Fort Hood Massacre

I am finding it very difficult to stay on theme here with the events of the last week at Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, TX. The response of the FBI, Janet Napolitano, and BO has been at very least troubling. I encourage everyone to pray. Pray for the families of the dead, and for the wounded. Initial reports indicate that two Federal Contract Police Officers engaged the suspect and neutralized him, one of them wounded in the leg during the engagement. I look forward the release of additional information on this incident so that the response can be evaluated.

Shortly after the incident, it was reported that the shooter had purchased the weapons used in the incident from a shop in Killeen, called Guns Galore. I'm not from the area but have stopped in there and found it to be an above average shop with a great selection and friendly staff. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding any possible red flags during the sale of these weapons. I'm sure they deal with a great many uniformed military personnel, possessing last names originating from all ends of the earth. It is of interest that the weapons purchased and used in the shooting was the FN 5.7 pistol. I am somewhat familiar with this weapon and its big brother, the FN P90. I recalled reading an article recently which detailed an investigations by the ATF in which multiple 5.7 pistols used in narco-violence in the Mexico were tracked back to Collector's Firearms in Houston. It was alleged that the guns were bought by straw-purchasers a the store and funneled to criminals in Mexico. To be fair, I believe the article or articles I read also referenced similar sales of AR-15 rifles by the Carter's Country stores in Houston. It was also alleged that these 5.7 pistols ad AR-15 were used to kill Mexican Police Officers and gangsters, although I'm unclear as to how this is determined with the rampant corruption in Mexico.

When it was reported that the shooter had 20 round magazines, I had the feeling that we would learn the 5.7 had been used. The 5.7 round is revered for its ability to penetrate body armor, and the P90 is uniquely well suited for CQB/HNT/HRT operations. What I was able to find on this gun was that it was considered by some to be a good pack gun, due to light weight, high capacity, high velocity rounds. I really couldn't find any anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness against bears or aggressive predators. My opinion is still that .44 mag or larger handgun is appropriate for a pack gun. If a rifle round is preferred then many AR-15 pistol variants are available, allowing for a much higher capacity mag to be used, while still allowing weapon to be stored in a pack. I don't need ballistic gelatin testing to say that you tend to get awful performance from a rifle round when discharging it from a 4 or 5 inch barrel. My personal belief is that you use a long gun when at all possible, especially when you believe that your life may be threatened.

I would be surprised if FN did not seriously limit the distribution of the 5.7 pistol, if it is not already the subject of a planned Federal ban. As one who supports the literal application of the 2nd Amendment, I do not believe in restricting law-abiding citizens from purchasing quality, effective weapons for protection. On the other hand, this appears to be such a "niche" gun with questionable effectiveness, that I don't believe that limiting its distribution would impact the citizens' right to protect themselves. The Virginia Tech shooter, without any military training, killed 32 people, wounded 17, with a 9mm Glock pistol and a Walther .22 cal pistol. It can hardly be argued that the Ft. Hood shooting was made worse by the Terrorist's choice of weapon when he killed 13 people, and wounded 29.