Health Journalism Glossary

Full Metal Jacket

  • Firearm Violence

A bullet design popularized as the title of a Stanley Kubrick movie about the Vietnam War (1987).  (See Bullet.)  These bullets, in deference to the Geneva Convention, completely enclose the lead portion with a copper jacket to prevent expansion or fragmentation that causes additional damage.  Thus, full metal jacket bullets, contrary to the movie usage, are the most “benign” type of bullet.


Source: UC Davis Campus Community Book Project

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