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Gale Peckham says he was looking outside his kitchen window when he heard the second ping. "We've been hit," he told his wife. There are two bullet holes in Peckham's shed that he believes came from the firing range behind his house in Kearns. The range's manager said he doesn't know whether the bullets came from the range, but has voluntarily ceased shooting there as the business ponders whether to renovate the range or turn it into retail space. "We've been shooting here for five years with .50-caliber [Browning machine guns] and .30-06s and we don't know of a bullet...

The note below is from one such friend who did West Point, retired after 23 years as an Army infantry officer (06) and then taught math at the Academy for several years. It's a weapons and tactics assessment note from a Marine Gunnie friend of my friend. I found it interesting and useful and trust you will too. - Dan Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Jordan, who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a...

'Fiddy-Cal' Becomes Weapon of Choice in Iraq BY DAVID WOOD WASHINGTON -- U.S. troops in Iraq are firing .50-caliber machine guns at such a high rate, the Army is scrambling to resupply them with ammunition -- in some cases dusting off crates of World War II machine gun rounds and shipping them off to combat units.In the dangerous and unanticipated conflict that has intensified in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, the gun that grunts call the "fiddy-cal" or "Ma Deuce," after its official designation, M-2, has become a ubiquitous sight mounted on armored Humvees and other heavy...

The fight to maintain our rights is a never-ending struggle. We were reminded of this recently when we received a postcard from an organization called the Freedom States Alliance. This is an outfit that uses scare tactics about terrorism to push its anti-gun agenda. Pictured on the front of the card was a civilian airliner with an illustration of a rifle scope's crosshairs centered to the nose of the plane and the Web site www.50CaliberTerror.com listed across the top. On the back was a listing of why .50 caliber rifles should be banned. The reasons might seem reasonable, but a...

CCRKBA Says Congress Was Right to Reject Moran Amendment to Ban .50-Caliber Exports Distribution Source : U.S. Newswire Date : Friday - June 17, 2005 To: National Desk BELLEVUE, Wash., June 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. House of Representatives acted properly this week to overwhelmingly reject an amendment to a spending bill that would have banned the export of .50-caliber rifles, said the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA). The amendment, by Rep. James Moran (D-Va.), would have blocked exports of the rifles to "non-governmental entities." The House turned it down 278-149. "This amendment...

H.AMDT.292 (A045) Amends: H.R.2862 Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] (offered 6/16/2005) AMENDMENT PURPOSE: An amendment to prohibit funds in the Act from being used to pay administrative expenses or compensate an officer or employee of the United States in connection with licensing the export of a nonautomatic or semiautomatic rifle capable of firing a center-fire cartridge in 50 caliber, .50 BMG caliber, any other variant of 50 caliber, or any metric equivalent of such calibers, or any nongovernmental agency. STATUS: 6/16/2005 1:17pm: Amendment (A045) offered by Mr. Moran (VA). (consideration: CR H4592-4593, H4603-4604; text: CR H4592) 6/16/2005 3:17pm: On...

Dear Violence Policy Center Action Network Member: This Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern time, NBC News' Dateline is scheduled to run a story on the threat posed by 50 caliber sniper rifles. The VPC worked closely with Dateline on the piece. Also, yesterday by a vote of 278 to 149 the U.S. House of Representatives defeated Representative Jim Moran's (D-VA) amendment to ban the export of 50 caliber sniper rifles. Thank you to everyone who called their Member of Congress this week in support of the Moran amendment. To see how your Representative voted, click here: http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-house-rollcall-super-rifles,0,3424527.story While disappointed in...

House Rejects Effort on Rifle Restriction By ANDREW TAYLOR June 16, 2005, 4:18 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- The National Rifle Association and its allies in the House beat back an effort Thursday to restrict gun manufacturers' exports of high-powered, .50-caliber rifles that can bring down jet airliners from a mile away. By a 278-149 vote, the House killed an amendment by Rep. James Moran to block .50-caliber exports to civilians. He said the guns are dream weapons for terrorists. "These are unparalleled weapons, and I'm not trying to restrict them in the United States," said Moran, D-Va. "I just don't...

June 14th, 2005 Dear ****** We have important news to share with you to keep 50 caliber sniper rifles out of the hands of terrorists. Congressman James P. Moran (D-VA), author of the 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act, will be offering an amendment this afternoon during House consideration of the Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) Appropriations bill (HR 2862) that would prohibit the exportation of the 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle. Congressman Moran wrote the following letter to his House colleagues today about this important homeland security public policy measure: "Capable of inflicting a devastatingly accurate impact from well...

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...

http://www.nbc5.com/politics/4292331/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65193 I'm just including a link, since the website indicates that the material cannot be "published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed."

