AG sues over FMJ

[Mtn. Medic]

Found this in the Redding Beacon newspaper this morning. While the lawsuit involves the use of rifles the claims about FMJ. should be of interest to many.


"The state’s attorneys seek $6.36 million from the managers of the Weaverville Rod & Gun Club and the organizers of a National Rifle Association sanctioned shooting event in which a sparking bullet is alleged to have caused the 3,126-acre Junction Fire, which burned one home.

The suit, filed in late July in Trinity County Superior Court, alleges that the gun club was hosting a “service rifle shoot” on July 29, 2006, in which participants where firing assault weapons, including Ruger Mini 14s and Armalite AR-15s.

One of the rounds sparked in the dry vegetation in the overgrown and poorly maintained shooting area, the lawsuit alleges.

The shooters also had been firing “tracer” rounds, the suit says.

Tracers are illegal incendiary rounds that fire a burst of pyrotechnic light so that shooters can track their aim when firing large numbers of rounds from automatic weapons.

The suit also contends that it was irresponsible for the shooting event’s range master, Raymond Harris, to participate in shooting and for allowing shooters to use spark-prone full-metal jacket rounds on the hot, dry day when the blaze erupted. A full-metal jacket is a traditional lead bullet encased in a metal shell for better penetration when striking a target. Although legal for civilians to shoot in California, they’re generally used for law enforcement or military purposes.

Calls Tuesday to a Raymond Harris listed in Lewiston were not returned. Gun club President Ron Kasper referred questions to the club’s Redding attorney, Jim Pincin, who didn’t return a message left with his secretary late Tuesday afternoon.

Both Harris and Kasper told the Trinity Journal newspaper in Weaverville that the gun club’s managers weren’t negligent the day the blaze started. Vegetation was properly maintained, and incendiary rounds weren’t used, they said.

“I’m telling you and I’m telling everybody else, I would never allow tracer rounds to be fired,” Harris told the paper, adding that using full-metal jacketed bullets are the norm for such events."