Frangible bullets

On Fri, 2 Jan 2004 13:59:49 -0800, "C J Campbell"
wrote:

Yet another myth -- that frangible bullets will provide an adequate defense
against terrorists while minimizing the possibility of aircraft damage.

Frangible bullets explode on contact with a target. Good idea if the target
is the skin of an aircraft or the skin of a terrorist. Bad idea if the
terrorist wears thick enough clothing or maybe a layer of Kevlar and the
frangible bullet will not penetrate the protective layer. Meanwhile those
bullet shards will be flying all over the place.

Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA

Chris, frangible bullets don't explode. They don't have explosive
inside them. They're designed to maintain enough shape and mass to
enter a body, then disintegrate to dust so that they don't pass
through and hit multiple targets after that. They also are designed
to disintegrate against things like aluminum sheeting, rather than
penetrate. Or at least some frangible rounds are designed like that.

There are several different types of frangible rounds. Presumably the
ones used by air marshals would be lethal to people but only to the
target.

Corky Scott