Kendra S. was a typical 12-year-old kid, but she did something that even many adults won’t do when it comes to home defense.
You see, Kendra was by herself at her Oklahoma home when she heard someone banging on the front door.
Soon after, Kendra heard the glass on the front door shatter, and an intruder walked in.
“I was scared and I didn’t know what to do next,” Kendra told the media.
She immediately called her mom who was at work.
“I said Kendra, get the gun and go get in my closet now. And call 911,” said her mom.
She did exactly what her mom said, grabbing the gun and hiding in the closet.
Kendra called 911 and told them she was home alone in the closet. She said someone was inside the house and she didn’t know who they were.
The 911 dispatcher told Kendra that help was on the way and that she would stay on the phone with her.
Kendra remained crouched down in the closet with the .40 caliber Glock. She heard the intruder making his way around the house.
She repeatedly told the dispatcher to hurry.
It wasn’t long before Kendra could see the knob on the closet door start to turn.
At that point, Kendra fired the .40 caliber pistol through the closet door.
It was the first time she had ever shot a gun.
The bullet went through the closet door and hit the 32-year-old male intruder in the shoulder.
After being shot, the man ran out of the house.
Police arrested him a few blocks away and charged him with burglary.
He was treated at the hospital for his injuries and taken to jail.
“I think it’s going to change me a whole lot, knowing that I can hold my head up high and nothing can hurt me anymore,” Kendra told local media.
Her mother said, “I think that she did something that most grown-ups wouldn’t be able to do in a frightening situation.”
Now, when it comes to home defense the ammo you choose to use is critical to survival.
In the story above, Kendra’s gun was loaded with ammo that could easily penetrate the door and still stop the intruder.
One type of ammo that could be used in this situation is called RIP ammo… or Radically Invasive Projectile ammo.
What are RIP rounds?:
RIP rounds came out in 2014 and were first made by a company called G2 Research.
The bullets are machined and copper tipped.
The biggest difference between RIP rounds and other rounds is that RIP rounds don’t have a single entry point into the target.
Instead, it can create up to nine entry points from a single bullet.
The bullets are designed to fracture into many pieces upon impact and also lose energy as soon as they hit the target.
That’s because RIP rounds were originally developed to respond to airplane hijackings.
And law enforcement needed a round to stop a threat in small, enclosed spaces.
Are RIP rounds legal?:
As far as legal considerations, RIP rounds are often compared to hollow-point rounds, so they’re legal to buy under federal law.
But to be sure they’re legal in your state, always check your state and local laws.
Because states like New Jersey have very strict laws regarding using hollow point rounds, and San Francisco has laws regarding fragmenting ammunition.
So, always check local laws before buying RIP ammunition.
Benefits of RIP rounds:
The main benefit of RIP rounds is the rapid fragmentation that creates more than one wound channel.
This happens because the round has multiple blades that expand on impact with soft tissue.
The blades spread outward and create internal wound channels, and this internal trauma can create faster incapacitation.
Another good thing about RIP rounds is that they are less likely to over-penetrate.
The bullets fragment in tissue and likely won’t pass through a target.
This means they’re safer for home defense, especially if you live in an apartment or share walls.
One key difference with RIP rounds is that they fragment with soft tissue, yet they are
designed to stay intact against hard surfaces like drywall or doors.
So, you can shoot the rounds through a door but if you hit a target with soft tissue the bullet shouldn’t move past them.
Drawbacks to RIP rounds:
One of the problems with RIP rounds is that they have had inconsistent performance.
For example, during FBI gel testing the rounds underpenetrated.
In addition, in some tests, the bullets fragmented so early that they failed to hit critical organs or areas in the body.
Plus, there has been minimal real-life testing since RIP rounds aren’t widely used by law enforcement.
Also, it’s an expensive round, costing anywhere from $2 to $4 per round.
For comparison, a quality hollow point is around $1 per round.
I personally believe hollow point rounds such as Speer Gold Dot, are a better choice for self and home defense compared to RIP rounds.
Hollow point rounds have proven performance compared to RIP rounds and you never want a round to fail during a life-or-death situation.
