"But, the 5.56 is a good round and proven in close quarter and even beyond. It gets the job done." is what you stated. I can't agree with that 100%. Granted, the bullets and propellants have come a long way and the round is much better than it was. But the military is limited due to the Hague ruling/convention saying that no expanding bullets are to be used. That ruling is from a time that all countries cared about their soldiers. Helping their wounded off to get patched up and save lives. But now, that ruling only helps those militants who wouldn't give two turds about their wounded. I hate to say it but, there should be two sets of rules for engagement for our military. When our fighting men and women go up against an enemy, and that enemy is seperate from their own government, we should be allowed to take them out...not just stop the threat. What the hell, why don't we use nerf balls instead of bombs. When the enemy is hit with a nerf ball they have to lay down their weapon(s) and stay out of the conflict for 30 days. After that, they can come back and shoot at us some more. Most of these conflicts that we are in (seems to me), are being fought against an enemy that is against their own government anyway! They're small units that don't have the manpower to help their wounded or they just don't care. Just as our own police have a 'rule' to go by to wound and stop the threat, it is not always able to be done that way. Sometimes the threat has to be eliminated completely. Just as some of the militants that we are fighting around this world want to die for their god, their comrades are not going to keep them alive and take that right away from them...so it would seem to me.

A couple of years ago I was at my farm in West Virginia and found groundhog holes all aound the house (nobody stays there). I marked a few of the holes so I wouldn't bust a leg if I stepped in one at night or early dark hours. A few days later I went out shooting about a 1/4 mile from the old house. When I went back to the house I seen the fat groundhog about 35yd out and he hadn't seen me. I went back to my truck and grabbed my little M4 A2 and put in a mag of ammo and then slipped back to peek around the corner of the house. He didn't see me but I must have made some noise because he was standing tall looking around. I guess he decided it was time to exit and he sarted to walk away and then to a run. I popped off two rounds and he was gone and ran under the old wash house. Now I just came back from shooting this rifle so I know it was sighted in and my shooting was going pretty well that day. I walked over to where I had seen him go into some brush and there was just a tiny amount of blood. The FMJ bullets passed right through him and he never even stopped. I know he died because he stunk up the place after a couple of days. So what I'm saying is that the 5.56 is a small bullet to begin with and added a FMJ bullet and it's just not up to the task IMHO.

I agree with you on the handgun cartridges of your choice. I carry a S&W MP360 (357mag) when I'm just doing things close to home as there has been trouble with some beatings and robberies. But if I'm going into "the hood", I carry the 10 shot Warthog (45acp)...with one in the tube to make a little more noise if needed. Funny thing, about six blocks over they call this the hood. And what I call the hood they call a sh_thole.