must you carry defensive rounds?

[deucide]

I have been told by multiple gun stores / sporting goods store clerks, that you must have defensive rounds in a gun to make it legal to carry in public. I have since been told you can have any type bullet you want loaded in the gun. so My question is, is there any law that specifies the type of ammo you have to use in a personal defense pistol? if so could some one please post a link to the corresponding Indiana code - or is this just the gun dealers blowing smoke up peoples A** in order to get them to buy the much more expensive defense rounds.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Complete BS. There is no law in Indiana that states what ammo you have to carry. As long as you have an LTCH, your are good to go.

 

[Double T]

Hollow point ammo is the preferred ammo for personal defense. Don't be a cheap ass, your life is worth more than $0.37 a round. Buy premium ammo that is made to expand and create a larger wound channel than FMJ.

It's not the law, but how much is your life worth really? A dollar a round isn't too unreasonable IMHO.

 

[Rhoadmar]

" or is this just the gun dealers blowing smoke up peoples A** in order to get them to buy the much more expensive defense rounds. "
This is correct.

 

[deucide]

i realize hollow points are better, but jacketed soft points mushroom out nice like a hollow point and are generally half as much.

 

[TheSpark]

I have been told by multiple gun stores / sporting goods store clerks, that you must have defensive rounds in a gun to make it legal to carry in public. I have since been told you can have any type bullet you want loaded in the gun. so My question is, is there any law that specifies the type of ammo you have to use in a personal defense pistol? if so could some one please post a link to the corresponding Indiana code - or is this just the gun dealers blowing smoke up peoples A** in order to get them to buy the much more expensive defense rounds.

What stores have told you this? Of course this is not true as already stated by others above.

 

[CountryBoy19]

i realize hollow points are better, but jacketed soft points mushroom out nice like a hollow point and are generally half as much.

Are you talking rifle or handgun? Soft-point on a handgun may mushrun nicely in some material but not so nicely in others. Stop being cheap, its your life you're talking about. Get some premium defensive ammo and carry it.

 

[USMC-Johnson]

I am more than happy to bet my life on a FMJ bullet out of my guns. Will you need to shoot someone more to have the same result? yes you will...Check out the switch from green tip to SOST rounds in Afghanistan.

The reason why i wont carry FMJ bullets is because unless you hit big heavy bones that round is going straight through that person and on into whatever is behind them. whether that be a wall or a 5 year old.

 

[HoughMade]

i realize hollow points are better, but jacketed soft points mushroom out nice like a hollow point and are generally half as much.

What specific round in what caliber are you referring to?

Legally, you can carry whatever you want provided it's not "armor piercing" as defined by the law, but why would you not want to carry quality defensive ammo?

Most people practice with FMJ or some other less expensive ammo, but shoot enough of the premium defensive ammo during practice to know it functions correctly and they know the feel. I practice like this and carry Hornady Critical Defense- which does not feel much different from FMJ practice rounds. Some people change carry ammo like teen-aged girls change outfits, but I've never understood either. I say- find something that works for your gun, works for you and had a stellar reputation in the industry and stick with it.

Saving a few bucks isn't worth carrying an inferior stopper. You are correct that some soft point ammunitions are designed and work well for self-defense, but that is not universally true. That is why myself and others are asking about the specifics.

 

[worddoer]

The reason why i won’t carry FMJ bullets is because unless you hit big heavy bones that round is going straight through that person and on into whatever is behind them. whether that be a wall or a 5 year old.

To the OP...this!!! ^^^^^^^^^^

There is NO legal requirement in the state of Indiana regarding the type of ammunition used in a self-defense shooting. The legal requirements to justify your defense are the same regardless of the type of ammunition used for your particular gun. I cannot attest for other more restrictive states though like on our east and west coast.

The real reason it is highly recommended that you use a hollow point expanding round is the slowing / stopping of the round......NOT the increased trauma to your target. To many people get caught up in the increased damage effect and don't think about the fact that a handgun is almost always inadequate anyway...regardless of caliber. If you really plan on getting into a gun fight, then you should have a big rifle....or a tank with missiles....or a battleship....but a whole lot more than what your opponent has. Handguns are used because we don't intend to get into a fight. And we can have them on us a lot more and in more places.

