Plastic bullet

Plastic bullet can refer to:

Plastic baton round: a large, blunt, low-velocity projectile fired from a specialized gun, intended as a less-lethal weapon for riot control and an alternative to rubber bullets. Plastic bullet: a conventionally sized and shaped bullet made from a composite material including plastic, fired from a conventional rifle and capable of penetrating human tissue, intended as a less lethal weapon for riot control. Plastic bullet (target shooting): a blunt, lightweight handgun bullet intended for short-range target practice, not intended for use as a weapon. Both types of plastic bullet intended for riot control have caused deaths. Plastic bullets are generally used for riot control. Some plastic bullets are intended to be aimed at the ground so as to ricochet into the target; others are intended to be fired directly at a person. Plastic baton rounds were invented by British researchers to provide a more accurate alternative to rubber bullets, and were intended to be fired directly at rioters in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. An unrelated blunt, low velocity, small-calibre handgun bullet made of hollow plastic is sometimes used for short-range target practice (see recreational use).

History The plastic baton round was developed in the UK by Porton Down scientists and intended for use against rioters in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, first used there in 1973. The first version was the L5 Plastic Baton Round (PBR, commonly called plastic bullet). It was created to replace rubber baton rounds (rubber bullets), which had been used in Northern Ireland since 1970 and which were withdrawn by the end of 1975. Rubber bullets were meant to be fired at the legs of rioters or the ground in front of them. However, they were often fired directly at people from close range and sometimes at the totally innocent. The use of rubber bullets in Northern Ireland resulted in at least three people being killed and many more badly injured. The plastic bullet could be fired directly at people and at longer ranges. It was intended to be a projectile of similar effect on its target as the rubber bullet. Officially, its advantage over the rubber bullet was claimed to be greater accuracy. The first plastic bullet was made of PVC (some sources say polyurethane), weighed 135 g (4.75 oz), was 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter and 'rather over' 102 mm (4 in) long. The new plastic bullet was a similar size to but lighter than the 149 g (5.25 oz) rubber bullet, but the considerably longer range of the plastic bullet—33–66 m (36–72 yd) against 23–46 m (25–50 yd)—implies an appreciably higher muzzle velocity. An analysis made in 1976 concluded that the plastic bullet would prove to be more dangerous than the rubber bullet it replaced, especially if used abusively at short distances. In Northern Ireland between their first use in February 1973 and February 1983, plastic bullets killed four times as many people round for round as the rubber bullets they replaced. The final variant of the L5 plastic bullet—the L5A7—was introduced in 1994. The L5 was replaced by the L21A1 in 2001. The L21 plastic bullet was fired from a new launcher, the HK L104A1 riot gun, a rifled weapon which gives greater accuracy when used with an optical sight than the smooth bore weapons used to fire the earlier L5 rounds. A 2003 study for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission found that the new L21 round was 'potentially more lethal' since it was inaccurate and 2.5 times more likely to penetrate body tissue than the older L5 round. One in three L21 rounds missed their target, while 10% of the L21 rounds fired caused injury compared to 1.14% of the L5 rounds. The Defence Scientific Advisory Council found that the L21 round hitting end on could penetrate a human skull and lodge in the brain, killing the victim; also that the L21 round posed more risk to innocent bystanders than the L5 due to its greater potential ricochet. The L21 was replaced by the L60A1 Attenuated Energy Projectile in June 2005 due to tests showing that the L21 was more dangerous than earlier rounds especially when striking the head.

Usage—plastic baton rounds

Use in Northern Ireland

The British Army in Northern Ireland was issued with plastic bullets in August 1972, the intention being to replace the use of rubber bullets, and first used by them in February 1973; while the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) first 'tried out' the new round during a riot on 12 August 1973. Shortly after their introduction it was discovered plastic bullets were lethal at certain ranges. Rubber bullets had been withdrawn from Northern Ireland by the end of 1975. Fourteen people were killed by plastic bullet impacts; half of them were children and all but one were from the Catholic community. The deaths occurred over 14 years, from 1975 to 1989. Most of the deaths were allegedly caused by the British security forces misusing the weapon, firing at close range and at chest or head level rather than targeting below the waist. The first person to be killed by a plastic bullet was 10 year old Stephen Geddis, who died on 30 August 1975 in hospital, two days after being shot by the British Army in west Belfast. One of the most high-profile plastic bullet victims was 12 year old Carol Ann Kelly from west Belfast, who died in hospital on 22 May 1981 after being shot in the head by a member of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on 19 May 1981. In 1982, the European Parliament called on member states to ban the use of plastic bullets. However, they continued to be used by the British security forces in Northern Ireland. In 1984 the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets was founded, calling for plastic bullets to be banned in Northern Ireland. One of its founders, Emma Groves, had been permanently blinded in 1971 when a British soldier shot her in the face with a rubber bullet. During rioting in July 1997, a 14 year old boy was struck in the head by a plastic bullet and spent three days in a coma. From 1973 to 1981, just over 42,600 plastic bullets were fired in Northern Ireland. By 2005, 125,000 baton rounds had been fired, most of them plastic bullets.

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