shooterx10
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- Joined
- May 8, 2003
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.50-CALIBER RIFLE IS TOO POWERFUL EVEN FOR HUNTING - e/mail this anti-gun scumbag!
Is there any we can go after this anti-gun scumbag?
Posted on Mon, Jul. 28, 2003 story
UB_DESC
Sniper weapons should be restricted
.50-CALIBER RIFLE IS TOO POWERFUL EVEN FOR HUNTING
A .50-caliber BMG sniper rifle, in the wrong hands, would be terrorism unleashed.
The gun is powerful enough to punch a hole in an oil tank or take down a civilian airplane. Its 5 1/2-inch long bullets can pierce an inch of armor 40 yards away and hit a target a mile away. A massive weapon, with some models weighing in at 28 pounds, it's ill-suited for hunters -- it would take out a deer and the tree behind it -- but ideal for assassins.
And it's only a matter of time before it gets in the wrong hands. In California, there are fewer restrictions on buying a .50-caliber BMG rifle than on buying a handgun. It's treated like a hunting rifle, with no permanent record of purchase.
The sale of this weapon should be severely restricted, and could have been in California, were it not for the actions of two local senators usually sympathetic to gun controls.
Earlier this month, a bill all but prohibiting the sale passed the Assembly only to die in a Senate committee, one vote shy of the four needed for passage. Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, declined to vote, and Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, switched his position during the hearing.
AB 50, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, would treat .50 caliber rifles as state law does semi-automatic assault rifles, with tight controls. It would require registration for those who now possess one and permission of the attorney general to buy one -- basically a ban, since the attorney general has yet to grant a permit for an assault rifle.
That's as it should be, but McPherson viewed it as too restrictive. An aide said he favors a permit process to prevent criminals from getting the rifles but not target gun hobbyists and others. An aide to Vasconcellos said the senator doesn't believe the bill is necessary.
Developed by the military and used in the Gulf and Iraq wars, .50-caliber sniper rifles are becoming popular on the civilian market. Two dozen manufacturers sell them. With prices falling, some sell for as little as $1,000. The more they proliferate, the more likely one will be put to an awful use.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation on a federal level. But the bill's going nowhere in a Republican Congress. That leaves it to the states to take the lead.
Koretz's bill will come back next year.
Before then, perhaps there's room for compromise, such as restrictions that would allow gun clubs, under tight conditions, to keep the guns.
McPherson has it backward. The burden should be on those who want .50 caliber sniper rifles to explain why, not on government to justify restricting them.
Here is the contact info:
Letters to the Editor:
750 Ridder Park Drive
San Jose, CA. 95190
E-mail
[email protected]
Here is the link.
Is there any we can go after this anti-gun scumbag?
Posted on Mon, Jul. 28, 2003 story
UB_DESCSniper weapons should be restricted
.50-CALIBER RIFLE IS TOO POWERFUL EVEN FOR HUNTING
A .50-caliber BMG sniper rifle, in the wrong hands, would be terrorism unleashed.
The gun is powerful enough to punch a hole in an oil tank or take down a civilian airplane. Its 5 1/2-inch long bullets can pierce an inch of armor 40 yards away and hit a target a mile away. A massive weapon, with some models weighing in at 28 pounds, it's ill-suited for hunters -- it would take out a deer and the tree behind it -- but ideal for assassins.
And it's only a matter of time before it gets in the wrong hands. In California, there are fewer restrictions on buying a .50-caliber BMG rifle than on buying a handgun. It's treated like a hunting rifle, with no permanent record of purchase.
The sale of this weapon should be severely restricted, and could have been in California, were it not for the actions of two local senators usually sympathetic to gun controls.
Earlier this month, a bill all but prohibiting the sale passed the Assembly only to die in a Senate committee, one vote shy of the four needed for passage. Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, declined to vote, and Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz, switched his position during the hearing.
AB 50, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, would treat .50 caliber rifles as state law does semi-automatic assault rifles, with tight controls. It would require registration for those who now possess one and permission of the attorney general to buy one -- basically a ban, since the attorney general has yet to grant a permit for an assault rifle.
That's as it should be, but McPherson viewed it as too restrictive. An aide said he favors a permit process to prevent criminals from getting the rifles but not target gun hobbyists and others. An aide to Vasconcellos said the senator doesn't believe the bill is necessary.
Developed by the military and used in the Gulf and Iraq wars, .50-caliber sniper rifles are becoming popular on the civilian market. Two dozen manufacturers sell them. With prices falling, some sell for as little as $1,000. The more they proliferate, the more likely one will be put to an awful use.
Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation on a federal level. But the bill's going nowhere in a Republican Congress. That leaves it to the states to take the lead.
Koretz's bill will come back next year.
Before then, perhaps there's room for compromise, such as restrictions that would allow gun clubs, under tight conditions, to keep the guns.McPherson has it backward. The burden should be on those who want .50 caliber sniper rifles to explain why, not on government to justify restricting them.
Here is the contact info:
Letters to the Editor:
750 Ridder Park Drive
San Jose, CA. 95190
[email protected]
Here is the link.
