ALL prior service were trained to use full auto m16's with high cap magazines

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I trained on M-14s that were factory made semi auto - we had only 3 full auto versions in the armory. You did NOT want someone trying to throw a line with the rifle on full auto...
Loved that rifle, would love to own one, someday when I win the lottery.
 
I think the young men and women who are in or recently separated from the military are an untapped ally in our struggle.

Trained in the use of M16/M4s and knowing the difference between ARs and M16/M4s they are less easily lied to about the weapons.

The lies they've been told about crime rates and the mythical "epidemic of gun violence" can be counter-programmed with the truth and data from the FBI.

The fact the Constitution and their sacrifice is being betrayed with lies and denial of all our rights needs to be highlighted.
 
USAF M16A2 - 3 Round burst but never had a chance to let rip a burst. Just semi auto at Basic. The rifle I was issued at the range was a real POS and wouldn't cycle. After we were done at the range and were told to give the bolt and bolt carrier group a half-assed scrub with CLP and nasty tooth brush I quickly figured out why...
 
You guys better knock this off. It just isn't polite to go around interjecting common sense into the circus that has been ginned up for our entertainment.

The problem with debating this way is one of familiarity. Let's say you were prior service (me too, USN) and having this debate with a friend or relative. You are familiar to them, so not included in this mythical class of "military and police only". I went through this with my own granddad a few days ago. The "highly trained" argument came up. Expert rifle and Pistol medals came out of the dresser drawer. No effect, because the "military and police have real life experience". He seems to not remember all the letters sent home from crappy places around the planet. It's because I'm familiar and therefore not part of a mythology they like to believe in.
very well said, thanks!
 
I was an 0311 Marine, did a couple of tours in Vietnam, learned how to handle all the basic tools of a combat rifleman, and used them.

I have read that Homeland Security has people like me on a list of "possible subversives/domestic terrorists".

These days, that wouldn't surprise me.

Walter
 
I hear the local PD practicing with M16's - full auto - on Sundays after I get off work.

What do I need a 30rnd mag for? What the hell does a local PD need M16's for!! I'm not obligated by a civil service position to justify what I spend my money on--what's their excuse?

TCB
 
What do I need a 30rnd mag for? What the hell does a local PD need M16's for!! I'm not obligated by a civil service position to justify what I spend my money on--what's their excuse?
Some civilians have more rights than others, it seems.
 
Ummmm....not all servicemembers.

I was in the Navy (submarines) from 1985 to 2005. I was not trained/qualified on the M16.

I qualified on the M14, 1911, Remington 870, Mossberg 500, and M9.

The one time I shot the M16 was after qualifying on other weapons and we had time to shoot some M16's. It was really nothing more than an informal target shooting session and I was never required to qualify with that weapon. And it was all semi-auto shooting.

Unfortunately, firearms training in the Navy is not like it is in the other branches.

I did, however, qualify for my rifle and pistol expert medals. Though I never took any kind of combat qualification course, I could shoot pistols and rifles with the best of them on the regular qualification range.

:):)
 
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I spent four of my twenty years in the Seabees. USNMCB-5. While our M-16 had the fun setting on the selector we didn't train beyond semi auto qualifying on paper bullseyes.
 
I was an 0311 Marine, did a couple of tours in Vietnam, learned how to handle all the basic tools of a combat rifleman, and used them.

I have read that Homeland Security has people like me on a list of "possible subversives/domestic terrorists".

These days, that wouldn't surprise me.

Walter
Dang Walter,
You must have been 1st MarDiv. 3rd Mar Div was civilized. LOL!!
 
i carried the M9 years ago and qual'd on the M16. I'll be the first to admit i know a lot more now about firearms than I did when I was carrying as a federal law enforcement officer. we shot 100 round per year. that was it. funny that a title in front of your name somehow makes the masses OK with you having a gun in your hand.
 
