Sonofabitch. Ayoob had it right, after all.
Who'd a thunk it?
Well...no.
Sorry, but the fact that one lawyer tried to make handloads an issue in a court case doesn't prove a thing. To the contrary, the fact that it's only been tried in one, single case tends to prove the opposite.
I'm a criminal defense attorney and am very good friends with our county's elected prosecutor. We were sitting around one day with several other lawyers and got to talking about the Factory Load v. Handload thing and whether using handloads exposed the shooter to more risks regarding prosecution/conviction/civil suit.
One attorney astutely pointed out that, if he could pick the shooter's ammo, and then go after the shooter in court, he would prefer that the shooter use factory ammo. His reasoning was factory self-defense loads are tested against multiple other options. They are tested and re-tested. Their performance is analyzed and re-analyzed. Only when the company has decided that it has produced the "perfect" killing round does it mass produce it and sell it to the public. So when Joe Citizen buys that ammo, he is purposely buying ammo designed to do the most harm to the other guy. That decision shows more planning and evil intent than the guy who handloads and would say in court "Oh, I loaded those rounds because I got the bullets on sale and they shoot good in my gun. No, I've never tested them for stopping power or tissue damage. I just got good groups with them and have a bunch to shoot up."
So, choosing a factory loaded, purpose-built man stopper could easily put you in a worse position than packing whatever you put together in your reloading room. Ayoob should stick to marksmanship and tactics; I understand he's quite good in those fields.
