.50 cal Barrett - it's on my wish list!
Hat tip to my Brother for this link to ABC's 60 minutes site on the .50 cal Barrett rifle. You can read it for yourself, but there are a few things I'd like to comment on here. ABC interviews the inventor of the .50 cal, Ronnie Barrett, and also Tom Diaz from the very anti-gun Violence Policy Center (VPC).
If you're not familiar with the .50 cal, it is a HUGE rifle - around 5 feet long and weighing in at about 33 lbs! Not something you can hide real easy. It is a powerful rifle however, and it is used in long range target shooting competitions of a mile or more. Go here to check them out and maybe get one for your wife next Christmas. It has never been used in a crime in the history of the United States however.
Mr. Diaz at one point in the interview states ""I just think that there are certain occasions when we say in our society, this product is such a threat to our health and safety, and in this case, our national security, we will not allow it." Well, the problem with this statement is that if you ask the VPC, every firearm manufactured is a "threat to our health and safety". They are going after the .50 cal because so few people own them there will be relatively little resistence to legislation that either creates a database (to be used in subsequent confiscation) of .50 cal rifles, or an outright ban on civilian ownership.
But wait - once these rifles are illegal, then what will be the next "most powerful rifle in civilian hands"? Maybe the .308 or the .44 magnum?
At another point in the article, ABC tries to make it sound like you can purchase the incendiary explosive rounds that are illegal, by putting in this creatively deceptive paragraph (I aded the emphasis): "In fact, 60 Minutes found a number of sites on the Internet that claimed to be selling the explosive Raufoss ammunition. On one site, it witnessed someone making an apparent transaction of the illegal round." Did they bother to really check this out? Apparently not. Leaving the reader with the impression that you can purchase these rounds is far better than actually finding out the truth, which may not be what they were after.
Diaz finds it incredible that the US Government doesn't know who has these rifles. And exactly why should they if no crimes have been committed with them? He says that at a minimum records need to be kept on who purchases them. But Mr. Barrett hits the nail on the head: "And a terrorist is not concerned if you pass, or Tom Diaz passes, another law."
As I said in an earlier post, any gun is a potential problem if you have the wrong person behind the trigger. Banning the .50 cal is a slippery slope to more and more gun bans. Write your reps in Washington and ask them to not support any legislation that would create a database of .50 cal owners or other limitations on its sale or purchase in the USA.
Remember - you may not own a .50 cal, but if they ban these, your rifle may be the next on the list.
Now, if I can only find the $8,000 to get one!
If you're not familiar with the .50 cal, it is a HUGE rifle - around 5 feet long and weighing in at about 33 lbs! Not something you can hide real easy. It is a powerful rifle however, and it is used in long range target shooting competitions of a mile or more. Go here to check them out and maybe get one for your wife next Christmas. It has never been used in a crime in the history of the United States however.
Mr. Diaz at one point in the interview states ""I just think that there are certain occasions when we say in our society, this product is such a threat to our health and safety, and in this case, our national security, we will not allow it." Well, the problem with this statement is that if you ask the VPC, every firearm manufactured is a "threat to our health and safety". They are going after the .50 cal because so few people own them there will be relatively little resistence to legislation that either creates a database (to be used in subsequent confiscation) of .50 cal rifles, or an outright ban on civilian ownership.
But wait - once these rifles are illegal, then what will be the next "most powerful rifle in civilian hands"? Maybe the .308 or the .44 magnum?
At another point in the article, ABC tries to make it sound like you can purchase the incendiary explosive rounds that are illegal, by putting in this creatively deceptive paragraph (I aded the emphasis): "In fact, 60 Minutes found a number of sites on the Internet that claimed to be selling the explosive Raufoss ammunition. On one site, it witnessed someone making an apparent transaction of the illegal round." Did they bother to really check this out? Apparently not. Leaving the reader with the impression that you can purchase these rounds is far better than actually finding out the truth, which may not be what they were after.
Diaz finds it incredible that the US Government doesn't know who has these rifles. And exactly why should they if no crimes have been committed with them? He says that at a minimum records need to be kept on who purchases them. But Mr. Barrett hits the nail on the head: "And a terrorist is not concerned if you pass, or Tom Diaz passes, another law."
As I said in an earlier post, any gun is a potential problem if you have the wrong person behind the trigger. Banning the .50 cal is a slippery slope to more and more gun bans. Write your reps in Washington and ask them to not support any legislation that would create a database of .50 cal owners or other limitations on its sale or purchase in the USA.
Remember - you may not own a .50 cal, but if they ban these, your rifle may be the next on the list.
Now, if I can only find the $8,000 to get one!
posted by Paul | 4:14 PM
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