"For those who argue that they don't "penetrate" I will add: They aren't designed to penetrate!"
Yes, we know. And that's the problem with Glasers. Penetration deep enough to disrupt vital body structures is the ONLY thing that is going to reliably stop an encounter.
"They are designed...by engineers..."
I'm the son, grandson, and great grandson of engineers, and to put it bluntly, that's not a particularly convincing appeal to authority.
If you truly wanted to make an appeal to authority, you'd go with a medial doctor who has extensive experience in examining and treating projectile wounds, someone who has extensively tested and evaluated the ability of handgun rounds to stop an encounter. That someone would be Dr. Martin Fackler. He's not particular a fan of Glasers.
Companies like Winchester, Speer, Federal, and Hornady have pumped millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars into research, design, and development of handgun bullets that will both reliably expand and penetrate deeply into a target to a depth sufficient to disrupt crucial structures.
Much of this was as a result of the Miami shootout of 1986. Most of these companies have worked closely with wound ballisticians (including Dr. Fackler) following FBI protocols for reliable penetration and expansion.
The results, starting largely with Winchester Black Talon in the early 1990s, have been many dozens of shootings in which these rounds have performed almost exactly as designed.
I think it's very telling that NONE of the major manufacturers have bothered investing time or effort in bringing a product similar to the Glaser to market. All of those have been by niche manufacturers, and all have shown the same problems in the very limited number of shootings in which they've been involved.
I'm going say this as gently as I can, but the rest of your statement is simply bogus, and well neigh on to gibberish.
"The United States Federal Air Marshal Service tested and used the Glaser Safety Slug extensively in the 1970s and 80s on board commercial passenger aircraft to defend against hijackers. They would leave large wounds in human tissue but would not penetrate sheet rock, plexiglass or even thin metal panels."
Next time I'm flying, I'll remember to pack Glasers so I don't cause an explosive decompression of the cabin with everyone being sucked out the hole.
But.... the Air Marshalls/TSA or whatever they're called post 9-11 no longer use these rounds, and haven't for years. They've gone on to rounds that are far more reliable in their ability to both expand reliably and penetrate deeply.
Last I heard, TSA was issuing .357 Sig semi-autos loaded with Speer Gold Dot hollow points, a FAR cry from the Glaser, but a bullet that has a pretty extensive, and impressive, performance record in both testing and actual shootings.
"The damage was grossly extensive. The entire upper arm muscle had been damaged and distorted as a result of impact by a Glaser Safety Slug."
Which says they'll cause nasty wounds. No one is denying that they will. But, that says nothing about their ability to reliably stop an armed encounter.
