It would seem that, according to the New York Times, I’m Dirty Harry:
That’s right, according to the New York Times, I care one of the most deadly handgun calibers on today’s market:
The pistol used by a disgruntled designer to kill a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building on Friday is among the more lethal handguns on the American firearms market.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the shooter, Jeffrey T. Johnson, 58, used a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol that held eight rounds.
Whereas Jeffrey Johnson carried a 1911 that held eight .45 rounds I carry a Glock 30SF, which holds 11 .45 rounds. How a low velocity 100 year-old cartridge can be one of the more lethal cartridges on a market with the .357 magnum, .44 magnum, and .50 action express is beyond me. What I do know is that the stupidity didn’t stop there:
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re probably not going to be able to hit the broad side of a barn with it,” said Joseph F. King, a former United States Customs Service special agent. But, he added, “If you can put a round in center mass of the body, or the head, he’s probably not going to make it.” The firearm, powerful as it may be, is not the subject of much of the debate about gun control.
Really? So if I shoot somebody in the head with a .45 they likely won’t make it but if I hit them in the head with a 9mm they’ll be hunky dory? Is that what King is trying to say? Because if it is he’s a bloody idiot.
On raw power the .45 is not as powerful as many people think. Though a hollowpoint .45 round will hit like a sledge hammer every time you pull the trigger, but all of the larger magnum rounds, .50 AE, and 10mm have significantly higher levels of muzzle energy, some of them might have a problem transferring the energy to the target but a half inch+ hole through your torso is going to be a major problem. And if you get shot in the head by anything that is classified as a firearm you probably are not going to make it.
And here I though the .45 was akin to a small tactical nuclear weapon (at least that’s what the disciples of the Church of John Moses Browning often tell me). I am sad to learn otherwise.