The hollow point round helps to keep the round in the intended target and not in an innocent bystander. And I guarantee that if you do not use some sort of slowing / stopping round (as there are hollow points, expanding points, soft points...some more reliable than others), then your FMJ round will pass through your target and hit someone or something else you did not intend to shoot.

I know this is a gruesome example, but I use it as it is an effective one. The Nazi's would line up 4-5 prisoners back to back and shoot them with one round. The round did not always hit each person, but would almost always kill at least 2 if not 3 of them. This was done to conserve ammo.

I would hope and assume that you have no intentions of injuring anyone else besides the person that is attacking you. Since that is the case, would it not be a wise idea to use a round that would stop inside your attacker instead of passing through your attacker and injuring or killing an innocent person 50 or 100 yards beyond your attacker?

 

[Psode27]

^ agree with USMC Johnson and Worddoer. I dont wrap my head around the intense ballistic tests between top tier cartrige makers comparing hollow points, I'm sure they all would do the trick... (I carry hornaday zombie rounds FWIW) I carry whatever hollow point functions in my gun, solely because it has less of a possibility to go through my intended target. In the scheme of things having a box of pricey defense rounds (and cycling them out once in a while) isnt that much.

 

[jake blue]

It's already been stated enough... FMJ for practice, HP for performance. I appreciate Worddoer's position and would add that the collateral damage of using FMJ for self-defense isn't to the intended target but rather it is the innocent victims, the emotional trauma and the litigation which will follow.

 

[Dirtebiker]

I have been told by multiple gun stores / sporting goods store clerks, that you must have defensive rounds in a gun to make it legal to carry in public. I have since been told you can have any type bullet you want loaded in the gun. so My question is, is there any law that specifies the type of ammo you have to use in a personal defense pistol? if so could some one please post a link to the corresponding Indiana code - or is this just the gun dealers blowing smoke up peoples A** in order to get them to buy the much more expensive defense rounds.

"multiple"? Can you tell us who these people are?

 

[kazaam]

imo it's more responsible to carry them because you have less chance of collateral damage.

 

[traderdan]

Say it with me..all you lovers of the 1911 Automatic Colt Pistol.."They all fall to hardball"!

 

[TheSpark]

imo it's more responsible to carry them because you have less chance of collateral damage.

Yep, I agree.

 

[HoughMade]

Say it with me..all you lovers of the 1911 Automatic Colt Pistol.."They all fall to hardball"!

...but....they don't.

 

[GNRPowdeR]

Say it with me..all you lovers of the 1911 Automatic Colt Pistol.."They all fall to hardball"!

I'm a 1911 ACP Fan / EDC & am not willing to agree with your statement. FMJ ammo, IMO, isn't a good choice morally for my EDC.

Does it work? Yes.

Are there better options available for me to use that are less likely to create collateral damage, WHILE DOING MORE DAMAGE TO THE INTENDED TARGET? Very Much, YES...

 

[Excalibur]

I remember reading an article, which covers someone being cheap with not getting a LTCH because of the cost but ends up even more cheap to putting FMJs in his gun. He had to use it and ends up shooting a guy who is attacking him and his girlfriend. He ended up shooting the man 10 times, some of the rounds going through the attacker and the court used that against him along with the whole didn't get an LTCH because he was too cheap for that.

So for me, unless it's the end of the world and I am running out of the good stuff, I will never use FMJ for defense.

 

[JettaKnight]

I have been told by multiple gun stores / sporting goods store clerks, that you must have defensive rounds in a gun to make it legal to carry in public. I have since been told you can have any type bullet you want loaded in the gun. so My question is, is there any law that specifies the type of ammo you have to use in a personal defense pistol? if so could some one please post a link to the corresponding Indiana code - or is this just the gun dealers blowing smoke up peoples A** in order to get them to buy the much more expensive defense rounds.

In New Jersey this is exactly NOT what you want to do.

Where do gun store denizens get this crap?