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Point/ Counter Point
Guns should be allowed
By: Cory Seegmiller
Issue date: 12/7/05 Section: Opinion
Over the last couple of years, liberal, anti-gun fanatics have been calling for the ban of .50 caliber rifles in states across the union. Liberal dominated New York and California have passed legislation banning such firearms, but at what price?
The debate in this issue swirls around the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) cartridge developed by the famous Utah native, and revered gun designer, John Moses Browning. Browning developed the .50 BMG cartridge in 1918 for use in his M2 anti-aircraft machine gun. In firearms vernacular, .50 caliber means that the bullet, or projectile, fired by the gun is one half, or .5, of an inch in diameter.
For comparison, a BB gun fires a .177 caliber, air driven projectile; the U.S. Military M4, used by almost all or our troops, fires a .223 caliber bullet; deer hunting rounds usually range from .243 to .338 caliber; African big game rounds must be .375 caliber or larger. The .50 BMG was first adopted by the U.S. Military in WWII and is the longest used military bullet in the world; still being employed by armed forces across the globe.
In 1982, Ronnie Barrett developed the first commercially available, shoulder fired .50 BMG rifle. He named it the Barrett M82, and subsequent versions of that rifle were used with terrific success by U.S. Military snipers in the first Gulf War. Ever since the reliability and effectiveness of the shoulder fired .50 caliber sniper rifle was proven by Mr. Barrett, many companies have developed their own versions, which have been a huge hit among target shooting enthusiasts.
While the .50 BMG cartridge is not the most powerful firearm available on the market (the big game, H&H .700 Nitro Express, holds that honor) it is the largest caliber that can be owned by a private citizen without having to get a government permit. This makes it the foremost target for anti-gun politicians who are constantly looking for ways to eliminate our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Those who oppose .50 caliber firearms want to say that they must be banned because the average homicidal maniac could fire them across massive distances. While the .50 BMG is a powerful round, the fear-mongers' claims scatter like dust when the facts come in. While a highly skilled target marksman can, with reduced difficulty, fire these firearms accurately up to about 1000 yards, bogus reports made by anti-gun groups claim that "snipers" can fire them accurately up to 2000 yards.
This may be possible by the very finest marksmen in the world, but not with a very high degree of accuracy. Marine snipers are trained to fire the common .308 caliber, with high accuracy, into the 1000 yard range. With a Barret M82A1 it may be marginally easier to do this, with proper training, but not largely so. In the end, the real world accuracy of the .50 BMG is not all its detractors claim. Its main use, across large distances is for taking out enemy materials (radar equipment, vehicles, missiles, grounded airplanes, etc.) not personnel. Its larger bullet allows for more energy to still be available to inflict damage on harder items at sniping distances.
Wild eyed politicians and anti-gun lobbyists also claim that the .50 BMG is a weapon of mass destruction and consequently must be banned.
While the semi-automatic versions of .50 caliber rifles can only hold five bullets, they claim that even the single shot rifles are capable of ripping up huge sections of suburbia. What a crock! Even though the .50 BMG round can inflict more damage to harder targets at larger distances, it is still no bazooka. The weight of a bullet is measured in grains. The average .30 caliber deer hunting bullet will generally range between 110 to 200 grains. A U.S. Military .50 BMG round will weigh in at about 650 grains.
Sure, that is a lot bigger than you'd want to shoot a deer with, but it is still smaller than the size of the average man's pinky at the second knuckle. It's not like this round is going to rain down lead death on suburbanites in any greater degree of potency than the deer hunting bullets found in your neighbor's glove box. It would seem that in trying to make the .50 BMG cartridge, and the rifles that can fire them, look like the devil incarnate, anti-gunners are testing out strategies that will allow them to progressively outlaw all reasonable firearms in the future. In fact, we know that is their goal.
So, why is the current push to ban .50 caliber firearms important to you and me? How does it affect our day to day lives? Well, day to day, it may not mean much to most of us. In the long run, though, the erosion of any Constitutional right means the erosion of American freedom.
The right of the people, guaranteed to us by the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, was put in place to ensure our right to own firearms. This right was essential for the overthrow of the British tyranny in America and our Founding Fathers knew that it would be essential for the overthrow of any future tyranny as well.
If the people are armed, the government has to remain obedient, or risk being toppled and replaced through the armed will of the people. The 2nd Amendment isn't about the right to hunt or target shoot, it is about the ability of Americans to defend their life, liberty and property against criminals and tyrants.
I've heard liberal faculty at SLCC say that the 2nd Amendment was written so that state militias could have firearms, not the general populous. They equate the Utah National Guard as being that state militia that should have the guns.
It really question that logic when it comes down to the actual context of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment reads "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
If the right to keep and bear arms is in fact only limited to the state government, then it would seem that all of the other times that the word "people" is used throughout the rest of the Constitution, it would also be referring to the state governments. It is easy to prove that this cannot be the case.
In the 10th Amendment it states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This Amendment demonstrates that the states and the people are two separate entities. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is then exactly what it means, the right of individuals to own guns. This right was listed second in our Bill of Rights, following only our right to religious freedom, speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.
If we allow freedom-hating politicians and lobbyists to limit our right to own .50 caliber rifles, we are opening ourselves up to further regulation of a God-given, Constitutionally secured right.
In so doing we are eliminating the only right that is designed to give us the power to secure our first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth Amendment rights from a government that may no longer want to uphold them. The limitation of our God-given rights for some can only lead to a loss of freedom for all of us.
http://www.slccglobelink.com/media/...?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.slccglobelink.com
At least not every college student is out of their gourd.