Before I left for my great Vietnam adventure, I had to go through M16 training where we shot alot of ammo full auto, both offhand and with a bipod. Learned how to throw grenades too. I have also been a cop, 7 years. I also have shot in many matches and am a C&R junkie. Oh yeah, my job in the air force was a missile tech and that missile carried a 1.1 meg nuke....chris3
 
I appreciate your observations on what "highly qualified" means. Yes, when 90% of the force is non combat MOS, and the budget gets crunched, you don't get to shoot very much. But as long as you are in uniform, you are qualified.

Kinda like the "Heroes" ads on local TV where a veteran's pic and awards are honored. "He/she fought in the (pick somewhere) Theatre in (choose a war.) I don't say anything, but I know from experience - I "fought" in GTMO and the front gate at Ft. Benning. 22 years of Reserve duty, and never a shot fired in anger. Started Infantry, but served in an MP unit with an Ordnance MOS the last year. Got Haz pay but no combat patch.

In GTMO, we couldn't even carry ink pens in the wire. In Benning, we carried M9's daily, had an M16 available at each post, and both were loaded. We carried more highly armed in the US in one day than the entire time in Cuba.

It does further underline the problem, tho. If it's all about military and police, but they can't qualify or practice because of budget cuts, then what qualifications do they really have? Again, smoke and mirrors.

The average AR owner who reloads is more proficient. But, yes, try to tell a family member all about it when their concept of you is mostly Christmas get togethers and what they hear from your wife. :)

Of course, the government doesn't yet restrict me as much as my job, but that's another rant. What I see in the future for the military is almost no qualification at all when they finish cutting the budget to the bone. It's happened before.

Thanks for mentioning the .22 adapters, I had to use them, too. Might be nice to bring up in the appropriate conversation.
 
I USED to think everyone in the military was well trained in firearms. Then my unit ran the qual range for the brigade and some 13 and 88 series came by. Not so much anymore.

When I was in an active component we qualified on nearly every weapon we had to be every month.
 
Navy vet 1968,69 in Nam.
We shot a .22 in boot camp and that was it for firearms training.
I owned .45s and several rifles at the age of 15, I'm sure I was more qualified than my sorry officers.
 
I appreciate your observations on what "highly qualified" means. Yes, when 90% of the force is non combat MOS, and the budget gets crunched, you don't get to shoot very much. But as long as you are in uniform, you are qualified.

Thank you for putting all of us active duty and retired servicemembers in a good light.

:)

However, I think what many of us (including myself) are trying to say it that this just isn't true.

One of the things we have to pony up to as gun owners, even (or especially) as active duty/retired military, is accuracy when making such forthright statements. We cannot engage in generalisms which either aren't 100% correct or which are stereotypical in nature.

Not only are these tactics used by the opposition which we dispise, they are also easy for them to poke holes in. Poke enough holes in them and they not only fall apart, they call anything else we say into question by association.
 
I entered the Army in April 1965, I trained with a M14 with a standard 20 round magazine. I never even held a M 14 that was equiped to fire full auto. It was my understanding our weapons were stored across the highway from the Pentagon at Fort Myer and were either Garands or Springfield 03A3's.
 
They might be qualified on paper, but they are not capable.

When qualified means shooting a few dozen rounds a year in a controlled range with a liberal time limit, and as long as you hit some 60% in a very controlled environment, you are good to go.

I've seen firsthand how absurd that level of training really is when you try to apply it in real world combat. It ain't pretty.

So, in summary, qualified does not equal capable.
 
I have a coworker who was adamant that all police want to be proficient marksman, ignoring the fact that most of them train once a year or less, and that the marksman qualification isn't that difficult compared to what a lot of practiced shooters are capable of. The fact is, I don't think that we should use this argument, because it will make it easy for antis to say "only if you've had police or military training..."

On the other hand, a lot of antis would say they don't want returning soldiers to have guns. Why have a gun if you're not at war anymore? We don't want you to think this is Iraq, after all!

This isn't my personal position. I just don't think that the fact we have this many million trained by cops or military is justification for 2A. I think we have this many more million thta don't commit crimes and the founding fathers' papers are justification for 2A.
 
I spent 10 years in the navy and never touched a working, government owned or leased firearm. But I was pretty good at precision drill for show! (Drill team.)

Jim
 
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