Can hollow point bullets be dangerous for children to handle?

Question

Let me explain - I'm trying to defend our school policy of zero tolerance and I need to intelligently argue with a parent about the dangers involved when his child brought them to school. Seriously, can anyone explain what can happen?

Answer 1

First of all i need you to define what you mean by hollow point bullets, Is it just the bullet or is it incased in a live shell.
The bullet head its self is no danger even when in a spent shell.
Your question first apperars in the british answer forem there for this indicates that your british.
The thing that everyone moust understand is that hear in the UK we have some of the toughest gun laws in the world and they apply to ammunition as well.
Should this be a live centerfire/rimfire then over hear its quite serious,, remember every thing to do with guns has a licencing system, the owning of them and the handling/buying of ammo as well as age restrictions.

Hopefully you will get back to me with the info i asked for in the e mail

Answer 2

Kate, if by bullets you mean loaded cartridges then the answer is that hollow point ammo is no more dangerous to handle than any other ammo. The real danger is that a child may throw it in a microwave to see what happens, or set it on a hot plate or stove and it could detonate. Otherwise the hazard of heavy metals poisening is minimual from the lead and copper contents of the bullets. The bottom line is, how young are the children? Are they likely to be moved by curosity to try to break open a bullet to see the inside, or heat it to see if it'll go off?

Best.

H

Answer 3

As a SAS Team Leader, the use of all firearms are definately dangerous. Hollow Points are especially dangerous, briging in a weapon and ammunition to a public school, you should be considering a discharge of the student.

This is the same for both real weapons and air rifles, a bullet that is accidently fired into a person would only require it to be removed and for the entry and exit wound to be closed.
However if a hollow point bullet accidently entered one of your students, the chance of survival is extremly low.
Because hollow points disintergrate upon impact, the lead would poison the victims's blood system instantly.

Answer 4

If it's just bullets, not loaded cartridges, you're making far too much of a deal about this. A loose bullet is roughly equivalent to a rock in terms of danger. I'm certain you have rocks on your playground.

If they were loaded cartridges, though, that's another situation completely. If someone were to strike the primer, it could go off, and while it wont fire the bullet out nearly as fast as it would were it in a firearm, the rupturing case could pose a serious hazard to anyone in the area. It's pretty dangerous, and should be kept away from children who aren't responsible enough to handle them.

Answer 5

I'm sorry to hear you are defending the zero tolerance policy. There are kids in prison and with felony charges because of foolish policies instated because we are a society full of scared people.

Do you mean cartridge or bullet?

No. Hollow points are no more dangerous than any other bullet.

No. A child should not have one at school.

Answer 6

If you are going to argue about firearms or ammunition, you need to get your facts and terminology straight.

A "cartridge" also correctly called 'ammunition' or 'ammo' for short, is the assembled component that is ready to be loaded into a firearm and can be fired. It generally consists of a bullet (the projectile that comes out of the barrel), a shell casing ('shell', 'casing' or sometimes 'brass'), powder (the stuff that burns and explodes) and the primer (causes the powder to burn). Loaded cartridges are ofen mistakenly called 'bullets' by the uninformed however this is wrong and there is a difference.

Although unlikely, a cartridge can be made to fire without a firearm and should be considered dangerous and potentially harmful or even lethal.

Bullets, the firearm's projectile, by themselves are not particularly a threat when not in a loaded cartridge.....however most are made from lead or lead with some other metal and the risk of children getting lead on their skin or mouths is enough to prohibit them handling even inert ammunition or bullets.

Now, I'm fully against these so-called "Zero Tolerence" rules that moronic politicians have enacted because the people enforcing the rules may not have the knowledge or education to determine the difference between a potentially dangerous and lethal firearm and a benign component of a firearm.

The circumstance and the child MUST be evaluated on a case by case basis and the correct action should be taken by the school officials. In cases where a harmless firearm related component (or something resembling a firearm) is innocently taken to school the child should not be punished but educated.

I know of one case where a third grade child was expelled because the house key his mother gave to him had a keychain fob that was a 2 inch long blue rubber cowboy revolver. The child was not threatening anyone with this obvious toy, but the moronic "Zero Tolerence" policy required that he be expelled. His mother sued and won and the school official lost his job over his overzealous prosectution of a harmless child and a toy.

Answer 7

If they are lead bullets with out a loaded primed cartridge they are still a health hazard.
On every bag of lead bird shot it says;
“ -WARNING-
This product contains lead. Do not smoke or eat while handling.
Wash hands after handling.
KEEP OUT OF THE REACH OF CHILDREN. “

Some bullets are coated with copper, silver and other metals. And that may prevent contact with the lead. But a lead bullet like a wad cutter cast lead bullet is slightly toxic.
Its continued exposure to lead that can do the real harm. Swallowing a lead bullet will not kill you but just pass through.
But lead has been shown to do brain damage in children if they are exposed to it too much. Like kids eating lead based paint chips they find has been proven to cause problems.

We keep all of our reloading stuff locked up.

While I understand the need to keep the school safe, I do not think Zero tolerance is the answer to every situation. If the child had live ammo at school that would not be good. And action is needed to let the parents know this is not allowed. However kicking the kid out of school for it is too extreme to me. When I was a kid I went squirrel hunting in the wee hours of the morning before school. And yes I had a few .22 rounds in my pocket at school at times. And there was no threat to any one, as I didn’t have a gun with me to use them.
I think people are getting too carried away with this zero tolerance policy.

I think you should just talk to the parents, with more understanding, because the bullets with no gun poses very little risk to anyone.

As far as the dangers go there isn't much, unless they are hit with a hammer, thrown in a fire or ingested. It depends on the age of the child as well.

But my, my how our country has changed. Many schools in the 60s and 70s allowed students to have firearms in their cars in high school.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

Answer 8

Nothing can happen unless the child swallows it and chokes or decides to put it in a vice and hit the end of it with a hammer and punch.

Although it is plainly wrong to let a child have access to ammunition and guns in an unsupervised manner, instead of preaching about zero tolerance, which in the grand scheme of things will have absolutely no effect on gun crime, why not teach children to be responsible with and around guns and ammunition?

Answer 9

The lead in bullets of any design by themselves can be toxic if ingested. One need not actually swallow the bullet to ingest the lead. It can get on the child's hands and then be transferred to their mouth. Perhaps you are actually talking about a loaded cartridge rather than just the bullet. A cartridge in the hands of a child can be quite dangerous. If they were to strike the primer with enough force, the cartridge could explode with catastrophic results. Ammunition is not a toy and should not ever be in the unsupervised hands of a child. You are correct in assuming that this is a potential hazard not only to the child who brought it to school but also to the other children with whom he associates and to his teachers. Adults having any knowlege at all about guns and ammo and having any sense of responsibility understand this. It is a message preached constantly by the NRA of which I am a proud member.

Answer 10

Their isn't any real danger unless the right gun was brought with them. Unless they decide to eat them. They aren't strong enough to hit the primer and make them go off. Heck, most the people on this site couldn't do that. Even if they threw them in a fire they would just pop like a little fire cracker. You are better off explaining to the dad that his kid is better off just leaving the bullets at home. Or.......better yet. Talk to your school principle and see about getting the NRA's Eddie Eagle program into your school. This will teach all the kids what to do just in case they find a gun where it isn't supposed to be. It will also tech the kids to stay away from bullets unless they are with an adult.