Orange Sheriff's Office buys 14 elephant guns

[BobMcG]

Lets see... in the history of the county they had to shoot one elephant (thirteen years ago) and they now feel the need to purchase not one but FOURTEEN make believe er... so called elephant guns? Yup, the taxpayer's money is hard at work there by golly.
Unbelievable.
Literally.

 

[cpileri]

bull elephant

Now, wait. i mean just plain old BULL.

Why didn't they just ask the vets how they sedate animals for transport? The large animal vets who DO THIS FOR A LIVING might be the subject matter experts to ask, right?

For example, a tranquilizing drug called Xylazine comes in 100mg/ml strength in a 50ml vial, and is rapidly absorbed intramuscularly. At a dose of about 0.25mg/kg where an adult african BULL elephant might weigh 5000kg (or more), they load a dart with 1250mg (12.5ml, not very much to that big pachyderm) and they even make a special dart rifle for the purpose --who woulda thunk it???--- and fly over Dumbo in a helicopter and fire.

Now, as the head large animal vet at the National Zoo in WashingtonDC once told me, 'If you can't hit an elephant in the a$$ at 100 yards with a scoped rifle, well..."

The expression on his face indicated the last part of the sentence would be "then you su(& " or something similar.

Twenty or 30 min later, Dumbo takes a nap, and they move it wherever it needs to go using some big machinery, I suppose.

So...

Since there ARE well-established ways to put down almost every animal you would think of using drugs, do we really think the FLA police bought these for elephants?

Food for thought.

C-

edited to add; Oh, and here's the best part! Once the elephant is sleepy, you can of course, kill it off easier OR...here comes the kicker... if you want to preserve this rare specimen of wildlife; xylazine is REVERSIBLE with a drug called yohimbine. Nope, the elephant doesn't even have to be exterminated if you want. Seems like all bases are covered there.

So these new rifles are meant for shooting whom again, Sherrif Beary?

 

[H&Hhunter]

You guys hit it right on the head. The .50 Beowulf ain't anywhere near an elephant round. Heck I'd rather have a .30-06 with a good 220 grain solid. But if they were serious about DG critter protection it starts at .375H&H.

 

[Detritus]

Twenty or 30 min later, Dumbo takes a nap,

Problem is... what does Dumbo DO during those 20-30mins?? usually for at least a portion thereof, what it does is not anything condusive to a re-election campaign. nor for that matter is it likely to reduce the number of law suits filed, as in "the PD was negligent b/c they didn't stop it before it [insert random act of property/personal damage]! so i demand [outrageous sum] in damages etc".

granted you can't please everyone (Animal rights nuts) but if an elephant goes rogue and tears up a touristy portion of the county, those affected/involved are going to what Dumbo taking a dirt nap PRONTO, not tranq'ed and then wandering around woozily continuing to damage property or people for up to a half hour.
the sheeple think the cops should fix so that they, the sheep, are not in anyway inconvenienced, and.

Now i agree, This: "The sole purpose for this weapon is large or exotic animals," Is BS. But unfortunately for Dumbo, If he goes on an unapproved waltz amoung the tourists, he's more likely to get shot in the head, than darted in the rump. Hopefully if this ever happens the officer or citizen who does it uses something more appropriate than .50 Beowulf.

 

[rocketfish]

Funny thing is how the County and City governments have been whining about the current property tax reforms drastically reducing their budgets. Then they piss away tax payer money like this.

There aren't many smugglers in boats in Orange County either - Orlando is about 50 miles inland. If they actually intended these for use in putting down elephants they would have to be incredibly ignorant.

 

[fireflyfather]

To Germans (and German firearms designers, etc.), machine pistol = submachinegun.

Exactly. Ever wonder what the "MP" part of MP-40, MP-38, and MP-44 stands for? Look it up and say it out loud...sounds an awful lot like "Machinepistol" in English.

Also, since it is probably a UMP45 they are referring to, guess what UMP stands for?

Universale Maschinenpistole (Universal Machinepistol...45 caliber)

 

[Clipper]

I know it's supposed to be taboo to say anything bad (like dishonest) about a gun manufacturer, but I have to wonder if this idiot sheriff was convinced that these rifles actually are useful against large dangerous game by the manufacturer's people? Advertizing aside, you don't buy 14 $1800.00 rifles without first contacting the manufacturer and telling them what you have in mind and asking if it's really appropriate, do you? I mean, as a businessman, I could never in good concience purposely mislead a client about my product or service...Silly me, I actually want to like the guy in the mirror every morning.

 

[Hauptmann]

I know it's supposed to be taboo to say anything bad (like dishonest) about a gun manufacturer, but I have to wonder if this idiot sheriff was convinced that these rifles actually are useful against large dangerous game by the manufacturer's people? Advertizing aside, you don't buy 14 $1800.00 rifles without first contacting the manufacturer and telling them what you have in mind and asking if it's really appropriate, do you? I mean, as a businessman, I could never in good concience purposely mislead a client about my product or service...Silly me, I actually want to like the guy in the mirror every morning.

It wouldn't be the first time Alexander Arms hyped their products to the point that people believe they have invented the magic bullet. Fools are a dime a dozen and they are soon parted with their money. If you call up AA they will give you a very skewed and one sided opinion on their products and exaggerate their products abilities.

Law enforcement is much better off using the versitility of the shotgun. They can load up a 870 with full power Foster slugs and take it on safari if they wanted to. Buck shot, bird shot, bean bags, slugs, tear gas, and now tazers can be deployed from a shotgun.

 

[MaterDei]

Where can I get one of these for $800? Are they just buying uppers? What about the sights?

 

[joab]

Take your pick

We need these guns for the remote possibility that we may have to shoot a rampaging elephant whose trainer has failed properly train and control

Or

We need these guns for the very real possibility that we will have to shoot your kids who you have failed to properly train and control


Florida has very strict regulations on keeping wild and exotics and I have never heard of elephants roaming the country side after a storm

 

[Wes Janson]

Where can I get one of these for $800? Are they just buying uppers? What about the sights?

Step One: Purchase quantity of .499 Beowulf uppers for $800
Step Two: Add quantity of M16 full-auto lowers received from Uncle Sam
Step Three: ???
Step Four: Fun!

 

[alucard0822]

would be kinda fun to have a full auto carbine with similar ballistics to a light 45-70, probably a hell of a pin gun.

 

[richardschennberg]

Maybe exotic animals is the real reason, the first of several, or a cover story. There was a fairly recent study that shows that .223 can't stop a suicide bomber driving a truck, and even .308 took lots of rounds. 50 BMG did the job with one hit, and less powerful 50 cals should at least be an improvement over 30s. Terrorists are also training to hijack school busses, and one 50 cal hit to the engine or a wheel may disable the bus and pose less danger to the children than a bunch of .223 or .308 rounds.
Richard
Schennberg.com