The article says:
Officers found 50 rounds of 44-caliber, 240 grain-jacketed Remington hollow point bullets, illegal in some states, including New Jersey, because they can pierce cops’ bullet-resistant armor, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Essex County prosecutor’s office.
The problem is hollow point bullets are less able to penetrate body armor than the more common Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets.
The fact that they probably were for .44 Magnum handgun is more telling. Almost any soft body armor comfortable enough for everyday wear is going to be penetrated by any full power load in that caliber.
But this is law enforcement in New Jersey where facts about guns are irrelevant to their jobs and when dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril.
AFAIK, New Jersey is the ONLY state where hollow points are illegal.
Yup. Those “magnum” guns are thooper, thooper thcewy, the little guns are thooper, thooper thcewy because criminals can hide them, the cheap guns are thooper, thooper thcewy because “those people” (yes– poor people) can afford them, and the high-end guns are thooper, thooper scawy because they’re so accurate. I guess the .22 rimfire singleshot rifle is thooper, thooper thcewy because it’s cheap, quiet, and the ammo is cheap.
They’re not even illegal to possess, purchase, or fire. They’re illegal to randomly carry around, and I believe a sentencing enhancement if used in the course of a crime.
Ian beat me to it. As a former resident of the People’s Republic of Jersey I can assure you that hollow point “kop killer” bullets are not illegal per se. However, that myth is so ingrained, even in the average police officer, that before visiting family there I make sure to search my truck just in case the kid dropped a .22 hollow point in the back seat.
That you SHOULD do. Hollow-point are illegal to possess outside of certain very strict restrictions (basically, at home or fixed place of business, at the place of purchase, or in transit between with only diversions are are reasonably necessary).
I should have said that hollow-points are no more illegal in NJ than firearms are… That is to say, they are illegal to posess outside of specific safe havens in the law.
Also, above based on reading of the statues, not case law…
Only 50 rounds? Can you imagine the “junk on the bunk” display if the cops ever raid my house, or your house? “Police found 10,000 rounds of the same type of .45 automatic ammo that is commonly issued to soldiers at war”.
I don’t have that many rounds of .45 because the prices went way up just about the time I got my .45.
The quantities of 9mm, .40, .223, 7.62×39, 30.06, and .300 Win Mag might raise some eyebrows though. That doesn’t even count the smokeless powder, tons of ammonium nitrate and other related chemicals.
And the books and blog posts (see also here), oh, my!
And people wonder why I live in a hidden, hardened, underground bunker. It’s to make accessibility approach that of Tam’s dream home so I will have time to contact my lawyer before they open on me with the tanks.