolver that had not been fired to prove the ammo was similar to and no more deadly or powerful than that of which the local police carried. The judge refused saying that it would result in the destroying of the remaining evidence. The prosecutor was able to convince the jury that the guy had done as accused and he was convicted and sent to prison.

So much for the shooting being justified.

Please give us a link to that specific case?
 
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