Posted on 05/28/2005 6:22:28 PM PDT by Flavius
A .50-caliber rifle can shoot down an airplane while it's taking off or landing, bust a hole in half-inch steel and set an oil refinery on fire, according to Andy Pelosi, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.
And an 18-year-old can buy one in New York state.
"There's no place in civilian society for this gun. This gun is a weapon of war," Pelosi said. Advertisement
Pelosi was in Syracuse Thursday as part of a statewide push to ban the .50-caliber rifle, which uses a bullet that's six inches long and can hit a target from more than a mile away, Pelosi said.
The Assembly passed legislation Tuesday that would ban the gun. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate, but it is still in committee. California has banned the .50-caliber from civilian use.
Other states should follow California's example, said Bryan Miller of the Freedom States Alliance, a national coalition of state gun-violence groups.
"Society has a duty and a responsibility to decide what is acceptable and what is not," he said, standing behind one of the guns, which are more than 4 feet long.
The National Rifle Association and Ronnie Barrett, the gun's inventor, said those who want the ban are just pushing to take all guns away from civilians.
"This has nothing to do with terrorists. It has nothing to do with crime," he said. "It's about disarming the American public."
Barrett, president of Barrett Firearms, said the .50-caliber rifle is no more dangerous than any other rifle. And the claim that the .50-caliber can fire farther is true, but even the best marksmen would have trouble hitting a target from more than a mile away, he said.
But Pelosi offered a brochure Barrett's company used in the past to market the .50-caliber to the military. It boasts that the gun can hit a jet airplane or a helicopter in just the right spot, "making it capable of destroying multi-million dollar aircraft with a single hit delivered to a vital area."
The brochure goes on to boast that the gun's cost-effectiveness cannot be overemphasized because all it takes is one round of ammunition to bring a plane down.
Barrett did not dispute the claims, but said his company no longer uses that brochure. It's tacked on the wall of the company bathroom with other memorabilia, he said. From Our Advertiser
He said he didn't invent the gun for military use or for hunting.
"I designed it for me to shoot and play with," Barrett said. "I'm a shootist."
Assemblywoman Patricia Eddington, D-Medford, sponsored the bill that passed the Assembly this week. She said Barrett's comments are proof that there is no need for civilians to have the gun, which retails for around $7,000.
"I'm quite delighted it did pass, because this is not a hunting rifle and it should never be used for a hunting rifle. It is such a dangerous weapon," Eddington said. "You don't need a weapon like this."
She said the legislation, if approved by the Senate and governor, is a preventative step that would make New York safer.
"Why wait for a tragedy to happen?" she said. "Let's do something to prevent a tragedy from occurring. No one needs to have a .50-caliber weapon."
To read the Assembly bill, go to http:// assembly.state.ny.us/leg/ and type in A4471. To read the Senate version, go to http:// www.senate.state.ny.us/ senatehomepage.nsf/home?openform and click on "bills and laws," then type in S2590, then on the next screen click on "text."
What I want to say to these alleged human beings would get me banned forthwith. They are the lowest scum imaginable. Lower than whale t*rds and THEY'RE at the bottom of the ocean.
You make a good point. Affixing a 20lb propane tank, rigged to explode, under one of the many gasoline tankers would be a much more likely approach to attacking an oil facility.
Sure they can have my muzzleloaders, when they pull them from my COLD DEAD HANDS!!!!!
Its the bill of rights, not the bill of needs
Yes, hugh and series as well. Pelosi probably thinks Republicans have their servants carry the ammo boxes eh?!
"You make a good point. Affixing a 20lb propane tank, rigged to explode, under one of the many gasoline tankers would be a much more likely approach to attacking an oil facility."
And many other evil ways. But let me make a correction just for the record in my prior statement. I incorrectly refered to a Winchester 460 Magnum round. That it totally incorrect.
Winchester's largest bore (unless they have created a newer design in recent years), was .458. The Weatherby .460 Magnum was the round I was refering to. To different animals. The Weatherby 460 Magnum not to many years ago was the most powerful sporting round available on the market. Perhaps things have changed. At any rate, just wanted to make note of my original mistake, was last, and bleary eyed.
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