NEWS RELEASE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms12500 N.E. Tenth PlaceBellevue, WA  98005CCRKBA BLASTS CNN REPORT ALERTING TERRORISTS HOW TO OBTAIN .50 CAL. RIFLESFor Immediate Release: February 22, 2005 The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today condemned a sensational report on CNN that not only alerts potential terrorists on possible misuses of .50-caliber sporting rifles, but also literally provides a "road map" on how to obtain one of these cumbersome and very expensive firearms. "In yet another media attempt to demonize a particular firearm, which CNN's own reporter, Drew...

(CBS) A military rifle capable of piercing armor from over a mile away is too readily available to civilians, and could end up in terrorists' hands, say critics of the .50-caliber weapon that is for sale in 49 states. Correspondent Ed Bradley reports on the big gun that was recently banned in California for 60 Minutes, Sunday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. "I think it's a great thing on the battlefield," says one of the weapon's chief critics, Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. "I just think there are certain occasions when we say in our...

Machine guns found near Kansas creek The Associated Press MILFORD -- A fisherman found a heavy machine gun on the ice of a creek near Fort Riley, and Geary County sheriff's deputies later found two more. The three Browning .50-caliber guns were all in working condition, Sheriff's Lt. Sandy Popovich said, but none was loaded. Sheriff Jim Jensen said he didn't know how the guns got there, and the Army's Criminal Investigation Division is looking into the matter. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns the land, Jensen said, and soldiers from Fort Riley have used it for training. The...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Breaking with Republican lawmakers who oppose gun control and a Hollywood film career filled with gun play, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) has signed a bill banning .50-caliber BMG rifles, an aide said on Tuesday. Reuters Photo The large-caliber, high-powered rifle is used by the military and police to shoot at long-range targets, including ones more than a mile away. Civilian owners of the weapon typically use the rifle at firing-ranges and for big-game hunting, but with armor-piercing ammunition the rifle can penetrate concrete shelters and lightly armored vehicles. Critics of the rifle...

www.gunowners.org May 2003 Descent Into Madness: 48 Hours In The California Legislative System by Michael Marks Stereotypes are a common part of American culture. Often as not they are based on a grain of truth wrapped in a mile of exaggeration. While most of us enjoy a good laugh at the wacky world of California politics, a rational man might think that accounts of strange thinking on the Left Coast, like any good bass fishing story, were a little larger than life. After spending two days in the halls of California state government in Sacramento, it is apparent that the...

MINNEAPOLIS, June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK - News) has received a $38 million order from the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command (JMC), Rock Island, Ill., to supply 50-caliber ammunition to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The ammunition will be produced by ATK at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo. Mark DeYoung, senior vice president, ATK Ammunition and Related Products Group, said, "ATK is meeting the call to provide the U.S. armed forces with the high quality small-caliber ammunition needed by the nation's warfighters for both training and combat." DeYoung added that ATK has nearly...

   * * *   Please Distribute Widely To All Gun Owners/Groups   * * *-----------------------------------------------------------------------NRA MEMBERS' COUNCILS OF CALIFORNIA                          05/10/2003-----------------------------------------------------------------------            California targets new S&W handgun cartridge Continuing his vigorous career in authoring oppressive firearms legislation, thereby restricting law-abiding citizens instead ofcriminals, CA State Senator Don Perata is trying to pass SB 601,which would ban sale/possession of .50 caliber handguns. This bill is positioned to target the new S&W .500 Magnum cartridge... http://www.calweb.com/~haas/ammoguide/ammoguide.cgi?id=221 Once again firmly under American ownership, Smith & Wesson isstriking back in a big way.  At recent hearing in Sacramento,Smith & Wesson's legal team addressed the Senate Public...

Senator Dianne Feinstein has once again introduced a Senate bill that would essentially ban 50 caliber rifles, similar to federal bans on machine guns. Feinstein is joined by the usual cast of gun banners, including Schumer (D-NY), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kennedy (D-MA), Corzine (D-NJ), Durbin (D-IL) and Levin (D-MI). Feinstein's efforts seeks to scare the public with all manner of exaggerations about the rifles, including the suggestion that the guns can hit targets from 4 miles away. Feinstein's press release announcing the bill failed to mention that these rifles have been around for nearly 20 years and have never once been...

The NRA Members' Council of Westside Los Angeles will meet this Thursday, November 14th, 7pm, for its regular monthly meeting (2nd Thursday of every month.) As usual, the meeting will be held at the American Legion Hall, 5309 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City. Our featured speaker this month will be John Burtt, chairman of the Fifty Caliber Shooters' Policy Institute. The Institute exists to protect the rights of people who enjoy shooting .50 caliber firearms. Mr. Burtt has been at the forefront of the national fight against know-nothing efforts to ban these firearms. One such proposal is currently before...