And away we goooooo!! Again and again, Will it ever end???
Not likely.
IANAL nor do I play one TV.
The common argument is that the DA will portray the defendant as a crazed killer who manufactured his own extra deadly ammunition. That really is a **** argument. No DA worth half his salary is going to make an argument that can be shot down so easily. It makes him look stupid to the jury.
The alternate argument is that forensic evidence such as gunshot residue may be important in a self defense shooting. This has some legs. In the Zimmerman case, for example, one of the defense claims is that Martin was on top of him of Zimmerman and was striking him when Zimmerman fired. In that case, gunshot residue will be important in establishing just how far away the gun was when the shots were fired. To do this the lab will use ammo of the same type and, if possible, lot number as was used in the shooting. With commercial ammo this is pretty easy to do. With reloads it is much more difficult because the rules of evidence in most states frown on a defendant manufacturing his own evidence.
Also consider that, even if you are exonerated by the jury, all the evidence painstakingly gather by the authorities will be available to the plaintiff's attorney in a possible civil case.
Each person has to make his own decision as to what ammunition to keep in his SD guns. Some people will carry reloads and trust the system to work it out correctly. That may be a good bet. I am the primary economic support for my family and have decided that the extra cost of a box of Gold Dots is cheap compared to the added risk.
OTOH, I shoot revolvers where a box of 25 or 50 is enough to test reliability. I've read that the bottom feeder guys shoot at least 250 and sometimes over 500 rounds for that purpose. At a buck a pop that can add up fast.
Now can we go back to reloading?
