Bullets should be prohibited on the basis of the damage they do, not just their construction

Certain bullets such as the British dumdum bullet were prohibited for use in 1899 because they were thought to produce wounds too cruel for war between civilised nations. The detection of fragments of bullets in radiographs of wounds has been assumed to be a sign of both a large volume of tissue destruction and the use of prohibited bullets. On p 403 Coupland examined the relation between bullet fragmentation and the size of wounds in nearly 6000 bullet wounds sustained in armed conflict. He found that fragmentation of bullets is neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of large wounds (those with a clinically detectable cavity). He concludes that existing legislation on the construction of bullets should be supplemented by legislation on bullets' potential to cause large wounds.

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Relevant Article

Clinical and legal significance of fragmentation of bullets in relation to size of wounds: retrospective analysis

Robin Coupland
BMJ 1999 319: 403-406. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]