They are build of sheetrock, screws, nails, studs, plywood, tyvek, insulation, electrical wires and some sort of siding. I've seen many round nose 45 ACP pistol rounds fired at 800 fps get lodged in 3.5 inches of wood. If you were to drop the velocity to 600 fps (or as low as it will go while still cycling the action) and use non jacketed round you would seriously reduce the possibility of over-penetration. A 5.56 mm round would zip through a stud wall, and while it may fragment, those fragments are still traveling upwards of 1000 fps or more. That can still kill. I would need to see a real test setup with people shooting through stud walls before I would be convinced that a rifle round is indeed safer than a pistol round firing through a wall. And even then I would still use a pistol for home defense -again because if you loose control of that weapon you and your family are dead and it is easier to maintain positive control of a pistol.
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