Is It illegal to wear body armor?

This happened in my hometown, I did not know it is against the law to wear body armor.
My question is WHY?

Fair-goer accused of wearing body armor

Ouachita Parish deputies arrested a man early Saturday accused of wearing body armor to the Ark-La-Miss Fair.
Herbert Nappier, 23, of 809 S. 28th St., Monroe, was booked into Ouachita Correctional Center on a charge of unlawful use of body armor.

www.thenewsstar.com...

Ha. Man well that did not take long.

I've been saying I will easly wear body armour given the current state of affairs.

Even more so now, damnit.

Yeesh..

Bad guys are carrying guns.
Legalize carrying handguns in public so that anybody can take out the "bad guy" if necessary.
Bad guys are carrying body-armor.
Legalize carrying body-armor because it's wrong that bad-guys have the edge in a wild-west gunfight.
Bad guys are carrying heavier guns.
Legalize personal tanks.

I just don't see the reason a law abiding citizen should be banned from wearing body armor, I acknowledge that felons should not be allowed because of obvious reasons but a clean, law abiding citizen without any priors?
c'mon man!

Originally posted by Consequence
Bad guys are carrying guns.
Legalize carrying handguns in public so that anybody can take out the "bad guy" if necessary.
Bad guys are carrying body-armor.
Legalize carrying body-armor because it's wrong that bad-guys have the edge in a wild-west gunfight.
Bad guys are carrying heavier guns.
Legalize personal tanks.

Wait, explain to me why you disagree with body armor?

According to Louisiana Laws it's only unlawful to wear body armor while committing a crime OR if you have previous felonies.

If he wasn't doing anything wrong and his record is clean he shouldn't get in trouble. He shouldn't have been booked in the first place but that's how it goes these days. Guilty until proven innocent.

How the heck is this illegal?
I can see it being an added charge if you were to engage in, say a bank robbery but just walking around a fair?
Apparently, the cops don't want anything to get in the way if they decide to unleash a bunch of lead into you.

Sport bike motorcycle racers/riders wear ballistic body armor specifically designed for cycle racing, but, since most of that stuff is Kevlar, and polymer mix with padding under leather, it wouldn't be difficult to throw some bullet proof armor on under the riding apparel.

Originally posted by Thunderheart
Wait, explain to me why you disagree with body armor?

I thought I was being clear.
But:
The Police would just need bigger guns to counter the fact that body-armor would be the norm and definitely expected to be worn by those who expect to be shot by the police.
And, the bad guys would also need bigger guns for the same reason.

reply to post by Consequence


Don't .22 caliber bullets zip through conventional body armor like paper?

If so, it wouldn't necessarily be BIGGER guns anyone would need worry about.

I think youre talking about 223...a centerfire rifle round.....armor is made for umm...pistols

Originally posted by Druscilla
reply to post by Consequence

 

Don't .22 caliber bullets zip through conventional body armor like paper?

If so, it wouldn't necessarily be BIGGER guns anyone would need worry about.

I know someone on a swat team, he said this is one of the things body armor is useless against;


Field target tips.

Originally posted by Druscilla
reply to post by Consequence

 

Don't .22 caliber bullets zip through conventional body armor like paper?

If so, it wouldn't necessarily be BIGGER guns anyone would need worry about.

No they absolutely don't, if anything they must be the least effective of virtually all calibers to penetrate body armor.

.22 lr that is.

reply to post by Druscilla


The 5.7x28mm ammo goes through armor like a hot knife through butter. It's used in pistols too. The FN Five-seven pistol was designed as a companion to the P90, both of which use the 5.7mm ammunition.

The 5.7x28mm round is capable of penetrating the Kevlar CRISAT vest at 100m, two stacked Level II Kevlar vests (48 layers) at 50m, the PAGST vest at 300m, and the PAGST helmet at 240m. The effective range of the round isn't nearly that long however, but that just means that at the ranges that it's effective at, it'll go through just about any body armor on the market.

Originally posted by tanda7

Originally posted by Druscilla
reply to post by Consequence

 

Don't .22 caliber bullets zip through conventional body armor like paper?

If so, it wouldn't necessarily be BIGGER guns anyone would need worry about.

I know someone on a swat team, he said this is one of the things body armor is useless against;

Field target tips.

edit on 23-9-2012 by tanda7 because: (no reason given)

This also completely untrue.

I've shot regular soft body armor with an Excalibur hunting crossbow, and even then the arrows didn't penetrate the old army surplus kevlar. It would still cause massive internal injuries though.




I also tried stabbing it with a heavy spear, and that did actually penetrate it.

So it comes down to the amount of kinetic force and the surface area of the tip of the projectile, I guess.

reply to post by DermotMcDerp

Yeah, I've never tested it, that's why the disclaimer. When I showed him my new crossbow (6 years ago), he said the hunting tips were not a problem, but the field target points had been shown to penetrate.

Don't forget guys, bullet resistant armor is for high energy projectile rounds. Knives go rith through it. There is not currently an aromor that can stop both in common circulation.

There is armor to stop knives but noot bullets, or armor to stop bullets but not knives.

There are always ways around anything, just look for the chinks that exist in all armor, they are always present.

OP- SnF, I am absolutely shocked, if wearing it peacably is unlawful, than what is lawful? Why not just say "for wearing prohibited body armor"?

reply to post by tanda7


Well I used field tips and the Excalibur is one of the most powerfull crossbows. And the kevlar I used was probably not as strong as the soft armor that SWAT guys wear, and I used a solid backstop to attach the kevlar as opposed to soft tissue.

reply to post by inverslyproportional

Knives go rith through it

I wouldn't say that either.

It really takes a lot of force to drive a blade though it just by holding it in your hands. In reality, one would not really get a chance to make that perfect blow, but jeah, it is possible.

Don't forget guys, bullet resistant armor is for high energy projectile rounds. Knives go rith through it. There is not currently an aromor that can stop both in common circulation.

Yes there is. Maybe not soft armor, but the ceramic or kevlar plates you can insert, can definately stop both. Especially knives.

Originally posted by phroziac
I think youre talking about 223...a centerfire rifle round.....armor is made for umm...pistols

I think she might be.

But armor is not made for pistols only. What do you think the militairy wears?

They wear soft body armor with inserted ceramic or kevlar plates. The plates will stop 5.56 NATO rounds(or similar .223) and even the 7.62 AK rounds and such. At least down range.