Guns should be allowed
By: Cory Seegmiller
Issue date: 12/7/05 Section: Opinion
Over the last couple of years, liberal, anti-gun fanatics have been calling for the ban of .50 caliber rifles in states across the union. Liberal dominated New York and California have passed legislation banning such firearms, but at what price?
The debate in this issue swirls around the .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) cartridge developed by the famous Utah native, and revered gun designer, John Moses Browning. Browning developed the .50 BMG cartridge in 1918 for use in his M2 anti-aircraft machine gun. In firearms vernacular, .50 caliber means that the bullet, or projectile, fired by the gun is one half, or .5, of an inch in diameter.
For comparison, a BB gun fires a .177 caliber, air driven projectile; the U.S. Military M4, used by almost all or our troops, fires a .223 caliber bullet; deer hunting rounds usually range from .243 to .338 caliber; African big game rounds must be .375 caliber or larger. The .50 BMG was first adopted by the U.S. Military in WWII and is the longest used military bullet in the world; still being employed by armed forces across the globe.
In 1982, Ronnie Barrett developed the first commercially available, shoulder fired .50 BMG rifle. He named it the Barrett M82, and subsequent versions of that rifle were used with terrific success by U.S. Military snipers in the first Gulf War. Ever since the reliability and effectiveness of the shoulder fired .50 caliber sniper rifle was proven by Mr. Barrett, many companies have developed their own versions, which have been a huge hit among target shooting enthusiasts.
While the .50 BMG cartridge is not the most powerful firearm available on the market (the big game, H&H .700 Nitro Express, holds that honor) it is the largest caliber that can be owned by a private citizen without having to get a government permit. This makes it the foremost target for anti-gun politicians who are constantly looking for ways to eliminate our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Those who oppose .50 caliber firearms want to say that they must be banned because the average homicidal maniac could fire them across massive distances. While the .50 BMG is a powerful round, the fear-mongers' claims scatter like dust when the facts come in. While a highly skilled target marksman can, with reduced difficulty, fire these firearms accurately up to about 1000 yards, bogus reports made by anti-gun groups claim that "snipers" can fire them accurately up to 2000 yards.
This may be possible by the very finest marksmen in the world, but not with a very high degree of accuracy. Marine snipers are trained to fire the common .308 caliber, with high accuracy, into the 1000 yard range. With a Barret M82A1 it may be marginally easier to do this, with proper training, but not largely so. In the end, the real world accuracy of the .50 BMG is not all its detractors claim. Its main use, across large distances is for taking out enemy materials (radar equipment, vehicles, missiles, grounded airplanes, etc.) not personnel. Its larger bullet allows for more energy to still be available to inflict damage on harder items at sniping distances.
Wild eyed politicians and anti-gun lobbyists also claim that the .50 BMG is a weapon of mass destruction and consequently must be banned.
While the semi-automatic versions of .50 caliber rifles can only hold five bullets, they claim that even the single shot rifles are capable of ripping up huge sections of suburbia. What a crock! Even though the .50 BMG round can inflict more damage to harder targets at larger distances, it is still no bazooka. The weight of a bullet is measured in grains. The average .30 caliber deer hunting bullet will generally range between 110 to 200 grains. A U.S. Military .50 BMG round will weigh in at about 650 grains.
Sure, that is a lot bigger than you'd want to shoot a deer with, but it is still smaller than the size of the average man's pinky at the second knuckle. It's not like this round is going to rain down lead death on suburbanites in any greater degree of potency than the deer hunting bullets found in your neighbor's glove box. It would seem that in trying to make the .50 BMG cartridge, and the rifles that can fire them, look like the devil incarnate, anti-gunners are testing out strategies that will allow them to progressively outlaw all reasonable firearms in the future. In fact, we know that is their goal.
So, why is the current push to ban .50 caliber firearms important to you and me? How does it affect our day to day lives? Well, day to day, it may not mean much to most of us. In the long run, though, the erosion of any Constitutional right means the erosion of American freedom.
The right of the people, guaranteed to us by the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, was put in place to ensure our right to own firearms. This right was essential for the overthrow of the British tyranny in America and our Founding Fathers knew that it would be essential for the overthrow of any future tyranny as well.
If the people are armed, the government has to remain obedient, or risk being toppled and replaced through the armed will of the people. The 2nd Amendment isn't about the right to hunt or target shoot, it is about the ability of Americans to defend their life, liberty and property against criminals and tyrants.
I've heard liberal faculty at SLCC say that the 2nd Amendment was written so that state militias could have firearms, not the general populous. They equate the Utah National Guard as being that state militia that should have the guns.
It really question that logic when it comes down to the actual context of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment reads "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
If the right to keep and bear arms is in fact only limited to the state government, then it would seem that all of the other times that the word "people" is used throughout the rest of the Constitution, it would also be referring to the state governments. It is easy to prove that this cannot be the case.
In the 10th Amendment it states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This Amendment demonstrates that the states and the people are two separate entities. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is then exactly what it means, the right of individuals to own guns. This right was listed second in our Bill of Rights, following only our right to religious freedom, speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.
If we allow freedom-hating politicians and lobbyists to limit our right to own .50 caliber rifles, we are opening ourselves up to further regulation of a God-given, Constitutionally secured right.
In so doing we are eliminating the only right that is designed to give us the power to secure our first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth Amendment rights from a government that may no longer want to uphold them. The limitation of our God-given rights for some can only lead to a loss of freedom for all of us.
http://www.slccglobelink.com/media/...?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.slccglobelink.com
At least not every college student is out of their gourd.
