FN Five-seven - Controversy

Controversy

The Five-seven pistol and 5.7×28mm ammunition were originally restricted by FN to military and law enforcement customers, but in 2004 the new Five-seven IOM model was introduced, and offered to civilian shooters for use with 5.7×28mm SS192 ammunition. FNH USA has marketed the Five-seven to civilian shooters as a pistol suitable for personal protection, target shooting, and similar uses, but the Five-seven's introduction to civilian shooters was strongly opposed by U.S. gun control organizations such as the Brady Campaign; by the end of 2004, sales of the Five-seven pistol had increased dramatically.

In early 2005, the pistol was subject to controversy in the United States after the Brady Campaign stated that commercially available 5.7×28mm SS192 ammunition penetrated a Level IIA Kevlar vest in testing. The National Rifle Association (NRA) shortly countered the Brady Campaign's claim by stating that the gun control group may not have adhered to standard testing procedures, and that FN only offers armor-piercing varieties of the 5.7×28mm cartridge to military and law enforcement customers. Varieties offered to civilians are classified by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as not armor-piercing, and it was stated that the SS192 and SS196 cartridge variations were unable to penetrate various types of Kevlar vests in tests conducted by FNH USA.

The Five-seveN has been loved and hated in the years since its introduction. It is one of the most controversial handguns of our time, and was so even before the Fort Hood atrocity.

Michael D. Barnes, then-president of the Brady Campaign, responded to the NRA's statements on the Five-seven by challenging NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to be shot with the pistol while wearing a Kevlar vest. The NRA again attacked the Brady Campaign's statements, saying that "Barnes demonstrated his group's complete and utter disregard for gun safety and its flaming zeal to further restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners." In the same year, two pieces of legislation were introduced in the United States Congress, specifically targeting the Five-seven pistol and 5.7×28mm ammunition for a federal ban: the H.R. 1136: PLEA Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), and the S. 527: PLEA Act was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); neither bill proceeded to a vote by the House or Senate.

In March 2007, legislation was again introduced in the United States Congress by Rep. Engel, under the new designation H.R. 1784: PLEA Act. Once again, the bill failed to proceed to a vote. In the following years, the Five-seven was subject to further controversy due to reports of the pistol's use by drug cartels in the Mexican Drug War. In the United States, the Five-seven has never been used to kill a police officer, but various news sources such as The Boston Globe and La Jornada reported incidents in which the pistol was used to shoot and kill police officers or civilians in Mexico. According to the ATF, the Five-seven is one of the weapons favored by drug cartels in the Mexican Drug War, and a smuggled Five-seven pistol can sell for up to 66,000 pesos (US$5,000) in Mexico. From Mexico, the pistols have been smuggled into other South American countries; in a July 2010 drive-by shooting in Envigado, Colombia, two cartel gunmen armed with Five-seven pistols opened fire on a group of bystanders outside a nightclub, leaving 9 people dead and 10 wounded.

In November 2009, the Five-seven again became subject to intense controversy in the United States, following the shooting at Fort Hood military base, in Texas. A U.S. Army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, reportedly opened fire on fellow soldiers with a Five-seven pistol, killing 13 people and wounding 29 in the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base. Shortly after the shooting, FNH USA responded with a fact sheet dismissing allegations about the nature of the pistol, pointing out that it is only offered to civilians with sporting ammunition. Later in the month, a number of gun control organizations such as the Brady Campaign wrote a collaborative letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, citing the weapon's reported use by the Fort Hood shooter and Mexican drug cartels, and calling on him to ban importation of the Five-seven pistol and 5.7×28mm ammunition. In July 2010, legislation was introduced in the United States Congress by Rep. Engel, for a third time, under the new designation H.R. 6030: PLEA Act. Like its previous incarnations, the H.R. 6030 bill failed to proceed to a vote by either the House of Representatives or Senate.