With so many choices of ammunition to choose from nowadays, it’s important for you to know what you can and cannot legally have. The only ammunition restricted under federal law is armor-piercing handgun ammunition. Federal law defines armor-piercing ammunition as a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium or is a full jacketed projectile larger than a .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25% of the total weight of the projectile. Florida state law provides more restrictions than federal law.
Illegal Ammunition
In Florida, there are five types of ammunition that are illegal to possess. The list of prohibited ammunition is found in Florida statute 790.31 and it is as follows:
- Armor-piercing bullet. The Florida definition of armor-piercing is defined as a bullet which has a steel inner core or a core of an equivalent hardness and a truncated cone and which is designed for use in a handgun as armor-piercing or metal piercing bullet.
- Exploding bullet. This is a bullet that can be fired from any firearm if such bullet is designed or altered so as to detonate or forcefully break up through the use of an explosive or deflagrant contained wholly or partially within or attached to such bullet. Exploding bullet does not include any bullet designed to expand or break up through the mechanical forces of impact alone or any signaling device or a pest control device not designed to impact on any target.
- Dragon breath shotgun, which means any shotgun shell that contains exothermic pyrophoric misch metal as a projectile and that is designed for the sole purpose of throwing or spewing a flame or a fireball to simulate a flamethrower.
- Bolo shell. The bolo shell is any shell that can be fired in a firearm and that expels as projectiles two or more metal balls connected by a solid metal wire.
- Flechette shell, which is any shell that can be fired in a firearm and that expels two or more pieces of fin-stabilized solid metal wire or two or more solid type dart projectiles.
As long as the ammunition you buy does not fall into any of the five prohibited categories of ammunition, then you’re good to go. Although, do keep in mind that a prosecutor or a plaintiff in a civil suit could attempt to use the type or caliber of ammo you use against you in a criminal or civil trial if you are forced to use your firearm in self-defense. In a situation where you are forced to defend yourself, the stopping power of your ammunition is vitally important. However, self-defense ammo such as hollow point bullets are designed to combine the deep penetration of a fully jacketed bullet with the high levels of energy transfer and shock created by an expanding lead bullet.
Civil Liability
A prosecutor in a criminal trial or the plaintiff in a civil trial may try to paint you as a person who is looking to kill or cause maximum damage to someone because you chose hollow point self-defense ammunition. This is why it’s important to have a defense attorney who’s not only an experienced trial lawyer, but is also experienced in handling firearm related cases who knows how to counter these arguments. Of course, if you use muzzleloading or black powder firearms, this video does not apply to you. If you have any questions at all about the type of ammunition you can legally use in Florida or any other Florida firearm or self-defense law questions, please give U.S. LawShield a call and ask to be connected to your Independent Program Attorney.
In Florida ntghey are trying to soon regulate the air that a person breathes.Its the persons own responability to use the correctm type of ammo to stop the threat of some one who may cause you DEATH or Bodily Harm.Its better to kill them than be supporting them the rest of their lives out of your bank account.
A use of deadly force is either justified or not. it is either self defense or unjustified use of deadly force. A shotgun is legal to protect yourself with and no handgun or hand gun bullet type is going to equal the blast from a 12 gauge shotgun period. use of full metal jacketed bullets has the liability of striking innocent people after it goes through the intended target. Hollow points do more damage and tend to stick in the original target rather than penetrate it. relative to deadly force a justified shooting is a justified shooting. There is no requirement to unload your hunting ammo and load your self defense ammo. I criminal who attacks a citizen without warning gets shot with what is in the gun. If the shooting in unjustified it wont matter is the gun was a 22 short. If an attorney or prosecutor is going to create a fiction to fool a jury talk to your attorney about waving a jury trial and letting the prosecutor try to twist up the bench.
So I can use armor piercing 12 gauge round
Soooo…. If I shoot you with anything other than a FMJ round, a 12 gauge, or any assault rifle/assault rifle pistol round 7.62×39, 223,or a 5.56 the jury is going to question why I had a 30 round mag in my glock 17 full of hollow tip bullets? Lol stop playing of course I was shooting to kill, I damn sure wasn’t shooting them for it to tickle. Pretty soon if we don’t stand up for our 2nd ammendment we’ll only be able to throw rocks because spears will be outlawed too. I tell you what I rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 or to lose anyone in my family or one of my friends, ⚠ WARNING I LIVE IN FLORIDA AND MY RIGHT HAND ON A BIBLE, I SWEAR YOU WILL OVERDOSE OF LEAD POISONING AND TAKE THE ROOM TEMPERATURE CHALLENGE, I HOPE YOU CAN CATCH ALL 30 OF THESE HILLOW TIPS ⚠ My 1st witness I have called to the stand to testify won’t have anything to do with my situation but, he’s been shot 12 times with a Draco pistol which uses 7.62×39 rounds, and he’s still here to tell his story, he will be my witness #1 called to stand when the jury ask the question “well why did you shoot him 30 times”, I enter into evidence exhibit #1 12 photo’s numbered 1-12 and the detail of location of each scar. My answer “because my friend got shot 12 times with an assault rifle and still drove himself to the hospital 2 mins away.” Itll only take them 10 minutes but they’ll just make it 30 to seem like they really had to think. The judge will say “Has the jury reached a verdict?” They’ll say “we have your honor, not guilty, we find reason to believe this was a case of self defense even though he shot him 30 times” Case dismissed. Atleast that’s how it plays out in my mind. But 1 thing for sure 2 things for certain he will catch all 30 of these hollow points!
Your a clown,to talk about shooting someone 30 times proves your not responsible or mature enough to own a weapon.even to point a weapon at someone is a very serious matter,don’t make law-abiding citizens seem like morons because you’ve played out your little fantasy a million times in your own deranged mind.grow up stupid
Each self defense scenario and number of rounds shot will be up for scrutiny in your trial. Every little detail will be twisted against you, so be as righteous, honorable as you can and hire the correct defense. Suggest using as little as possible to defend yourself should the need arise. Even in the military the phrase “no more rounds than necessary” used to appear on rules of engagement cards in operational zones. Specific numbers of rounds based on a scenario which has been rehearsed is not relevant to a real world defense scenario.