From: callison@kittyhawk.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: home protection concerns
Date: 25 Jan 93 01:04:24 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

In article <19594@smoke.brl.mil> gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) writes:
#In article <C18z76.DMz@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> callison@kittyhawk.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison) writes:
##Factory loads are, in point of fact, often more powerful than handloads.
#
#True, and the original question raised the wrong objection.  The usual
#legal issue is said to be that the prosecution can make you out as
#"obsessed" with guns if you "roll your own deadly ammo", as part of
#painting a picture of you as bloodthirsty and looking for an excuse to
#kill/wound.  Of course we know better but we're not the jury.

Ahhh...but, if you've been purposely loading down, to get a more accurate 
_target_ load, that paints another picture entirely--along the lines of
"I used what I had." It also provides you with another plus: if you've
been developing target loads, that presumes the fact that you've been
down to the range quite a bit, which intimates that you talk to the
people there--relevant character witnesses. Who among us (who reloads)
hasn't asked another reloader what kind of load he uses, and what his
results are? If you're developing a load, and you're a steady customer
of a range, they're going to be very good witnesses to the fact that you
were devloping the load as a part of your legitimate, sporting hobby, not
with the intention of dosing out lead-deficiency treatment.

But you're right; we know better, and we're not the jury--although, by
rights, a handloader should be tried by people who actually understand
handloading and shooting. You know, that "jury of your peers" stuff...

##I can't see the caliber making any difference at all;
#
#.357 Magnum has some excellent defense loads.  Most .44 Magnum loads
#on the other hand are inappropriate for many defense scenarios
#(although if it's all you have, you use it, but the point is you
#should not have deliberately chosen to acquire it for such purposes),
#being seriously overpenetrative which not only reduces stopping
#capacity but also increases the hazard to bystanders.  Thus use of a
#"hand cannon" instead of a more effective caliber can again be turned
#against you in court.  On the other hand, no matter what the facts of
#the case are, prosecution can make an attempt to twist and otherwise
#misinterpret them.  Your best defense is to have made the most
#rational, justifiable choices before, during, and after the
#incident.

Hey, hey, hey! .44Magnum is _my_ defense round! ;-) 

My point is that I really don't think that the caliber will make any
difference in the overall scheme of things. .357 or .44, 9mm or .45ACP,
10mm or .40S&W--if it gets down to that sort of level, the prosecutor
_really_ wants your hide on his trophy wall, and it really wouldn't
have made a difference if it'd been a .22lr or a .50BMG--it's just
going to be a drop in the bucket. (Of course, IMHO, at that level,
the prosecutor crosses the line into persecution, but that's another
group :-)

This is, needless to say, IMHO. Your mileage (or, more importantly, the
_jury's_) mileage may vary.

				James

James P. Callison       Microcomputer Coordinator        OU Law Library 
Callison@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu   /\    Callison@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
	constellation!biglaw!callison@mailhost.ecn.uoknor.edu
DISCLAIMER: I'm not an engineer, but I play one at work...
	"God didn't make men and women equal. Colonel Colt did."
			--Maggie Zombro, "Reasonable Doubts"